Negative Family Treatment of Sexual Minority Women and Transmen in Vietnam: Latent Classes and Their Predictors

Abstract

Quantitative research on parental/family disapproval and rejection of sexual/gender minority persons has often measured family rejection as one binary/continuous variable, or using several variables representing specific behaviors or dimensions of behaviors. Absent from this literature is analysis using a person-oriented approach, examining heterogeneity across individuals in the types of The authors sincerely thank all the survey participants for contributing time and sharing their information; the Vietnamese sexual minority Internet forums for supporting the survey; 205 206 T. Q. Nguyen et al.family treatment experience. Using data from 2,664 adult sexual minority women and transmen in Vietnam, latent class analysis was conducted on 19 items representing negative family behaviors. The six-class solution best fit the data, including one non-negative class (peace, 36.7% of the sample) and five negative classes (pressure, 34.0%; aggressive to respondent and girlfriend, 10.3%; aggressive to respondent, 8.1%; severe, 6.0%; and extreme, 4.7%). Class membership was regressed on individual, family, and contextual variables. Overall, younger age, transman identity, religious affiliation, and parent awareness predicted being in worse family treatment classes. Further research is needed to separate cohort and age effects and to examine developmental trajectories of family behavior. Findings suggested that it may be general conservativeness rather than a specific religious doctrine that predicts negative family treatment and revealed that nonparent family members' role in family response to sexual/gender nonconformity may be significant.

A tool for sexual minority mental health research: The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) as a depressive symptom severity measure for sexual minority women in Viet Nam

“…In Viet Nam, a lower middle-income Asian country, health research with sexual minority populations has mostly been conducted with men who have sex with men, and focused on HIV/AIDS and sexual behavior, with little attention to mental health and sexual stigma (see review by Le, Vu, & Bui, 2012). With increasing visibility of Vietnamese sexual minority populations (Institute for Studies of Society Economy and Environment & Academy of Journalism and Communication, 2010; T. Q. Nguyen et al, 2014), researchers have begun paying attention to broader sexual minority health and well-being and the life context of sexual minority persons.…”

Reshaping boundaries: Family politics and GLBTQ resistance in urban Vietnam

“…Good families are perceived to consist of monogamous, heterosexual couples that have entered into wedlock voluntarily and have no more than two children (National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 2000, Art.2). Filial obligation dictates that the first duty of married couples is to maintain the family line through the procreation of a son, and failure to produce a son is considered to constitute an expression of filial impiety and selfish behavior (Hirsch, Wardlow, & Phinney, 2012;Khuat et al, 2009;Leshkowich, 2014;Nguyen et al, 2015;Phinney, 2008;Rydstrom, 2003Rydstrom, , 2006Shibuya, 2015). A female employee at an organization dealing with gender and sexuality issues highlighted the importance of the family line and the role of sons when she explained:…”

Negative Treatment by Family as a Predictor of Depressive Symptoms, Life Satisfaction, Suicidality, and Tobacco/Alcohol Use in Vietnamese Sexual Minority Women

“…In a sample of Vietnamese SMW and transmen (n = 2664), more than two thirds reported having experienced family disapproval of their relationships with women and/or family pressure to have a boyfriend, to get married, or to be more feminine. 10 Nearly one fourth reported having experienced one or more oppressive family actions, such as family members locking them up or asking a doctor for treatment to stop their attraction to women. A latent class analysis (LCA) of such data suggested highly distinct subgroups, ranging from very little to exceptionally high levels of such negative family treatment.…”

“…A latent class analysis (LCA) of such data suggested highly distinct subgroups, ranging from very little to exceptionally high levels of such negative family treatment. 10 Using a subset of these data including SMW only, the present study related a latent categorical variable representing heterogeneity in family treatment experience to health and well-being. We hypothesized that SMW with worse family treatment experience on average had higher depressive symptoms and lower life satisfaction, and were more likely to smoke, to drink heavily, and to have attempted suicide.…”

“…[4][5][6][7][8] In Viet Nam, a relatively resource-poor Asian country, to the best of our knowledge, sexual minority health research has been limited to the study of HIV risk in men who have sex with men. Based on recent evidence of prevalent family disapproval and negative treatment of Vietnamese sexual minority women (SMW), 9,10 this study assesses negative family treatment as a risk factor for poor health and well-being in this population.…”