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The Intersection of Family Acceptance and Religion on the Mental Health of LGBTQ Youth
Pediatrics
... Factors like religion, politics, and social expectations often determine acceptance of LGBTQ + identity. However, regardless of religious affiliation, family acceptance is strongly associated with decreased depression among LGBTQ youth (Miller et al., 2020). This means that while LGBTQ + people may experience rejection in other social domains (such as at school, church, or work), the buffer of acceptance from family is fundamental in developmental processes. ...
... This means that while LGBTQ + people may experience rejection in other social domains (such as at school, church, or work), the buffer of acceptance from family is fundamental in developmental processes. This underscores how acceptance from family is a vital protective factor for LGBTQ + people (Miller et al., 2020). ...
Family reaction to LGBTQ + identity is a complex developmental experience that can lead to various outcomes for LGBTQ + people. Prior scholarship has identified family rejection as a risk factor for poor mental, physical, and social outcomes and family acceptance as a protective factor. However, little scholarship has considered the developmental role of family reaction to LGBTQ + identity on offending and desistance trajectories or explored the experiences with family reaction among LGBTQ + people who have had contact with the criminal legal system. This paper addresses this gap in the literature by centering the role of family reaction to LGBTQ + identity among formerly incarcerated LGBTQ + people. More specifically, this paper draws on original data collected from life history interviews with 25 formerly incarcerated LGBTQ + people. This qualitative work considers (1) their experiences with family reactions, (2) family reaction as a developmental turning point, and (3) navigating the criminal legal system with complex family dynamics. Findings indicated that the majority of the sample encountered some form of rejection (subtle and/or explicit) from their families, which was shaped by other LGBTQ + family members and generational, structural, religious, and political factors. Family reaction functioned as a developmental turning point that impacted offending (rejection) and desistance (acceptance). This work holds important policy implications, including the need for support groups for LGBTQ + people experiencing family rejection inside and outside of criminal legal contexts.
... This may be due to family rejection after LGBTQ individuals disclose their sexual identity. Although it has been reported that family rejection reinforces the stigma in LGBTQ individuals (Hunt et al. 2017), many studies have revealed that LGBTQ individuals face a high rate of family rejection when they disclose their sexual orientation to their families and that risky health behaviors increase in LGBTQ individuals after family rejection (Hafeez et al. 2017;Miller, Watson, and Eisenberg 2020;Roberts and Christens 2021). This phenomenon may be attributed, at least in part, to the influence of social pressure on the family unit. ...
... Current research also suggests that religious affiliation can impede health access for some queer people (Miller et al., 2020). For instance, in religiously conservative environments, individuals may be reticent to disclose their queer identities and sexual practices to healthcare professionals due to the illegality and stigma attached to same-sex sexual relationships in their respective contexts. ...
The health and wellbeing of queer Muslims, a group positioned at the intersection of multiple marginalised identities, remains underexplored in academic literature. This scoping literature review critically analyses existing research on queer Muslim health using the 4M framework (Mega, Macro, Meso, Micro) to identify structural and individual determinants impacting health outcomes. The study highlights the profound influence of intersecting factors such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, geographic location, and socioeconomic status on healthcare access and health outcomes. Findings reveal that dominant epistemological assumptions about queerness and Islam perpetuate stigma, discrimination, and minority stress, leading to adverse health outcomes. Key barriers include inadequate funding, homonormative healthcare policies, and exclusionary cultural expectations within healthcare settings. Conversely, supportive familial, peer, and religious networks, along with access to digital resources, are identified as facilitators of better health outcomes. The review calls for culturally competent, strength-based models of care and emphasises the need for future research to address the diverse health experiences of queer Muslims across different regions and identities.
... LGBTQ-specific parental support was measured using eight-items modified from the Family Acceptance Project (see Miller et al., 2020;Pollitt et al., 2023). To date, this multi-item scale is the most widely used scale to measure LGBTQ-specific parental support among LGBTQ youth (Pollitt et al., 2023;Watson et al., 2020). ...
Introduction
Oftentimes as result of racism, cissexism, and heterosexism, many Latinx and sexual and gender minority (SGM) youth are victims of sexual harassment, sexual assault, and violence. These experiences of victimization are in part related to increased negative mental health outcomes such as decreased self‐esteem. Some research links LGBTQ‐specific parental support to mental health outcomes among Latinx SGM youth, yet, no research has explored the role of LGBTQ‐specific parental support with self‐esteem among Latinx SGM youth.
Methods
In a sample of 1,012 Latinx SGM youth (ages 13–17), we assessed: (a) associations between sexual harassment, sexual assault, and violence and self‐esteem, (b) association between LGBTQ‐specific parental support and self‐esteem, and (c) whether LGBTQ‐specific parental support moderated the relation between sexual harassment, sexual assault, and violence and self‐esteem. Main effect and moderation analyses examined interactions between LGBTQ‐specific parental support with sexual harassment, sexual assault, and violence on self‐esteem.
Results
Latinx SGM youth experienced low levels of LGBTQ‐specific parental support and various degrees of sexual harassment, sexual assault, and violence. Also, transgender and nonbinary/genderqueer Latinx youth experienced lower self‐esteem than their Latinx cisgender counterparts. Increased LGBTQ‐specific parental support was related to increased self‐esteem. We also identified a significant interaction between sexual harassment, sexual assault, and violence and LGBTQ‐specific parental support, such that parental support was more protective at low levels rather than high levels of sexual harassment, sexual assault, and violence among Latinx SGM youth.
Conclusions
Findings add to a growing body of research about the importance of LGBTQ‐specific parental support for Latinx SGM youth, and the need to examine culturally appropriate approaches to understand parent‐child relationship among these communities.
Abstract: This study centered on examining the relationship between psychological safety and psychological well-being among young adult participants in the LGBTQ+ community. With this, the study utilized a researcher-made, 4-point Likert scale questionnaire to assess psychological safety, which was adapted from Prof. Amy Edmondson’s theory and scale of psychological safety in work environment, alongside Prof. Carol Ryff's 42-item Psychological Well-Being Scale. The findings revealed that among 241 participants, 131 were openly expressive about their gender identity. Furthermore, the results demonstrated that majority of the LGBTQ+ young adults felt a greater sense of psychological safety with their peers compared to their family, the LGBTQ+ community, and the general community. In terms of psychological well-being, the participants have a moderate level of psychological well-being in all six areas considered specifically autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relations with others, purpose in life, and self-acceptance. Additionally, the birth order of LGBTQ+ young adults might play a role in how psychologically safe they feel in the perception and treatment by the general community. Furthermore, the study revealed that except from the general questions, other areas considered in the participants’ psychological safety do not have a significant relationship to some of the six dimensions of the participants’ psychological well-being.
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