Sexual Minority Adults: A National Survey on Depression, Religious Fundamentalism, Parent Relationship Quality &amp; Acceptance

Heiden‐Rootes, Katie; Wiegand, Ashley; Bono, Danielle

doi:10.1111/jmft.12323

Cited by 21 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…Through a qualitative investigation, Dahl and Galliher (2012) found that CO in religious environments could lead to both positive and negative outcomes, with the latter including feelings of inadequacy, religious-related guilt, depressive symptoms, and social strain. Additionally, high family religiosity has been found to be strongly associated with parents' rejection of LGBQ+ children (Baiocco et al, 2015;Snapp et al, 2015;Heiden-Rootes et al, 2019.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Coming-Out Process in Family, Social, and Religious Contexts Among Young, Middle, and Older Italian LGBQ+ Adults

et al. 2020

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The coming out (CO) process is fundamental for identity integration among LGBQ+ people, and its impact can vary greatly depending on personal and contextual factors. The historical, cultural, and social contexts in which LGBQ+ people develop their sexual identity can mediate the relationship between CO and health outcomes. The present study aimed at clarifying the CO process in three generations of Italian LGBQ+ people (young adults: aged 20–40 years; middle adults: aged 41–60 years; older adults: aged 61–80 years) by providing data on: (a) sexual orientation milestones, such as age of first awareness, age of first self-label, and age of first CO, as well as the rate of disclosure during different life stages; (b) the rate and average age of CO to significant others; and (c) CO within the religious context and its effect on participants’ minority stress experiences. A total of 266 Italian LGBQ+ people participated in the study, with ages ranging from 20 to 80 years (M = 41.15, SD = 16.13). Findings indicated that, on average, the older adult group became self-aware, self-labeled, and disclosed their sexual identity at a significantly older age than the other groups. Older adults were also more Catholic and had CO more frequently to their Catholic community, relative to young and middle adults. CO within the Catholic context was associated with distal and proximal minority stressors, such as discrimination, vigilance, and internalized sexual stigma. Catholic community reactions to participants’ CO were distinguished through thematic analysis in three main types: unconditional acceptance, invitation to change, and open rejection. The present research extended current knowledge on CO and minority stress experiences in different generations of LGBQ+ people. Several differences emerged between generational groups on sexual orientation milestones, highlighting the potential impact of historical and cultural contexts in determining sexual minorities’ experiences related to sexual identity. It is recommended that mental health professionals working with LGBQ+ clients implement targeted interventions based on their clients’ multiple salient aspects, including age and religious background. Clinicians should also be aware of the potentially detrimental effects of CO within an unsupportive context, rather than encouraging CO tout court.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Coming-Out Process in Family, Social, and Religious Contexts Among Young, Middle, and Older Italian LGBQ+ Adults

et al. 2020

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“…While semistructured interviews offered detailed descriptions of the psychotherapy experiences and connections to family, religious upbringings, and personal religious beliefs. This article is reporting on one part of a larger study on the experiences of LGBQ adults from religious families (see Heiden‐Rootes et al, 2018; Heiden‐Rootes et al, 2019). The study was approved by the authors’ university's IRB.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… c Family religious fundamentalism is an established measure with a range of 0–100. See Heiden‐Rootes et al 2019 for full description of the measure. …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In each of these studies the mean age ranged from 36 to 40 years old, suggesting these findings may not apply to LGBQ young adults. In addition, religious families are diverse in their responses to LGBQ people; likely based on the fundamentalist beliefs of their religious affiliation (Heiden‐Rootes et al, 2019) and the degree to which religious beliefs match family behavior. Thus, the relationship between sexual identity and religiosity and how it appears in psychotherapy requires a lens that considers the particular social locations and contexts of LGBQ people (e.g., age, religious beliefs, family, etc.…”

Section: Lgbq Young Adultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Minority stressors in families include rejecting behavior and language that are part of daily interactions and parent‐initiated efforts to change sexual orientation (Ryan, Huebner, Diaz, & Sanchez, 2009; Ryan, Toomey, Diaz, & Russell, 2018). Rejection of LGBQ young people within religious families is more common for those who hold fundamentalist beliefs (i.e., conservative, literalist, and immutable belief systems; Heiden‐Rootes et al, 2019; Ryan et al, 2018). It is not surprising that LGBQ adults commonly seek out psychotherapy and other mental health services to address these stressors and health concerns (Bieschke, McClanahan, Tozer, Grzegorek, & Park, 2000).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Freedom and struggling openly in psychotherapy: A qualitative inquiry with LGBQ young adults from religious families

Heiden‐Rootes

Ross

Moore

et al. 2020

J Marital Family Therapy

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Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) young people from religious families are at increased risk of family rejection, poor mental health outcomes, and are overrepresented in mental health services. This article describes a two‐part qualitative study aimed at exploring the experiences of LGBQ young adults from religious families in psychotherapy, identifying positive and negative psychotherapy experiences, and understanding the influence of family and religion on the psychotherapy experience. Data were collected through a web‐based survey (n = 77) and interviews (n = 7) with LGBQ young adults (ages 18–25) from religious families. The study followed an interpretative phenomenological approach. Integrated results found often invisible, relational therapy processes, and religious discourses as significant to LGBQ young people who seek psychotherapy. Implications for future research, effective systemic family therapy practices with LGBQ young people from religious families, and a critique on ethical and legal limits of confidentiality with policy implications are outlined.

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Working with Queer Couples

Heiden‐Rootes¹,

Addison²,

Pettinelli³

2020

The Handbook of Systemic Family Therapy

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Sexual Minority Adults: A National Survey on Depression, Religious Fundamentalism, Parent Relationship Quality & Acceptance

Cited by 21 publications

References 53 publications

The Coming-Out Process in Family, Social, and Religious Contexts Among Young, Middle, and Older Italian LGBQ+ Adults

The Coming-Out Process in Family, Social, and Religious Contexts Among Young, Middle, and Older Italian LGBQ+ Adults

Freedom and struggling openly in psychotherapy: A qualitative inquiry with LGBQ young adults from religious families

Working with Queer Couples

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