Factors Associated With Psychological Distress in Parents of LGBT+ People

Abstract

Several studies have shown that parents of atypical children have poorer mental health than others. However, little attention has been paid to the health of parents of LGBT+ people. The present study therefore looked for factors that may generate psychological distress in the parents of LGBT+ people. More specifically, it examined the potential roles of stigma, social factors, and cognitive factors within Hatzenbuehler's psychological mediation framework. In this study, the following variables were measured among 167 parents in France with at least one LGBT+ child: parents' perception of discrimination, parental acceptance, perceived social support, stereotype endorsement, reasoning performance, and psychological distress (anxiety, depressive symptoms, and parental burnout). Structural equation modeling analyses were conducted to examine the relationships between stigma, cognitive factors, social factors, and psychological distress. Analyses revealed that parents' anxiety and depressive symptoms were both negatively associated with perceived social support and reasoning performance. Parental burnout was predicted by parental acceptance and stereotype endorsement (warmth dimension). The present study yielded many insights that may inform practice and future research. Our results highlight the importance of paying particular attention to parents' reasoning performance, perceived social support, and level of acceptance, in order to prevent or alleviate psychological distress.