Parental acceptance is a vital protective factor for lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) individuals’ mental health.LGB people who face parental rejection are at high risk for mentioned health problems, such as suicide, depression, and substance use. In China, due to the deep-rooted cultural value of filial piety, many LGB children feel obligated to maintain their family relationships despite being rejected by their families, thus increasing their secondary harm risks.
Yurun Ying, and Assistant Professor Gu Li, together with Professor Pekka Santtila, from NYU Shanghai, published their research on the Family Process exploring various predictors of Chinese heterosexual persons’ attitudes toward potentially having an LGB child. In this study, 700 participants, who identified as exclusively heterosexual and were not parents of an LGB child, self-reported their attitudes toward potentially having an LGB child, causal attribution, beliefs about the changeability of sexual orientation, beliefs in both negative outcomes of being LGB and traditional gender, as well as the frequency of exposure to LGB individuals.
The research found that beliefs about the changeability of sexual orientation and the negative outcomes of being LGB (e.g., HIV infection) were associated with more negative attitudes and less positive actions toward potentially having an LGB child. Moreover, exposure to LGB individuals was associated with fewer negative attitudes and more positive actions toward potentially having an LGB child.
The findings of this research revealed vital factors predicting Chinese individuals' attitudes toward LGB children, which additionally pointed out promising directions for family therapists and counselors working with Chinese LGB individuals and their parents to promote family acceptance of an LGB child. It is essential for therapists and counselors to discuss and practice with their LGB clients to choose the optimal strategies for coming out to their parents. Apart from this, professionals have the responsibility to emphasize to the people that sexual orientation may not be as changeable and LGB individuals can also live productive life.
To read the full article, please refer to:
Ying, Y., Santtila, P., & Li, G. (2022). Predictors of attitudes toward potentially having a lesbian, gay, or bisexual child among Chinese heterosexual adults. Family Process. https://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12842