Young people who identify as LGBTQ+ were less likely to report symptoms of depression when they had general support from their parents, according to a 2023 study.
Previous research has examined parental support directly tied to a person’s LGBTQ+ identity, but the study, which was published by the University of Texas at Austin researchers in the Child Development journal, asked LGBTQ+ youth to answer how often their parents did things like say how proud they were of them or assisted them with activities.
Participants were also asked if their parents exhibited any psychologically controlling behavior, such as asserting their beliefs as the correct ones, whether their caregivers were aware of their LGBTQ+ identity, and what kind of thoughts and feelings they had been having in the previous two weeks.
“Our research showed that those who felt greater social support from parents tended to have fewer depressive symptoms, whereas those who reported greater psychological control from parents had more depressive symptoms,” said Amy McCurdy, a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Texas at Austin. “For youth whose parents did not know their LGBTQ identities, having a combination of high psychological control and high social support from parents was linked with greater depressive symptoms.”
Read more at NPR.org.
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