Peer-reviewed article
Worsening Perceptions of Family Connectedness and Parent Support for Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Adolescents.
Ryan J Watson, Hilary A Rose, Marion Doull, Jones Adjei, Elizabeth Saewyc ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study tracked how lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) adolescents in Canada perceived their family relationships between 1998 and 2013. While heterosexual teenagers reported improving family connectedness and parental support over this period, LGB adolescents experienced the opposite trend, with perceptions of family support generally declining. The gap between LGB and heterosexual youth remained significant throughout, suggesting that legal and social progress on LGB rights has not translated into better family relationships for LGB teenagers.
Key points
- Family connectedness and parent support increased for heterosexual adolescents from 1998 to 2013, but not for LGB adolescents
- LGB adolescents generally reported decreasing levels of perceived family connectedness and support across survey waves
- The decline was especially pronounced among LGB females
- Significant disparities between LGB and heterosexual youth persisted over the 15-year period despite societal changes
- Father support emerged as a particular area of concern for LGB adolescents
Limitations
The study is observational and cannot explain why these disparities exist or persist despite changing legal and social conditions. It does not evaluate any intervention or provide information about the underlying causes of worsening family relationships for LGB youth.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) adolescents often report compromised relations with their families. Given the recent changes in societal attitudes toward LGB individuals, in respect to rights for marriage and other legal statuses, we explore whether or not there has been a change in how LGB and heterosexual adolescents perceive their family relations over time. METHODS: Using the British Columbia Adolescent Health Survey from British Columbia, Canada (N = 99,373; M age = 14.8), we investigated the trends and disparities in family connectedness and mother/father support in four data sets from 1998 to 2013. RESULTS: We found that while levels of perceived family connectedness and parent support have increased for heterosexual adolescents since 1998, the same increases were not found for LGB adolescents. Among LGB participants, levels of perceived connectedness/support generally decreased in each survey waves, especially among females. Alarmingly, significant disparities in these perceptions remained for LGB youth over time. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings have implications for supportive interventions focused on LGB adolescents and their families and in particular, the role of father support.