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ERIC Number: ED516060
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2009
Pages: 102
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: ISBN-978-1-1096-6685-4
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
The Role of Social Support in Negative and Positive Affect of Parents of Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Individuals
Arm, Jennifer R.
ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, The University of Memphis
Prior research on parents of gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) people is significantly dated and has tended to focus on the experiences of parents as they learn they have a GLB child. This study sought to update and extend the research literature on parents of GLB people, by exploring associations between stress, social support, GLB related social support, parents' disclosure of their child's sexual orientation to others, and length of time since learning they have a GLB child with positive and negative affect. A second aim of the study was to investigate whether there were gender differences, for both parent's gender and child's gender, on the GLB related variables. Analyses were conducted on data that was collected in 2006 for a national internet based study on marriage amendments. There were 108 parents of GLB individuals included in analyses for this study. Stress was found to be significantly and positively related to negative affect and negatively related to positive affect. A significant positive association was found between social support and positive affect, in the presence of stress. Fathers in this sample had known of their child's sexual orientation longer than mothers. The study is limited in that participants were self-selected and were not drawn from a random sample. Further, there were more mothers in this sample than fathers. The results of this study suggest counseling psychologists and other mental health professionals may work with parents of GLB people to increase their social supports during times of stress. Further, community organizations may wish to conduct internal self evaluations to consider whether mothers and fathers who are members receive social support and, if so, the nature of the support that is provided. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway, P.O. Box 1346, Ann Arbor, MI 48106. Tel: 800-521-0600; Web site: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml
Publication Type: Dissertations/Theses - Doctoral Dissertations
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A