Impact of family environment on future mental health professionals' attitudes toward lesbians and gay men.
This study explored the relationship between dimensions of functioning in the family of origin of graduate students in helping profession programs and their attitudes toward lesbians and gay men. One hundred forty-three participants completed the Family Environment Scale (FES-R: Moos & Moos, 1986), the Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men scale (ATLG: Herek, 1994), and demographic questions. Results suggest that three family dimensions (conflict, intellectual-cultural orientation, and moral-religious emphasis) significantly predicted attitudes toward lesbians and gay men. The results also revealed that younger students held more negative attitudes toward lesbians and gay men than their older peers. Implications for educators, researchers, and practitioners are discussed.
Department of Rehabilitation, Human Resources, and Communication Disorders, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701, USA. dkissin@uark.edu
Daniel B
DB
Kissinger
Sang Min
SM
Lee
Lisa
L
Twitty
Harrison
H
Kisner
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D005195:Family Relations; D005260:Female; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology*; D018452:Homosexuality, Female; D018451:Homosexuality, Male; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011287:Prejudice; D011639:Public Opinion; D013336:Students, Health Occupations / Q000523:psychology*