title: Coming out during adolescence: Perceived parents' reactions and internalized sexual stigma.
abstract: Disclosing sexual orientation to parents is a challenging developmental task for lesbian and gay adolescents. The aim of the study is to investigate parental negative reaction to coming out, which is associated with high levels of internalized sexual stigma and psychological problems. Participants' perceptions of their parents' reactions, age at coming out, gender, parental political orientation and religiosity, family functioning, and internalized sexual stigma were assessed in 150 Italian homosexual adolescents. Findings confirm that negative parental reactions are connected to poor family functioning and strong beliefs in traditional values. Path analysis results identified that negative reaction to coming out mediates the effect between a more rigid family functioning and internalized sexual stigma. Implications for clinical and social fields are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Sapienza University of Rome, Italy roberto.baiocco@uniroma1.it.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Baiocco
authors.affiliation: Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Lilybeth
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fontanesi
authors.affiliation: Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Santamaria
authors.affiliation: Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Salvatore
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ioverno
authors.affiliation: Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Baumgartner
authors.affiliation: Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Fiorenzo
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Laghi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D005195:Family Relations / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D018452:Homosexuality, Female / Q000523:psychology*; D018451:Homosexuality, Male / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D012650:Self Disclosure; D012737:Sex Factors; D057545:Social Stigma
keywords: adolescence; family; gender; protective factors; sexuality