LGBTQ Youth & Families

Research shows that families of origin serve as one of the largest early influences on LGBTQ people’s health and well-being. Our team closely examines the relationships between LGBTQ youth and their parents, siblings, and other family members to better understand how families can adapt to and support their child's LGBTQ identity. We use a range of methodological and theoretical approaches in this line of research and are particularly driven by the potential to positively impact LGBTQ youth's mental health through these efforts. For instance, we have employed longitudinal cohort studies to identify the early emergence of the sexual orientation disparity in depression and to study the role of parent support in LGBTQ youth’s neurological and behavioral responses to social rejection. We are also currently conducting several clinical trials of interventions to help parents support their LGBTQ children’s mental health and of LGBTQ-affirmative CBT to directly support LGBTQ young people.

• Seager van Dyk, I., Clark, K. A., Dougherty, L. R., & Pachankis, J. E. (2022). Parent responses to their sexual and gender minority children: Implications for parent-focused supportive interventions. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/sgd0000589
  
• Clark, K. A., Dougherty, L. R., & Pachankis, J. E. (2021). A study of parents of sexual and gender minority children: Linking parental reactions with child mental health. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/sgd0000456