When a child comes out: factors influencing the experience of a potentially stressful event in Italian parents.

Parents of LGBTQIA+ individuals often report experiencing confusion, stress, grief, and loss after their children come out. The current study explores whether this experience could resemble that of people who have recently lost someone close. This research, then, aims to compare the integration of stressful life events and social meaning-making processes in individuals whose children came out and those dealing with bereavement. Furthermore, it also aims to determine possible correlations between how parents cope with their children coming out and their socio-demographic characteristics and psychological variables. The sample includes 194 parents who experienced their children who completed an online questionnaire. Results show no significant differences between the present sample and the bereaved ones, especially considering parents who experienced their children coming out recently. There also seems to be a significant correlation between lower scores and several socio-demographic and psychological variables, such as advanced age, the gender identity of their child, high levels of alexithymic traits, and more traditional gender role beliefs. These findings show the resemblance between the two experiences and the influencing factors; therefore, they could inform how parents can be assisted in coming to terms with this event.

性少数群体（LGBTQIA+）子女的父母通常会在子女出柜后经历困惑、压力、悲伤与失落。本研究旨在探讨此类体验是否与近期失去至亲之人的群体体验相仿。据此，本研究旨在对比子女出柜的父母与丧亲群体在压力性生活事件整合及社会意义建构过程中的差异。此外，本研究还旨在探究父母应对子女出柜的方式，与其社会人口学特征及心理变量之间可能存在的关联。本研究的有效样本为194名曾经历子女出柜并完成在线问卷的父母。结果显示，本研究样本与丧亲群体之间不存在显著差异，针对近期刚经历子女出柜的父母群体而言尤为如此。研究还发现，较低得分与若干社会人口学及心理变量之间存在显著相关，具体包括年龄偏高、子女的性别认同、高水平的述情障碍特质，以及更为传统的性别角色信念。上述研究结果揭示了两类体验的相似性及其影响因素，可为协助父母接纳子女出柜这一事件提供实践参考。