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.

LGBTQIA+个体之父母常在子女出柜后报告经历困惑、压力、哀伤与失落。本研究旨在探讨此类经历是否与近期失去亲近之人者相似。进而，本研究旨在对比子女出柜者与处理丧亲之痛者之间在压力性生活事件整合与社会意义建构过程中的异同。此外，本研究亦旨在探究父母应对子女出柜的行为与他们的社会人口统计学特征及心理变量之间的潜在关联。样本包括194名经历了子女完成在线问卷的父母。结果显示，当前样本与丧亲样本之间无显著差异，尤其是在子女近期出柜的父母群体中。同时，似乎存在一些显著的相关性，如低分与年龄较大、子女的性别认同、高水平的alexithymic特质以及更为传统的性别角色信念等社会人口统计学和心理变量相关。这些发现揭示了两种经历之间的相似性及其影响因素，因此，它们可为父母如何应对这一事件提供参考。