The Effects of Gender Role Perception and Stigma Consciousness On Parents' Concerns about Having Gay or Lesbian Children

Purpose: Parents of gays and lesbians have had various reactions upon learning about their children's sexual orientations due to the stigma surrounding homosexuality. While available research provides a contextual understanding of both parent-oriented concerns (e.g. fear of having no grandchildren), and child-oriented concerns (e.g. fearing for their child's physical safety), an examination of the specific concerns, their magnitude, the influence of stigma and gender role perceptions on parents' concerns, and differences based on the gender of the parent is lacking. This study's examination of the relationship between parental concerns about having gay or lesbian children, gender role perception, and stigma consciousness begins to bridge the literature gap in this area, with the following research question being investigated: What are the specific concerns of parents about having gay or lesbian children and how do factors such as gender, gender role perceptions, and stigma consciousness relate to these concerns?

Methods: The organization Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) served as the sampling frame. A cross sectional survey was administered in 2007 to a nonprobability sample of heterosexual parents of gay or lesbian children who attended one of the national PFLAG chapters. The study invitation was sent to the PFLAG chapter contact via their email address. The PFLAG contact forwarded the invitation to eligible parents in their chapters. Parents wishing to participate went to an online data collection website to complete the survey. The survey included questions about demographics, gender-role perception, social desirability, stigma consciousness, and concerns parents may have experienced upon learning about their children's sexual orientations. Parent's gender-role perceptions were assessed via the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ). Socially desirable responses were assessed using the Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding (BIDR). Stigma consciousness was assessed via the Stigma Consciousness Questionnaire (SCQ). Finally, parents concerns about having gay or lesbian children were assessed using the COPLAG scale. Data analyses included descriptive statistics, bivariate, and multivariate analyses in the form of regression analyses.

Results: Mothers had significantly higher mean concern scores than fathers upon learning of their children's sexual orientations. Similarly, differences were found in the overall mean concerns of parents (both mothers and father) who scored highest in relation to feminine gender role attributes. A standard multiple regression revealed a two predictor model of femininity (â = .23, p<.001) and stigma consciousness (â = .40, p<.001) producing an adjusted R2 of .23 [F (2, 163) = 26.07, p<.001) for the prediction of parental concern. After controlling for social desirability, no significant effect between the related factors and overall parent concern was present.

Implications: These findings can assist practitioners working from a strength-based approach identify parent concerns as healthy concerns and redirect parents to a more accepting stance of their gay or lesbian child. Because parents' gender role perceptions and stigma were so influential in shaping their concerns, further research is warranted to assess the best way to focus gender-specific therapeutic interventions.