LGBTQ+ youth experience significant inequality in mental health challenges compared to their heterosexual and cisgender peers, which can have long-term negative consequences. While parenting is a key protective factor that can promote resilience against such stressors, existing research on parenting is largely focused on general populations with a cis- or heteronormative lens, tends to focus on negative parental behaviors toward LGBTQ+ youth, and/or assumes a deficit approach. Building on pilot work, Lippold and colleagues will develop a measure of affirmative parenting of LGBTQ+ youth to identify strengths-based parenting strategies that can improve mental health outcomes.. The team will draft an initial scale based on pilot findings and prior literature. They will then seek independent feedback from a Delphi panel of four experts and conduct cognitive interviews with 20 LGBTQ+ youth. They will evaluate the structure, validity, and reliability of the measure and its association with other aspects of parenting and youth mental health. Finally, they will test for measurement equivalence of the AP-SYGMY by race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, and gender identity. The study may inform research and intervention development on affirmative parenting of LGBTQ+ youth.
Can the development of a parenting measure capture affirmative behaviors that may improve mental health outcomes for LGBTQ+ youth?
