Parental Support, Depressive Symptoms, and LGBTQ Adolescents: Main and Moderation Effects in a Diverse Sample

Abstract

ABSTRACT Objective Research has documented the importance of parental support as a protective factor against depressive symptoms among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth. In this study, we assessed the relations between LGBTQ-specific parental support and depressive symptoms. Method Participants were 6,837 LGBTQ youth (ages 13–17) with diverse racial and ethnic, gender, and sexual identities. Main effect and moderation analyses examined interactions between LGBTQ-specific parental support with demographic variables on depressive symptoms, considering demographics as moderators. Results We found that participants of color reported less LGBTQ-specific parental support than their White counterparts, that transgender and genderqueer participants reported less LGBTQ-specific parental support than their cisgender counterparts, and that non-monosexual participants reported less LGBTQ-specific parental support than their monosexual counterparts. Disparities in depressive symptoms were found for individuals who identified as Native American and Latinx, non-monosexual, and transgender and genderqueer, such that these groups reported higher levels of depressive symptoms. Further, we found a significant interaction between LGBTQ-specific parental support and ethnicity, with LGBTQ-specific parental support being less strongly associated with participants who identified as Latinx compared to those who did not identify as Latinx. We also found a significant interaction between LGBTQ-specific parental support and gender identity, with LGBTQ-specific parental support being more strongly related to depressive symptoms among participants who did not identify as boys compared to cisgender boys. Discussion We discuss how to assess the impact of interlocking systems of oppression when working with LGBTQ youth and their parental figures.