Children’s Sexual Orientation and Estrangement from Parent in Young Adulthood

• In Event: 3523 - Family Section Refereed Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 min): Table 2: Family Relationships

Abstract

Objective: The present study examines sexual orientation differences in estrangement from parents among young adult children in the United States.
Background: the challenges that gay and lesbian children face in family have been well documented; however there has been little research exploring the impact of sexual orientation on family estrangement using a nationally representative population-based sample.
Method: Logistic regression models were applied to estimate the associations of children’s sexual orientation with the odds of emotional and physical estrangement from the mother and father, respectively, using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) Wave 4.
Results: The study found that having a non-heterosexual orientation is associated with elevated odds of emotional and physical estrangement from parents, whereas there was no difference in paternal physical estrangement between heterosexual or non-heterosexual young adult children.
Conclusion: since close ties between generations are central to support networks and quality of life for both parents and children, the sexual orientation gap may contribute to potential disparities in other life outcomes. Also, the study can fill the gap in the literature on family relations involving non-heterosexual individuals in the context of the growing diversity and complexity in the contemporary U.S. society.

Author

• Beenna Han, SUNY-Albany