Recent research has shown that parental support plays a crucial role in the mental health of youth who identify as LGBTQ.
As parents, we do not need to look far to recognize that our communities are facing a mental health crisis that is profoundly affecting the well-being of our children. According to Jonathan Haidt in The Anxious Generation (2024), rates of anxiety, depression, self-harm, and suicide among teens have risen sharply since the 2010s. Moreover, there is overwhelming evidence that LGBTQ youth experience significantly higher rates of depression compared to their cisgender, heterosexual peers.
Navigating the broader concerns surrounding adolescent mental health can be challenging—and this challenge may feel even more complex when parenting a youth who identifies as part of the LGBTQ community. Rest assured, many parents, including myself, have faced these concerns and maintained strong, healthy, and communicative relationships with our adolescents.
Many parents express a deep desire to support their LGBTQ-identifying teens but often struggle to know which skills and approaches best foster openness, trust, problem-solving, and communication. Below are several key parental factors that research has identified as influential to the mental health of LGBTQ youth.
1. Secure Attachment
Beliefs about a parental attachment figure’s responsiveness, accessibility, and consistent behavior greatly affect a child’s internal sense of self-worth and their relationship patterns. Securely attached children tend to hold positive models of themselves and others because their parents have demonstrated reliability, attunement, and sensitivity to their needs and strengths.
2. Parental Support
Research indicates that youth who perceive higher levels of parental support tend to report fewer depressive symptoms. Providing support involves offering affection and validation, modeling healthy coping strategies and emotional regulation, setting appropriate rules and boundaries, fostering social connection and academic engagement, and maintaining a safe and supportive home environment.
3. Psychologically Controlling Parental Practices
Conversely, studies show that youth who experience psychologically controlling parenting report higher rates of depression. Such practices include discouraging independence, threatening to withdraw support, pressuring children to change how they think or feel, using emotional manipulation (such as guilt or blame), and making affection conditional upon specific behaviors or achievements.
If you are a parent navigating the unique challenges of raising a child who identifies as LGBTQ, know that you are not alone—we are here to help. Our clinicians provide a supportive space to explore your experiences, offer guidance on effective ways to provide support, and help you strengthen trust and open communication with your child or teen.
Written by: Stephanie Surget, LCSW, Lead Clinical Supervisor
References
Haidt, J. (2024). The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness. Penguin Publishing Group.
