Surprise finding
Previous research has shown that current levels of parental support relate to better mental health, so Mr. Verdun initially thought children whose parents were consistently supportive or those whose parents became supportive over time would have the best mental health outcomes.
“But, interestingly, what I found was that people whose parents vacillated between being accepting and rejecting over time actually had significantly more mental health symptoms at the time of the assessment than people whose parents were consistently accepting or consistently rejecting,” he said.
Although the study provided evidence of better outcomes for those with consistently unsupportive parents, Mr. Verdun believes some hypotheses are worthy of further research.
One is that people with unsupportive parents receive support elsewhere and could, for example, turn to peers, teachers, or other community members, including faith leaders, and that symptoms of mental illness may improve with such support, said Mr. Verdun.
These individuals may also develop ways to “buffer their mental health symptoms,” possibly by cultivating meaningful relationships “where they’re seen as a complete and total person, not just in terms of their sexual orientation,” he said.
Gay and lesbian individuals may also benefit from “healing activities,” which might include engagement and involvement in their community, such as performing volunteer work and learning about the history of their community, said Mr. Verdun.
Mental health providers can play a role in creating a positive environment by referring patients to support groups, to centers that cater to gays and lesbians, to faith communities, or by encouraging recreational activities, said Mr. Verdun.
Clinicians can also help gay and lesbian patients determine how and when to safely disclose their sexual orientation, he said.
The study did not include bisexual or transsexual individuals because processes of identifying sexual orientation differ for those persons, said Mr. Verdun.
“I would like to conduct future research that includes bisexual, trans people, and intersectional groups within the LGBTQIA [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual] community,” he said.
Important research
Commenting on the study, Jeffrey Borenstein, MD, president and CEO of the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation and editor-in-chief of Psychiatric News, said the work is “extremely important and that it has the potential to lead to clinical guidance.”
The finding that levels of depression and anxiety were lower in children whose parents were accepting of their sexual orientation is not surprising, said Dr. Borenstein. “It’s common sense, but it’s always good to have such a finding demonstrate it,” he said.
Parents who understand this relationship may be better able to help their child who is depressed or anxious, he added.
Dr. Borenstein agreed that further research is needed regarding the finding of benefits from consistent parenting, even when that parenting involves rejection.
Such research might uncover “what types of other supports these individuals have that allow for lower levels of depression and anxiety,” he said.
“For this population, the risk of mental health issues is higher, and the risk of suicide is higher, so anything we can do to provide support and improved treatment is extremely important,” he said.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.