Development and Initial Validation of the Perceived Heterosexism Scale and the Preoccupation with Disclosure of Parents’ Sexual Orientation Scale

Abstract

In this study we develop and validate scales that capture experiences unique to children raised by gay or lesbian parents. The Perceived Heterosexism Scale (PHS) measures children's perception of their peers’ heterosexist biases towards gay- or lesbian-headed families, and the Preoccupation with Disclosure of Parents’ Sexual Orientation Scale (PDPSOS) measures children's preoccupation with disclosure of parents’ sexual orientation in a peer setting. Sixty-four adolescents of lesbian mothers (29 boys, 35 girls) completed the scales. Findings show that the scales display a clear one-factor solution and good internal consistency. We confirm the scales’ construct validity by examining their association with adolescents’ well-being. Both of the scales’ construct validities are strongly confirmed for boys and partially for girls. Further work is needed to assess the experiences that children of gay or lesbian parents have relative to heterosexism, and to explore factors that likely account for differences between boys and girls.

KEYWORDS:

• scale validation
• heterosexism
• sexual orientation disclosure
• adolescents
• lesbian mothers
• children of lesbian mothers

Notes

1. Sexual minority is an umbrella term referring to people's sexual orientation, including (1) self-identified lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, transgender, two-spirit, intersexual, queer (LGBTTTIQ); or (2) people having sex with people of the same sex without endorsing a specific identity. Some people use the term queer as a generic term for all non-heterosexual identities.