The Role of Family Support for the Well-Being of Italian LGBTQ + Young Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Family acceptance or rejection has mediating effects on the mental health of LGBTQ + young adults. Restrictive measures imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic forced many of these individuals to exclusively interface with their family of origin, with significant consequences on their psychological well-being. This study aims to explore, from a qualitative perspective, the subjective experience of Italian LGBTQ + young adults during the COVID-19-related home isolation. An online semi-structured interview with 13 questions was administered to a sample of 25 participants. Inclusion criteria consisted of being aged 18 years or older and having spent at least one of the three pandemic waves with the family of origin in Italy. The interviews have been processed using the Thematic Analysis methodology. The findings of the present work showed that Italian LGBTQ + young adults perceived increased distress due to a lack of privacy and acceptance from their family members, which led to forced coming-out and repression of free expression. However, some participants perceived greater psychological well-being because they experienced the family environment as safe and supportive to explore their minority identities. The presence of coping strategies also emerged, such as resilience and avoidance.

Keywords:

• LGBTQ+
• family support
• mental health
• minority stress
• covid-19

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Dr. Alessio Gubello who took part in the study “Social Network Support and Psychological Well-Being among young LGBTQ + persons during the COVID-19 pandemic - Follow-up Phase through interviews.” We also appreciated the support of national and regional LGBTQ + associations that helped us to spread our research project. Finally, we would like to express our deepest gratitude to all the participants for sharing their experiences with us.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Department of Women’s and Children’s Health University of Padua under Grant 2019 Budget Integrato Ricerca Dipartimenti—BIRD195080.