Kristin M. Lindahl

Sexuality related social support among lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth.

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (“LGB”) youth may face significant stressors related to their sexual orientation. Few studies, however, have examined youth’s experiences of support for coping with these stressors. The current study compared LGB youth’s perceptions of support for sexuality stress to their support for other types of problems. The links between sexuality stress, sexuality support, and emotional distress were also examined. Ninety-eight LGB youth (ages 18–21, 33% female) rated support from family, heterosexual friends, and sexual minority friends for dealing with problems related, and not related, to their sexuality. From family and heterosexual friends, support for sexuality stress was less available than support for other stressors. Sexual minority friends provided the highest levels of sexuality support. In regression analyses, higher levels of sexuality support related to decreased emotional distress and buffered against the negative effects of sexuality stress on emotional distress. Sexuality support, although less available than other types of support, may be especially relevant to mental health among LGB youth.

Family Process Variables and Children's Disruptive Behavior Problems

Marital, parent-child, and family-level processes were examined for 4 groups of 7-to 11-year-old boys and their families: boys with no behavioral problems (control), boys with behavioral problems consistent with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), boys with behavioral problems consistent with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), and boys with behavioral problems consistent with ADHD and ODD. A discriminant analysis that used marital and family factors alone was able to correctly classify families into one of the 4 behavior problem groups with nearly 90% accuracy. The combination of parental commands and parental coercion separated the control group from the 3 clinical groups, but it was the combination of family cohesiveness and responsive and consistent parenting that best distinguished the 3 clinical groups from one another.

Couple power dynamics, systemic family functioning, and child adjustment: A test of a mediational model in a multiethnic sample

Power dynamics in the marital dyad and systemic elements of whole-family functioning (cohesion, subsystem boundary formations) were examined in relation to each other and also in relation to child adjustment in a multiethnic sample of families. Support was found for a mediational model, such that family functioning was found to mediate the relationship between marital power dynamics and childrens internalizing and externalizing behavior. Some support also was found for ethnicity as a moderator of the association between systemic family processes and childrens adjustment. Disturbances in family cohesion and subsystem boundaries were more strongly related to internalizing symptomatology for children in European American families compared to children in Hispanic American families.

The Role of Religion and Stress in Sexual Identity and Mental Health Among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Youth

This study investigated religious stress, gay-related stress, sexual identity, and mental health outcomes in lesbian, gay and bisexual adolescents and emerging adults. The model examined negative LGB identity as a mediator of the relationships between a) religious stress and mental health, and b) gay-related stress and mental health. The data indicated that negative LGB identity fully accounted for both relationships. Findings suggest that a negative sense of sexual identity for LGB youth helps explain the links between religious and gay-related stressors and mental health. As LGB youth may have limited control over these stressors, the importance of helping LGB youth maintain a positive LGB identity, despite homonegative messages from others, is discussed.

Family boundary structures and child adjustment: The indirect role of emotional reactivity

Structural and system theories propose that disruptions in family subsystem functioning increase risk for youth maladjustment. While there is growing evidence to support this proposition, studies that specifically focus on the larger family system remain relatively rare. Furthermore, the pathways that connect problems in family subsystem alliances to externalizing or internalizing problems in youth are as yet largely unexplored. This study examined youth emotional reactivity (anger and sadness) to family conflict as an indirect pathway of the association between family boundary disturbances and youth adjustment in a sample of two-parent families (N = 270). Observational coding was used to group families into Balanced, Dyadic, or Disengaged family alliance structures and to assess youth emotional reactivity, and parent-report was used to assess youth psychopathology. Structural equation modeling indicated both anger and sadness served as indirect pathways through which family boundary disturbances are linked with youth adjustment. In addition, gender was tested as a moderator and important gender differences were found. Specifically, boys were directly impacted by dyadic disturbances while girls were directly impacted by family disengagement. The findings help target goals for intervention and indicate that worthwhile objectives may include realigning family subsystem boundaries, changing family communication patterns, and improving affective coping skills for youth.

Examining Ethnic Differences in Parental Rejection of LGB Youth Sexual Identity .

Upward of 70% of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youth experience some degree of parental rejection of their sexual identity, which is problematic in light of research documenting links between parental rejection and psychological difficulties in LGB youth. Additionally, emerging research suggests that ethnic minority LGB youth may be at greater risk to experience parental rejection than ethnic majority LGB youth. However, this research is inconclusive and has significant gaps. The current study is one of the first to include a multiethnic sample of LGB youth and their parents to investigate how ethnicity may be related to parental rejection. Specifically, the current study examined ethnic differences in parental rejection as well as in intrapersonal variables (i.e., homonegativity and traditional gender role beliefs), which are thought to be related both to ethnicity and parental rejection. Additionally, indirect effects of ethnicity on parental rejection through homonegativity and traditional gender role beliefs were examined. Participants included 90 parents (ages 32–63) and their 90 LGB children (ages 15–24). Fifty-nine percent of the sample were ethnic minority. Significant ethnic differences were found in parental rejection and homonegativity, but not in traditional gender role beliefs. Homonegativity was found to fully mediate the relation between ethnicity and parental rejection. These results provide important information on why ethnic minority parents, in general, may have a more difficult time accepting their LGB children than ethnic majority parents.

Behavioral control dynamics and developmental outcomes in infants prenatally exposed to cocaine

This study longitudinally examined the associations between mother-infant interactions at 15 months and behavioral and cognitive outcomes at 36 months of age in a sample of at-risk, young children. Participants for the current study were 58 infants/toddlers prenatally exposed to cocaine and their maternal caregivers. These infants were from a low socioeconomic status background and were part of an intervention setting. When the children were 12, 15, and 36 months, they participated in research sessions with their maternal caregivers. Cognitive development at 12 months and maternal and infant behavior at 15 months were measured to predict behavioral and cognitive outcome at 36 months. Higher levels of maternal control at 15 months were marginally significant in predicting higher levels of problem behavior at 36 months whereas higher levels of infant resistance to control predicted lower levels of problem behavior. Furthermore, control-resistant behavior displayed by infants was a unique buffer against problem behavior, even after controlling for maternal factors and cognitive abilities. These findings suggest that maternal control attempts and infant reactions to those maternal control behaviors play an important role in the development of adaptive and maladaptive behavior patterns during early childhood.

Tools for Working with Spanish-Speaking Latino Couples

This chapter provides a treatment outline and handouts for therapists working with distressed couples. The treatment consists of seven modules that occur over 12–18, 1 h sessions. The outlines described in this chapter were informed by key principles from evidence-based treatments for couples. Module 1 covers the intake and assessment sessions, in which the goals are to build rapport and provide feedback to the couple. In Module 2, couples are taught communication skills (e.g., speaker/listener roles), and they also practice these skills with a low-conflict issue. In Module 3, couples work through gaining a deeper understanding of one or two moderate-/high-conflict issues. Module 4 addresses how couples can identify triggers for their arguments and also reviews how to use a time-out strategy. In Module 5, couples learn problem-solving skills, and couples apply these skills to a specific problem. Module 6 focuses on increasing intimacy, through completing fun activities together and changing behaviors. Finally, Module 7 addresses termination issues and how to plan for life after therapy. When relevant, the modules include handouts to be used in session, as well as homework handouts that couples complete at home to further practice the learned skills.

Marital Problems and Relationship Difficulties and Integrated Care Among Hispanic Populations

Although Hispanic couples experience marital distress at similar rates when compared to non-Hispanic couples, there is a disparity in the field in terms of access to evidence-based interventions for Hispanic couples. Given known associations between marital distress and individual emotional and physiological symptomatology, and barriers to obtaining behavioral health care, improving access to marital interventions through primary care services, using an integrated care model, is promising. A key component to an integrated behavioral health care approach would be to teach physicians about screening tools for marital distress. Many empirically supported, brief screening measures exist, and through routine use by medical professionals, marital distress could be more easily detected and treated. Once risk for marital distress is determined, the next step for low-distress couples would be for health professionals to provide information and education about marital health, including marital distress prevention programs. If this step is not sufficient, the second step would be to provide couples with information about brief or web-based interventions. Finally, for more severely distressed couples, an appropriate referral would be to empirically supported, in-person treatment. There are a variety of evidence-supported options for treating couple/marital distress. Few programs are directly tailored to the needs of Hispanic couples, but suggestions for possible modifications or specific issues to be addressed are reviewed in this chapter. Future research is needed to make adaptations to empirically supported interventions that are more culturally sensitive.