Definitions and Measurement Tools for Assessing Parental Reactions to LGB People Coming Out: A Critical Review

Parental responses to young people's coming out as lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB) are a crucial experience in identity formation and subsequent mental health outcomes. However, how parents react to coming out varies and remains relatively imprecise in the literature. The aim of the present critical review was to explore and discuss the different definitions and measurement tools used in studies assessing perceived parental reactions to the coming out of LGB people aged 18 years and over. Following PRISMA guidelines, a review of 14 selected articles was carried out to examine the different tools used. Then, based on this selection of articles, a review of the different proposed definitions of parental reactions was carried out. Analysis revealed that the Perceived Parental Reactions Scale emerged as the most widely used and most appropriate international scale for capturing the diversity of perceived parental reactions. Then, parental responses were often addressed in a dichotomous manner, focusing primarily on acceptance or rejection. Future studies will need to consider a more nuanced approach to understanding parental reactions to coming out.