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Open Paper

LGBTQIA+

Minority Stress, Stigma, and Intersecting Vulnerabilities Among LGBTQIA+ Individuals

2 - (OP13) Heterogeneous Stress Crossover in Sexual and Gender Minority Families

Friday, June 26, 2026
9:26 AM - 9:47 AM PDT
Location: Golden Gate C2, B2 Level
Keywords: LGBTQ+, Stigma, Families
Recommended Readings: Rodriguez, V. J., & Shaffer, A. (2021). Validation of the Regulating Emotions in Parenting Scale (REPS): Factor structure and measurement invariance. Journal of Family Psychology, 35(4), 468–477. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000808,   Liu, Q., Tang, M., & Rodriguez, V. J. (2025). Stigma experiences of sexual and gender minority parents and offspring mental health. JAMA Network Open, 8(4), e254502. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.4502,   Marceau, K., Yu, L., Knopik, V. S., Ganiban, J. M., & Neiderhiser, J. M. (2022). Intergenerational transmission of psychopathology: An examination of symptom severity and directionality. Development and psychopathology, 34(5), 1767-1780.,   ,  

    Author(s)

  • Kiyan Irani, M.A.

    PhD Student, Clinical Psychology
    Boston University
    Boston, Massachusetts, United States

    • Co-Author(s)

  • Qimin Liu, Ph.D.

    Assistant Professor
    Boston University
    Boston, Massachusetts, United States

  • VR

    Violeta Rodriguez, Ph.D.

    Assistant Professor
    University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign
    Champaign, Illinois, United States



Background: Intergenerational stress transmission models suggest that caregiver adversity shapes children’s socioemotional development through stress “spillover” within caregivers and stress “crossover” to offspring. Yet most work assumes a single pathway and rarely examines families in which caregivers experience chronic minority stress. This study tested heterogeneity in stress crossover among sexual and gender minority (SGM) parents and their children.

Methods: SGM caregivers (N = 568; children aged 3–17) in the United States completed a cross-sectional survey. Caregivers reported everyday discrimination, depressive and anxiety symptoms, physical health, discrimination attributions, and parenting-specific emotion regulation (adaptive strategies, rumination, suppression). Children’s difficulties were measured with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity/inattention, peer problems). We estimated multivariate mixture regressions, jointly modeling the four child problem subscales as continuous outcomes regressed on caregiver discrimination, psychopathology, physical health, minority statuses, and parent and child age. Emotion regulation and discrimination attributions were tested as concomitant correlates.

Results: A two-class solution best balanced fit and parsimony. The Attenuated Crossover class showed weak or null links between caregiver stressors and child problems. The Discrimination-Sensitive Crossover class showed strong associations between caregiver everyday discrimination, depression, and anxiety with children’s emotional and conduct problems. Concomitant analyses indicated that greater rumination and suppression increased the likelihood of Discrimination-Sensitive Crossover membership, whereas more adaptive parenting strategies predicted Attenuated Crossover membership. Attributing stigma to sexual orientation was associated with Attenuated Crossover, suggesting identity-based resilience to queer-targeted discrimination.

Conclusions: Findings indicate that stress crossover is not universal but depends on parenting-specific emotion regulation and how caregivers interpret stigma exposure.

Learning Objectives:

  • Describe how minority stress can “cross over” to child socioemotional outcomes in SGM families and incorporate adaptive parenting-specific emotion regulation and stigma meaning-making to reduce discrimination-sensitive stress crossover.