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The present study explores how coming out to parents – in terms of both status (being out vs. not) and, if out, experience (continuum from rejection to acceptance) – affects trans people's mental health. Participants were 509 young adult trans individuals from Germany (community-based sample; 50% gender binary, 50% nonbinary; 16-35 years). The cross-sectional online study used standardized measures of coming out response, social support, and mental health. More participants were out to their mother than their father, but mothers did not respond with more acceptance. At the bivariate level, coming out experience, but not coming out status, was positively related to mental health. At the multivariate level, parental support mediated the association between both coming out variables and mental health. That is, trans people who were out to their parents and, if out, had a positive coming out experience received more parental support, which, in turn, was conducive to their mental health. There were no substantial differences between maternal and paternal effects, and effect sizes were equal for coming out status and experience. This study confirmed the crucial role that parents play when it comes to their child's coming out as trans – by accepting their child's gender identity early on and providing them with support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract:Introduction: This study examined the sources and factors of resilience in Russian sexual and gender minorities. We hypothesized that, through their involvement in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community (source of resilience), LGBT people establish friendships that provide them with social support (factor of resilience), which in turn should contribute to their mental health. Method: The study sample consisted of 1,127 young and middle-aged LGBT adults (18 to 50 years) from Russia. We collected the data online and anonymously. Results: Partial mediation could be confirmed. LGBT people who were involved in "their" community reported more social support from friends, which partially mediated the positive association between community involvement and mental health. The mediation remained significant when we controlled for demographics and outness as potential covariates. Additional analyses showed that the present sample reported lower mental health but not less social support than Russian nonminority samples recruited in previous research. Conclusion: Our study underlines the importance of the LGBT community in times of increasing stigmatization of sexual and gender minorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract:Introduction: Against the backdrop of increasing body image concerns among men, the present study examined two factors that might underlie men's baldness distress: rigid perfectionism and anxiety about physical aging. Methods: An international sample of 355 men with varying degrees of baldness and an age range of 19 to 64 years were surveyed. Results: As hypothesized, participants scoring high in rigid perfectionism showed higher levels of baldness distress. This association was partially mediated by anxiety about physical aging. The mediation was not further moderated by participants' age, degree and duration of baldness, cultural context, or racial identity, which underlines the generalizability of results. Discussion and Conclusion: The discussion centers around the partial rather than complete mediation by aging anxiety and implications of the findings for supporting balding men in the public health domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Androgenetic alopecia (AGA) practitioner care may be hampered by commercial biases and hair loss' omission from most medical curricula. Aim and Method: Between November 2020 and September 2021, 34 AGA professionals (86% British; 62% trichologists), participated in a pilot, mixed‐methods, survey. Practitioner views on: 1a–1j) AGA's commercial influences (e.g., participants were quantitatively assessed on their understanding of a popular, commercially‐funded, AGA study) and 2a–2h) constraints on evidenced‐based AGA responding (e.g., ethical dilemmas) were assessed. Quantitative responses are reported descriptively whilst qualitative responses are categorized alongside illustrative quotes. Results: On average, (1a–1d) 42% of participants were misled by the popular AGA study and (1e) participants underestimated the extent of commercial biases in AGA research as 25%; (2a–2e). Participants also indicated that AGA treatment limitations and misinformation ethically challenged them (e.g., "[It's difficult to know when] to treat or not without being able to confirm the outcome"). (2c) Most (77%) indicated society played a powerful role in exacerbating AGA distress (e.g., "Society is hyper critical of appearance") and 30% indicated greater "treatment" accessibility was needed: (e.g., "hair loss product [should] give clear indication of what the active ingredients are and how effective they are"). Conclusions: Despite the limited sample size, these finding cohere with previous identified challenges of the AGA practitioner role. Evidence based guidance and research scrutiny tools would help practitioners overcome such challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a multifactorial sexual orientation identity model, this study examined how lesbian and gay (LG) identity formation is associated with relationship status and relationship satisfaction. Data stem from a sample of 1,190 LG individuals (18–40 years; 47% female). Using a variable-centered approach, LG identity formation, as indicated by eight factors, was unrelated to relationship status (60% were in a relationship) but substantially related to relationship satisfaction. The correlation pattern, however, was complex. The picture was clearer when using a person-centered approach. Two profiles were identified, indicating affirmed versus struggling LG identities. Participants classified as affirmed identities were more than twice as likely to be in a relationship, and those in a relationship reported substantially higher levels of relationship satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, we examined whether pressing developmental tasks, that is identity formation and generativity, and personality traits predict nursing home residents' and students' willingness to take part in an intergenerational encounter program. A total of 406 students and 114 nursing home residents reported on personality traits, age-relevant developmental tasks, and their willingness to participate in the program. Analyses verified that higher levels of openness were positively associated with participation willingness in both age groups. In addition, lower self-concept clarity among students and higher concern for generativity among older adults predicted their willingness for program participation. Findings are discussed with respect to their relevance for the planning of similar intervention programs in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Men’s baldness can be structurally stigmatized. For example, commercialized psychology research medicalizes it as a distressing “disease.” A mixed-methods survey on baldness stigma among 357 balding men (49% from Central- and South- America, Africa, Asia) was conducted. Qualitative and quantitative responses were content analyzed into two approximate sets: those (1) impacted by baldness stigma versus (2) those resisting baldness stigma. (1) The former included about half who had internalized baldness stigma agreeing it was disadvantageous (44%) and reporting distress (39–45% e.g. “[I] dread the future”). Participants reported baldness was stigmatized structurally (68%; e.g. “[it’s a] humiliating image”) and were attempting to combat their baldness largely via “treatments” (57%). (2) The latter participant response set resisted baldness stigma by reporting minimal distress, and structural stigma whilst accepting baldness (33–61%). Psychosocial and evidence-based support is needed to help some men resist baldness stigmatization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This pilot study examined the effects of a newly developed intergenerational program on self‐concept clarity (SCC) of adolescent participants. Method: In 12 encounter groups, 58 secondary school students and 50 nursing home residents shared their life stories and discussed existential questions about life (e.g., important values in life, how to deal with failure and regret). The life story encounter program (LSEP) is based on the dyadic Life Story Interview and was expanded into a group format consisting of ten 90‐min sessions. SCC was measured with the SCC Scale before, shortly after, and three months after the end of the LSEP. Results: Analyses suggest that adolescent LSEP participants' SCC improved compared to a control group (no LSEP participation). Findings also indicate that increases in SCC were associated with LSEP participants' extraversion and agreeableness. Conclusions: The LSEP is a promising program for fostering SCC in adolescence. Implications for the application of the LSEP are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examined the impact of sexual orientation on heterosexuals' judgment of parental competence. Using a vignette approach, Study 1 presented participants with a lesbian, gay, or heterosexual couple who desired to have a child, either as adoptive parents or, in an additional heterosexual target condition, as biological parents. Study 2 presented a lesbian, gay, or heterosexual parent couple; heterosexual targets were either adoptive parents, reflecting the LG target conditions, or biological parents. Contradicting Hypothesis 1, neither target sexual orientation nor way to parenthood (with the latter varied in the heterosexual target condition only) had an impact on parental competence attributions. Confirming Hypothesis 2, participants with personal contact with lesbian and gay (LG) people provided higher ratings of LG target parental competence, mediated by positive attitudes toward homosexuality. Importantly, this mediation did not occur in the heterosexual target condition, corroborating the specificity of the intergroup contact effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]