Factors that Moderate Parent’s Experience of Ambiguous Loss in Families with Gender Incongruent Youth

Abstract

Ambiguous loss is an identified type of loss that occurs when a loved one is here but not here; they are physically there but different from how you have known them. This study investigated feelings of ambiguous loss (AL) experienced by parents of gender incongruent children after the discovery or disclosure of their child's perceived gender identity. It examined (i) the correlation between AL and stress, anxiety, and depression levels and (ii) moderating effects of avoidant coping, the personality trait openness to experience, and perceived social support. Given the scarcity of available research on counseling strategies in family systems of transgender children, this study aims to bridge this gap and provide evidence to develop counseling procedures to reduce symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress and acknowledge parents' feelings of AL. The study hypothesized that the characteristics low openness to experience, high avoidant coping, and insufficient perceived social support predict higher stress, anxiety, and depression levels in parents experiencing AL. Participants were recruited at the Check-in counseling practice for children and adolescents with gender quests in the Netherlands. A self-report questionnaire format was used to capture participants' experience of AL; stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms; coping; personality; and social support. The results showed that near half of the parents experience AL, more mothers than fathers experienced AL, and mothers reported a significantly higher level of experienced AL. Furthermore, this study provides initial evidence suggesting a significant role of perceived social support and avoidant coping in reporting stress symptoms. Perceived social support also moderated anxiety and depression levels. Future longitudinal studies should be undertaken to better understand the mechanism of action and the predictive effect of these variables on AL.