AbstractsPsychology

The purpose of this study was to examine perceived parenting behaviors (i.e., support, psychological control, conflict with parents, meeting parents??? general expectations, meeting parents??? dating expectation) on LGB emerging adults??? depressive symptoms and anxiety. The study was a cross-sectional, correlational design using self-report, survey data from 127 LGB emerging adults 18-25 years (M = 19.86). Most data came from a convenience sample of students in LGBT clubs at colleges and universities in the greater Los Angeles area. Bivariate correlations indicated perceived parental psychological control and conflict with parents were significantly and positively related to LGB emerging adults??? depression and anxiety. Perceived parental support, meeting parents??? general expectations, and meeting parents??? dating expectations were significantly and negatively correlated to depression and anxiety. Multiple regressions indicated the parenting variables accounted for significance variance in depressive symptoms (r2 = .24) and anxiety (r2 = .21). The perceived parenting variables were related in the expected directions; however, only the beta coefficient for parental psychological control was significantly related to depressive symptoms and anxiety. Parents, mental health care specialists, family counselors, as well as crisis centers may find the results of this research useful in understanding how parent-child relations relate to depressive symptoms and anxiety in LGB emerging adults.