Houses folded in on themselves A look at the development of sexual identity in adolescents and young adults in heteronormative families.

This paper presents some scientific contributions on the subject of the development of sexual identity in adolescents and young adults. In the field of psychology, investigating the development of sexual identity is particularly important to understand, plan and implement interventions to support queer children in the internal and external coming out process. Despite the fact that the international scientific world has registered a decline in the phenomena of discrimination and social control in the sporting, academic and school contexts, in 2021 Italy ranked last in the Rainbow Europe Map and Index. According to the Minority Stress Theory, many young people who identify with the queer community experience distal and proximal stressors which can lead to the development of: worry, relationship difficulties and/or anxiety, and depressive states. Among the main causes of this malaise is the internalisation of sexual prejudice, which is spread and perpetrated by the homophobic culture still present in the West. This report identifies the main individual, social and cultural factors affecting the well-being of these sexual minorities in order to design effective support strategies to be implemented in the family environment. Indeed, the family represents the primary social network through which individuals form their cognitions and values, where they initiate their first relationships, experience emotions and feelings, and learn emotional and relational skills, but also the first potential context of exposure and/or education to sexual prejudice. This paper, therefore, focuses on the relationship between: i) the family value system and external coming out; ii) coming out in the family and the level of family cohesion; iii) family support for individual autonomy and the public declaration of one’s sexual identity to family members; iv) having a stable romantic relationship and coming out in the family; v) the arrangement of friendships within the queer community, and the public disclosure of one’s sexual identity; vi) internalised sexual prejudice, by the adolescent himself and/or his loved ones, and coming out. This review also wishes to encourage an exploratory research project into family units resistant to accepting and welcoming LGBTQICAPF2K+ children, living in our country and referred to as heteronormative Italian families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]