Emotional arousal and reflective functioning among parents participating in attachment-based family therapy for LGBTQ+ young adults and their nonaccepting parents

Objective: Parents’ rejection of their LGBTQ + young adults can have a negative impact on their young adult’s psychological welfare, and on the young adult-parent relationship. Parents’ ability to reflect on their child’s pain and unmet needs is thought to evoke empathy and compassion, and reduce rejection. Empirical and clinical evidence suggest that parents’ level of reflective functioning (RF) is impacted by their level of emotional arousal (EA). This study examined the association between parents’ EA and RF within the context of attachment-based family therapy for nonaccepting parents and their LGBTQ+ young adults. Methods: 43 therapy sessions drawn from six different cases were coded for parental RF and EA, based on 30-second segments. This generated a total of 343 observations for analyses. Results: Hierarchal linear modeling revealed that parents’ level of RF was a function of their concomitant EA, with moderate levels of arousal predicting the highest RF levels. Conclusion: Moderate EA may facilitate optimal parental reflective functioning. With nonaccepting parents, who typically present for treatment with high levels of maladaptive fear and shame, therapists would do well to assess their level of arousal and, when indicated, employ downregulating interventions before inviting them to reflect on their young adult’s experience and needs.