Disclosure to family and well-being among bi+ youth: The role of authenticity and family bullying.
The visibility management of bi+ individuals involves a continuous negotiation between the pursuit of authenticity and the risks of rejection or violence associated with disclosure. Within the family—a key developmental context for youth—bi+ identity disclosure is often selective, and its impact on...
| Published in: | Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality Vol. 34; no. 3; pp. 351 - 371 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
| Format: | research tables/charts Journal Article |
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University of Toronto Press
Dec2025
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=190389434&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 190389434 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 11884517 1QX jtl: Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality issn: 11884517 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Dec2025 vid: 34 iid: 3 pid: 678 pub: University of Toronto Press place: North York, Ontario artinfo: ui: 190389434 190389434 190389434 10.3138/cjhs-2025-0020 190389434 ppf: 351 ppct: 20 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P tig: atl: Disclosure to family and well-being among bi+ youth: The role of authenticity and family bullying. aug: au: Caravecchia-Pelletier, Zoé Blais, Martin Gervais, Jesse Boislard, Marie-Aude affil: Department of Sexology, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada sug: subj: Bisexuality Coming Out (Sexual Orientation) Family Psychosocial Factors Bisexual Persons Psychosocial Factors Psychological Well-Being Bullying Family Attitudes Attitude to Sexuality Family Relations Self Concept Mental Health Evaluation Human Funding Source Canada Male Female Adolescence Adult Mediation Analysis Secondary Analysis Sexual Orientation Gender Identity Hardiness Empowerment Cross Sectional Studies Nonexperimental Studies Conceptual Framework Descriptive Statistics Data Analysis Software Linear Regression Scales Structural Equation Modeling Questionnaires Youden's J Statistic Confidence Intervals Financial Stress Sexual and Gender Minorities Psychosocial Factors Violence Minority Stress Support, Psychosocial Stress, Psychological Psychological Distress Adolescent: 13-18 years Adult: 19-44 years Male Female ab: The visibility management of bi+ individuals involves a continuous negotiation between the pursuit of authenticity and the risks of rejection or violence associated with disclosure. Within the family—a key developmental context for youth—bi+ identity disclosure is often selective, and its impact on youth's well-being remains underexplored. This study examines how authenticity mediates the relationship between family disclosure and well-being among bi+ youth, and how family bullying mediates or moderates this association. It also explores whether these dynamics vary by developmental period. Data were collected through a pan-Canadian online survey (2019–2020), with an analytical sample of 954 bisexual and pansexual youth aged 15–29. Using causal mediation analyses, we tested two models, controlling for sexual orientation, gender identity and modality, racialized status, living arrangement, financial stress, and developmental period, after confirming the absence of a moderating role. Results indicate that authenticity mediated the positive relationship between disclosure to family and well-being among bi+ youth. This indirect effect was either part of a joint mediation involving family bullying, or moderated by it, becoming non-significant when family bullying was present. These findings underscore the detrimental role of family bullying in preventing disclosure from fostering authenticity and, consequently, well-being. Future research should further investigate the complex family dynamics surrounding bi+ youth disclosure, particularly how authenticity and family bullying interact with other family characteristics such as parental and sibling support, family structure, and cultural norms. Examining the directionality of these relationships longitudinally and identifying the subgroups or contexts where family bullying acts as a mediator or a moderator will be key for future research seeking to disentangle these effects. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: research tables/charts Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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