Overcoming Obstacles by Enacting Resilience: How Queer Adolescents Respond to Being Estranged From Their Parents

Abstract

Queer adolescents experience compounding complications especially when they are estranged from their parents. Findings from a sample of 40 estranged queer adolescents revealed four triggers, five resilience processes, and three co-occurring relationships between the triggers and processes. Based on these findings, we advance the communication theory of resilience by (a) illustrating resilience enactments with an adolescent population, (b) introducing a new facet of putting alternative logics to work, and (c) arguing how access to LGBTQ+ vocabulary and embeddedness within the LGBTQ+ community can facilitate more and less resilient enactments. We also extend a new qualitative method, thematic co-occurrence analysis, to illuminate thematic ubiquity and inverse relationships between themes. Practical applications for primary/secondary school curriculum, counselors, and public policy are discussed.

Keywords

estrangement LGBTQ+adolescents communication theory of resilience thematic co-occurrence analysis

Adolescents (i.e., individuals between the ages of 10 and 19; World Health Organization [WHO], 2021) undergo dramatic changes pertaining to evolving identities, awakening sexuality, developing bodies, changing brain chemistry, and shifting relationships with parents (Eccles & Gootman, 2002; Zarrett & Eccles, 2006). For lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other sexual and/or gender identity minority (LGBTQ+) adolescents, this shifting parent-child relationship can be even more tumultuous if parents reject their children or become estranged because of their gender and/or sexual identity. Parent-child estrangement occurs when at least one family member voluntarily and intentionally distances themselves from another family member because of a negative relationship (Scharp, 2019). Furthermore, estrangement related to gender and sexuality disclosures, can be devastating, especially to certain populations (Adams, 2011; Alvarez & Scharp, 2021). For example, of the 30% of LGTBQ+ adolescents who were kicked out of their homes surveyed in one study, all of them were Black (Potoczniak et al., 2009). With this in mind, we argue there are intersecting disadvantages, some ubiquitous (e.g., being an adolescent, queer, and estranged) and some individual (e.g., being a person of color) for estranged queer adolescents (EQAs; this term reflects participant language use). In other words, in addition to the general complications of adolescence (Zarrett & Eccles, 2006), EQAs must navigate the stigma of being queer (Adams, 2011), estranged (Scharp & Thomas, 2016), and often but not always non-white (Siconolfi et al., 2019). In this regard, EQAs often lack many of the individual protective factors scholars have argued serve as the foundation for resilience from a trait-based perspective (see Garmezy & Rutter, 1983).

Despite conceptualizations of resilience that emphasize individual protective factors (i.e., trait-based definitions), an alternative way to conceptualize resilience is by foregrounding it as a “constitutive process through which people reintegrate and actively construct their new normal through language, interaction, networks, and attention to their identities and identifications, within their material environments and societal discourses” (Buzzanell, 2019, p. 68). Studies based on this definition and framed by the communication theory of resilience (CTR; Buzzanell, 2010, 2018, 2019) illustrate the ways people can respond to triggering events regardless of traits and despite discursive and material constraints (e.g., Hintz et al., 2021; Scharp et al., 2021). Put differently, the CTR focuses on how people can construct resilience for themselves. Yet, existing studies framed by the CTR have mostly featured adult populations (i.e., at least 18 years old). Thus, although shifting focus away from traits, findings still pertain to those who have more access to material and/or discursive resources (i.e., power granted by cultural ideologies) than adolescents who are neither old enough to legally work nor have the authority of being an adult (e.g., Scharp et al., 2020; Tian & Bush, 2020).

To extend what we know about communicative resilience (CR), an overarching aim of this study was to explore how EQAs enact resilience despite lacking many of the ideological and material resources available to the adult populations that inform our current understanding of resilience enactments. Thus, the first goal of the study was to identify the resilience triggers EQAs experience. Understanding these triggers are important because some difficulties might be more or less salient, or even overlapping (see Scharp et al., 2022). Understanding this goal holds promise for practitioners who want to design interventions that support EQAs, especially given that they are disproportionately unhoused (see Ecker et al., 2019) and more at risk for adverse outcomes (e.g., poorer mental health, greater victimization, increased substance abuse) than their heterosexual, cisgender counterparts (Ecker, 2016; Gattis, 2009). Our second goal was to identify the CR processes EQAs enact. Finally, our last goal was to understand whether CR triggers and processes overlap. Indeed, emerging research grounded in the CTR (e.g., Scharp et al., 2021; Tian & Bush, 2020) has illustrated that certain processes can correspond to particular triggers. Identifying the relationship between and among the triggers/processes can sensitize clinicians and network members to support the resilience processes that correspond to a specific trigger. Toward achieving these goals, we begin by detailing the complicated and difficult experience of EQAs before detailing the theoretical components of the CTR (Buzzanell, 2010, 2018).

The Complicated and Difficult Experience of Estranged Queer Adolescents

Researchers agree that resilience is a response to some sort of trigger(s) (Buzzanell, 2010, 2018; Masten, 2001). This is an essential component of CTR theorizing where a trigger is a catalyst that “sets human sensemaking in motion” (Buzzanell, 2010, p. 2). For EQAs, a multitude of disadvantages, complications, and disruptions might serve as resilience triggers.

The Complications of Adolescence

Adolescence (early adolescence 10–13; middle adolescence 14–17; late adolescence 18–19; WHO, 2021) is a tumultuous time in any person’s life. Eccles and Gootman (2002) argue that adolescents must negotiate, (a) shifting relationships with parents, (b) new social and sexual roles, (c) intimate partnerships, (d) social and personal identity formation, (e) planning for the future, and (f) acquiring the necessary skills to successfully transition into adulthood. Exacerbating the demands of these tasks, adolescents must also contend with physical and biological changes such as dramatic shifts to the shapes of their bodies, increased hormones, and alterations to their brain architecture (Zarrett & Eccles, 2006). Indeed, adolescent brains are in the process of frontal lobe development, which impacts self-control, judgment, emotion regulation, organization, planning, and ultimately cognitive capacities more broadly (Begley, 2000). Navigating these cognitive and emotional demands are difficult but often supported by positive parent-child relationships (Morris et al., 2017). As such, positive parent-child relationships become increasingly important to adolescents’ self-esteem and their overall ability to thrive (Roberts & Bengton, 1996).

Difficulties Associated With Estrangement and Ideological Differences

Despite the positive role many parents enact for their adolescent children, Zarrett and Eccles (2006) argue that families of origin can also serve as a serious risk for those who lack a supportive family environment. Research suggests that adolescents estranged from their parents might have had many adverse experiences (Scharp et al., 2015). In these situations, adolescents with negative family relationships can find themselves without social capital in the forms of financial, emotional, and achievement-related support (Zarrett & Eccles, 2006). Estranged children also report experiencing extreme grief, trauma, and stigma given that they live in a culture that believes (a) parents and children are forever connected through biology, (b) family webs create unending obligations and interactions, and (c) shared history is irreplaceable (Scharp & Thomas, 2016). Thus, it might come as little surprise that estranged children generally report chronic uncertainty (Scharp & McLaren, 2018) and a lack of support (Scharp, 2016).

Although the majority of research on parent-child estrangement pertains to adult children who initiated distance from their parents; ideological differences can also serve as a catalyst for estrangement (see Scharp & Dorrance Hall, 2019). One of the most difficult challenges an adolescent might face is coming out to their parents as queer (Adams, 2011). Conron (2020) estimates almost 2 million people between the ages of 13 and 17 are LGBTQ+ and Grafsky (2018) found that adolescents, on average, come out to their parents at the age of 16. Researchers suggests that even though some family members are supportive, LGBTQ+ individuals often experience hostility, rejection, estrangement, and even violence from their parents (Adams, 2011). EQAs are often unhoused (Ecker et al., 2019) and at increased risk of mental health disorders and suicidality (National Alliance on Mental Illness, 2017). To complicate an already complicated experience, a study about unhoused queer youth suggests 70% of adolescents are non-white (Siconolfi et al., 2019), suggesting that on top of the estrangement and the difficulties of coming out, EQAs might also have to contend with the racism, inequities, and disparities associated with being non-white in the US. This is salient for EQAs, considering researchers agree that the more risk factors adolescents experience or are exposed to (e.g., poverty, housing/food insecurity, abuse, etc.) the greater the likelihood of deleterious outcomes (Coleman & Hagell, 2007). In light of the intersecting complications of being an EQA, we pose:

RQ₁: What resilience triggers do estranged queer adolescents experience?

Communication Theory of Resilience

Researchers suggest that resilience is the key which determines why some people can cope with adversity whereas others cannot (Fergusson & Horwood, 2003). Resilience researchers have remarked on the “ordinary magic” of many adolescents to overcome tragedy and daunting social circumstances, suggesting that adolescents can possess “extraordinary strengths and inner resiliency” (Masten, 2001, p. 227). Yet, Buzzanell (2010, 2018, 2019) has problematized trait-based definitions of resilience, arguing instead that resilience can be enacted through communication in response to triggers. In doing so, Buzzanell (2018) emphasizes a person’s agency to help themselves craft normalcy rather than suggesting resilience is only available to those individuals born with it. Foregrounding communication aligns with the idea that resilience enactments could be essential to overcoming threats throughout the lifespan.

To enact resilience, Buzzanell (2018, 2019) argues that people can engage in five interrelated processes that can be both anticipatory and/or reactive. In other words, people might foster resilience prior to their triggering events or respond to the triggers when they arise. To do so, they might engage in: “(a) crafting normalcy, (b) foregrounding productive action while backgrounding negative feelings, (c) affirming identity anchors, (d) maintaining and using communication networks, and (e) putting alternative logics to work” ( Wilson et al., 2021, p. 100). People craft normalcy through developing new routines and rituals, sharing their story with others, and engaging in interactions that help create a new normal. When people background negative feelings and foreground productive action, they still acknowledge their emotions but do not let those feelings deter them from moving forward. To (re)affirm identity anchors, people perform salient parts of their identities as a reminder of what is meaningful to them. People also rely on their networks, and even build new ones, to garner supportive communication. Finally, people put alternative logics to work when they are able to reframe their situation to find humor in, or positivity that came from, the major disruption to their lives.

To date, researchers interested in CR have studied a variety of populations, processes, and contexts such as health care providers who lack access to personal protective equipment (Hintz et al., 2021), people who have migrated to the US (Scharp et al., 2021), and first-generation college students who transitioned to online learning during the pandemic (Scharp et al., 2022). These studies, in particular, draw attention to the role of power and material resources in resilience theorizing. Scharp et al. (2022) go as far to argue that power via privilege and access to material resources are a separate dimension of the CTR such that researchers should consider how CR triggers and/or processes might vary depending on people’s position of power. The attention recently paid to power might be particularly salient in the context of EQAs considering being an adolescent affords them less power compared to adults. Virtually no research framed by the CTR attends to the experience of adolescents or children. This gap in the literature is meaningful considering adolescents might not be able to enact the same communication processes and/or enact them in unanticipated ways given both their (non)access to power and the difficulties inherent to that stage of development (e.g., cognition and emotion issues; Begley, 2000). Filling this gap, then, is important because it will provide insight as to how, if at all, adolescents can enact resilience processes for themselves in their own way. With this in mind, we pose our second question:

RQ₂: What CR processes do estranged queer adolescents enact in response to their resilience triggers?

In addition to emphasizing the importance of power in enacting CR, researchers have also begun to take seriously the ways triggers and processes can overlap given how they are “socially constructed in holistic and intertwined systems” (Buzzanell, 2018, p. 103). For example, a study revealed that resilience processes were interwoven with (a) resistance, (b) realignment, (c) networks, and (d) transformative achievements (Tian & Bush, 2020). In another study, Scharp et al. (2021) examined the link between the CR triggers and processes to reveal two robust relationships that characterized migrant experiences. Specifically, they found that (a) alternative logics served to help migrants (b) overcome bureaucratic obstacles and that (c) leveraging networks, (d) reaffirming identity anchors, and (e) creating a new normal all were responses migrants enacted to overcome physical distance from important network members. Practically, this research illuminated how people might enact certain processes that address multiple triggers or how multiple CR processes might be necessary to overcome a particularly difficult trigger. Regarding the present study, research suggests that parental turmoil and other “risk factors tend to cluster or co-occur” (Coleman & Hagell, 2007, p. 6). Yet, Masten (2001) contends that one of the primary problems with existing research on adolescent risk and resilience is that researchers fail to recognize this co-occurrence. Thus, we pose our last research question:

RQ₃: What, if any, relationships exist between the resilience triggers and communication processes estranged queer adolescents report?

Method

Data Collection and Participant Demographics

After receiving Institutional Review Board approval, we recruited participants who met the following criteria: (a) were between the ages of 12¹ and 19 years old (i.e., adolescents), (b) were comfortable reading and speaking in English, and (c) were distanced from their parents due to their sexual and/or gender identity. To recruit participants, we announced the study at various LGBTQ+ youth centers and youth homeless shelters in the United States and on social media. We built a relationship with centers and shelters by explaining the goals of our research, describing our study, and asking them to post our participant recruitment flier. Overall, the recruitment process, due the pandemic, took a total of 2 years. After emailing to indicate their interest in the study, we then sent participants a demographic questionnaire asking them to report their age, gender, race, sexual orientation, and length of estrangement, before scheduling a narrative and semi-structured interview. This process yielded 40 unique participants whose interviews ranged from 19 to 82 minutes (M = 42.43, SD = 17.44), totaling 516 single spaced pages of data.

Our 40 participants were between the ages of 13 and 19 (M = 17.18, SD = 1.58), which meant the majority of our participants were in the upper range of middle adolescence (WHO, 2021), although we had participants in early and late adolescence as well. Fourteen (n = 14, 35%) were male, 14 (n = 14, 35%) were female, eight (n = 8, 20%) were trans male, and four (n = 4, 10%) were agender or gender fluid. Most participants were Black (n = 19, 47.9%), White (n = 7, 17.5%), multiracial (n = 6, 15%), Hispanic/Latinx (n = 5, 12.5%), Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (n = 2, 5%), and Asian (n = 1, 2.5%). The sexual orientation for participants was gay (n = 15, 37.5%), lesbian (n = 8, 20%), bisexual (n = 7, 17.5%), pansexual (n = 3, 7.5%), heterosexual (n = 2, 5%),² asexual (n = 2, 5%), other (n = 2, 5%), and queer (n = 1, 2.5%). Participants identified as being estranged from their parents, on and off again, for an average of 2.85 years (SD = 1.99, R: 0.8–6) and continuously for an average of 4.20 years (SD = 2.99, R: 1–12). One participant explained that their estrangement was gradual, and they do not remember when it truly began.

Data Analysis and Data Verification

For this analysis, we applied thematic co-occurrence analysis (TCA; Scharp, 2021). TCA is a method that allows researchers to explore the qualitative relationship between and across developed themes. The first step of TCA is to conduct a thematic analysis. We used Braun and Clarke’s (2021) phases of reflexive thematic coding including (a) data familiarization and writing familiarization notes, (b) systematic data coding, (c) generating initial themes from coded and collated data, (d) developing and reviewing themes, and (e) refining, defining, and naming themes, before (f) writing the manuscript.³ For RQ2, we added an additional layer of analysis to compare the themes to Buzzanell’s (2018) five CR processes. Once themes emerged, we applied them to Owen’s (1984) standards of recurrence (i.e., how often they emerged), repetition (i.e., whether they were described with same or similar words), and forcefulness (i.e., the extent to which they were detailed and emphasized).

Scharp (2021) explains that the second step of TCA requires that the researchers create a co-occurrence matrix (see Table 1). A co-occurrence matrix illustrates whether (i.e., how recurrent, and repetitious) and to what extent (i.e., how forceful) a theme manifests in each of the participants’ accounts. We went row by row marking an X every time a theme emerged in a participant’s talk. We added a + after each X if the utterance was forceful.

Table 1.

Co-Occurrence Matrix of Participants.

Participant	Triggers				Communicative resiliency processes
Participant	Negative reactions	Educating others	Ideological differences	Access to resources	Comm networks	Crafting normalcy	Alternative logics	Productive action
1	U			C1	U+	B1	B2
2	U	X	X+		U	B1	B2
3	U	X			U		X	C2+
4	U+		X+		U		X	C2+
5	U+	X+	A1	A2/C1+	U+	B1	B2+
6			A1	A2/C1	U
7			X		U+	X
8	U	X	X		U+	B1	B2+
9	U		A1	A2/C1	U		X
10	U+			X	U+	B1	B2	X
11			X		U	B1+	B2+	C2
12			X+		U	B1	B2
13	U	X	X		U+	B1+	B2	C2+
14	U				U	X+
15	U		A1	A2/C1	U	B1+	B2+
16	U+		X		U	B1	B2+
17	U+				U
18	U		A1	A2/C1+	U
19	U		X+		U	B1	B2
20	U			X	U+			X
21				C2	U
22	U				U
23	U+			C2	U		X+
24	U				U	B1	B2+
25	U+	X	A1	A2/C1	U	B1+	B2+
26	U	X		C1+	U		X+
27	U+	X		C1+	U		X
28	U	X+	A1+	A2/C1	U	B1	B2
29	U				U
30	U		A1	A2/C1	U	B1	B2+
31	U		A1	A2/C1	U
32	U		X		U		X	C2
33	U	X		C1+	U		X
34			A1+	A2/C1+	U+
35	U		X		U		X+
36			A1+	A2/C1	U	X
37			X		U+	X
38	U		X		U
39	U		A1	A2	U		X+	X
40			X		U

Note. X denotes presence of the theme and X+ denotes the expression of the theme was forceful. Letters (e.g., A and B) and colors (e.g., light gray and dark gray) denote a relationship (i.e., co-occurrence) between themes. Letter C denotes an inverse relationship; U denotes the theme was ubiquitous. Numbers (e.g., 1, 2) denote how many themes belong to each relationship.

Finally, we examined the matrix for instances of co-occurrence within and across research questions (Scharp, 2021). Specifically, four patterns emerged which we labeled U, A1/A2, B1/B2, and an inverse relationship between C1/C2 where the letter represents a relationship between themes (i.e., a co-occurrence) and the number represents how many themes characterize that relationship. Once we identified the relationships, we examined the quality of those relationships applying Scharp’s three TCA continua: (a) sporadic/pervasive, (b) unilateral/bilateral, and (c) balanced/unbalanced. The sporadic/pervasive continuum reflects whether the co-occurring relationship (A1/A2) pervades the data corpus. The unilateral/bilateral continuum speaks to whether the presence of one theme implies the presence of another (if A1 then A2) or whether the presence of one theme implies the other and vice versa (if A1 then A2 and if A2 then A1). Finally, balance speaks to the extent to which the theme is recurrent, repetitious, and forceful compared to the others in that relationship. For clarity, whereas balance speaks to the prevalence/force of each theme, pervasiveness speaks to the prevalence/force of the co-occurrence. Of note, two new relationships emerged based on a close examination of the TCA matrix. In our study, U stands for ubiquity such as that all EQAs discussed negative reactions to their queer identity (when that identity had been disclosed) and all EQAs discussed maintaining and using networks. In this regard, all themes co-occurred with those that were ubiquitous. Our findings also advance TCA in another meaningful way. Specifically, relationship C1/C2 illustrates an inverse relationship such that when EQAs discussed the lack of material resources, they also did not identify productive action as a resilience process. To ascertain this inverse relationship, we carefully examined the matrix and when we noticed this seemingly inverse pattern, and returned to our data to determine if the interview accounts supported this observation.

To verify our analysis, we engaged in five interrelated procedures: (a) referential adequacy, (b) peer debriefing, (c) negative case analysis, (d) audit trail, and (e) exemplar identification (Kidder, 1981; Lincoln & Guba, 1985). First, we began by splitting the data in half to achieve referential adequacy. Because all three coders reached saturation in the first half of the data (see Corbin & Strauss, 2008; Table 1), we then analyzed the second half of the data. No new themes emerged when compared to the second half of the data. Throughout the process, the first three authors engaged in peer debriefing during two meetings where they discussed their findings, resolved differences, and reached a consensus. For example, originally, the authors identified both religious beliefs and (inter)cultural values as separate triggers but, after discussion, decided they were part of a larger theme, ideological differences. The authors also engaged in peer debriefing throughout the TCA analysis. They then determined the labels that are presented in the findings. Fourth, we refined our analysis until we could account for 100% of the data, meeting the standard for negative case analysis (Kidder, 1981). Finally, the authors kept detailed notes for all the steps of the TCA (i.e., an audit trail), which informed both the analysis and the selection of evocative exemplars (Lincoln & Guba, 1985).

Findings

RQ1: Resilience Triggers

Four triggers served as catalysts for resilient responses: (a) negative parental reactions, (b) educating others, (c) ideological differences, and (d) a lack of access to material resources.

Negative parental reactions

Most EQAs reported negative parental reactions to their gender/sexual identity without exception. Only EQAs whose parents were unaware of their gender/sexual identity did not report a negative reaction. Although ubiquitous, these reactions ranged from parents saying hurtful things about their child’s gender/sexuality to kicking the child out of the home. Demi explained:

In eighth grade, I ended up coming out to my mother like I told her I was just like, I told her I was gay. And her response like, it was like, she was like the F word like the F-A-G-G [spelled out] like that word or whatever, after I told her about it, and we ended up getting into like, a really bad place. (Trans female, Asexual)

Demi, who came out as transgender during the incident, reported that her mother used derogatory language about her identity after she came out. Across the data corpus, EQAs, like Demi, described how their parents’ negative reactions hurt their relationships. Although disconfirming communication pervaded the EQA accounts, some also discussed tangible action. For example, after disclosing his sexual identity to his father, Wesley shared:

I told him that I think I was gay. And all that, he actually lost his mind. And I couldn’t know what to do. Now, he chased me outside of the house, he packed my bags and threw them away through the window. (Male, Gay)

For Wesley, his father’s negative reaction went beyond disconfirming words—it had material consequences. Overall, the ubiquity of the negative reactions might be unsurprising considering the EQAs in this study all identified as being estranged from at least one of their parents.

Educating others

EQAs reported the additional labor of educating others was a salient resilience trigger. Although a potentially productive response to negative reactions, EQAs discussed education as more burdensome than useful, especially when parents and other family members did not accept or agree with what the EQAs explained. In this regard, EQAs perceived the demands of educating others as more like adding an insult to injury rather than an opportunity. Specifically, education included explaining to parents, and occasionally others, LGBTQ+-related issues, such as correct pronoun usage. For example, after Yale came out to his father he explained:

Because he said that one of his biggest dreams was to have grandchildren. And I told him that I never wanted to have a child of my own. Maybe in the future when I get my husband, maybe we adopt a kid, but I never wanted to have my own children. I think that was what he took away and said that I will never amount to be a real man because I won’t be able to have my own kids. I tried to explain to him that I will adopt a child. A biological child and an adopted child are still the same person. Our genetic makeup is different but we’re still the same person. I tried to explain to him, but no. (Male, Gay)

Yale’s father was so focused on grandchildren, particularly biological grandchildren, Yale had to educate him on the possibilities of an LGBTQ+ family in his future. Like other accounts, what made education so burdensome was that EQAs perceived it to be ineffective. Thus, not only was the education effortful, EQAs reported that the outcome might even yield worse results.

Ideological differences

Perceived ideological differences pertaining to religious beliefs and/or (inter)cultural values were also a trigger for EQAs. Based on perceived religious differences, Levi reported:

My parents are Christian. So normally, they will follow the Bible and what it says. A lot of times, when there were any comments about that [being queer] were mostly, but God didn’t really mean for us to be that way. That’s not natural, and stuff like that. It’s pretty hard when you just want to be surrounded by the people who are important to you. And they’re just like, well no, that’s not something we want for you. (Trans male, Bisexual)

Levi, and EQAs who indicated religious ideological differences, described how their parents would invoke religious ideologies as rationale for not accepting their gender/sexual identity. Of note, some EQAs even reported that their parents became (more) religious after their disclosure. Other EQAs discussed ideological differences based on cultural values, such as Franny:

I’m half Japanese half white. . . my Japanese side like I can barely communicate with them. So I feel like I wouldn’t. I don’t even know what their beliefs are on sexuality because it’s not even legal in that country. But it’s mostly just because it feels like it’s, I mean, I’m 19 years old, and if I spring this on them, it’s like, I’ve been lying to you for my whole life. And that feels really shitty to drop on them. (Female, Gay)

Franny, who was not out to her family, described how her inability to speak Japanese and the perceived differences between cultures kept her from coming out. Many EQAs explained that their parents grew up in cultures that did not accept LGBTQ+ identities. They pointed out that different cultural upbringings often meant that they lacked the right words to describe their experience in their parents’ primary languages. In this regard, EQAs were at a further disadvantage in addition to the difference in values.

Lack of access to resources

Given the age of the queer adolescents, EQAs reported a lack of material resources as a major trigger. Depending on their situation, the lack of money specifically, might have been an obstacle for EQAs to attend counseling, get medical help, or even attain basic necessities. Illustrating this, Hayden went to live with his uncle after his parents kicked him out because of his gender:

It was difficult, because he was jobless. It was so difficult to find, to provide food for both him and his wife and me, actually, it became difficult sometimes. . . So I decided to actually started at the age of 13 years old. My uncle told me it was becoming so tough for him because he had, his wife, had given birth to a newborn baby so it was becoming so difficult for him to manage four people in the living room. He decided to tell me to go for a hustle and find some money for food and actually for my school fees. (Male, Gay).

Although he went out to find a job at the age of 13, Hayden did not meet the age requirements for employment and had to “hustle” to provide money for the household. Hayden’s experience exemplified the financial constraints that EQAs perceived as preventing them from having their emotional, medical, and physical needs met, even when they were living with another adult. Considering that over half of the adolescents in this study reported that they did not live with their parents of origin, the lack of material resources was an overarching concern.

In sum, EQAs reported two interpersonal triggers (i.e., negative parental reactions and educating others), two ideological triggers (i.e., religion and culture), and a privilege-related trigger (i.e., lack of material resources). In response, EQAs had to enact resilience processes to address a multitude of concerns, some over which they had varying amounts of control.

RQ2: CTR Processes

Our second RQ asked how EQAs engaged in the CR processes in response to their triggers. We identified four of Buzzanell’s (2010, 2018) CR processes. Specifically, EQAs discussed: (a) maintaining and using communication networks, (b) crafting normalcy, (c) foregrounding productive action while backgrounding negative emotions, and (d) putting alternative logics to work. In concert with existing CTR research (see Scharp et al., 2021, 2022), a tension emerged to characterize the processes. In our study, EQAs varied in their embeddedness in the LGBTQ+ community. Embeddedness reflected having access to a variety of resources such as support groups and even specific terminology to discuss their experience. Based on this tension, EQAs reported being more and less able to engage in the CR processes.

Maintaining and using communication networks

Similar to negative reactions, maintaining and using communication networks emerged without exception across EQA accounts. In other words, every EQA discussed utilizing their networks to some degree in response to the triggers. EQAs who were more connected in the LGBTQ community had the access to individuals who could help them make sense of their identities. For example, Kevin described talking with his dance teacher:

She is a very kind person. She is very heavily like entrenched in the LGBTQ community. But of course, I was kind of intimidated. And that’s why I never really reached out to her before. And so I came to her and I’m like, “Hey, I think I’m a guy.” And she’s like, “Perfect. What’s your pronouns?” And we had a really good talk, and I kind of started really accepting something that was almost nebulous inside of me, because all of a sudden everything was suddenly, I had a reason. (Trans male, Aromantic Bisexual)

Prior to this interaction with his dance instructor, Kevin had not engaged much with the LGBTQ+ community. When he came out to his dance teacher, she, as someone who was entrenched in the LGBTQ+ community, was able to help him understand his identity and what that meant by giving him access to new language. Across the data corpus, more embedded EQAs utilized their LGBTQ+ communication networks for various types of LGBTQ+ specific support.

EQAs who engaged in the CR process of using communication networks less, did not have access to the LGBTQ+ community and had less access to terminology. As Evan points out:

I go to the counselor’s office semi-regularly. . . And like, I didn’t know how to ask for support, and I didn’t know what support that I wanted. Like, I just didn’t have the words to ask for it at the time. Like I didn’t know what help I needed. And looking back, it’s easy to say like, oh, I could’ve used like a support group of other LGBT+ people my age, but at the time, I definitely didn’t know that. (Trans male, Bisexual).

Evan explained that although he was using his communication networks by going to the counseling office, he could have benefited from the communication networks the LGBTQ+ community provided. Yet, Evan, and EQAs who were less embedded in the LGBTQ+ community, perceived they did not have access to the LGBTQ+ support from which they could have benefited. In fact, they might not have known what type of support even existed.

Crafting normalcy

EQAs who were more or less entrenched in the LGBTQ+ community created different types of normalcy. EQAs more embedded in the LGBTQ+ community were able to craft normalcy around their identities. Nolan, who was distanced from their father, reported:

When I first came out a few months ago, I came out to my mother’s as bi and she provided me with a program called queer out. And it’s basically just a counseling program where we talk, a bunch of LGBT members get together once a week and like, talk about things, watch movies. . . Just talking to other people out their experiences kinda helped me understand mine. (Nonbinary male, Omnisexual)

Nolan, like EQAs who were embedded in the community, crafted normalcy by developing specific routines that centered their LGBTQ+ identities.

In contrast, individuals who were less entrenched in the LGBTQ+ community crafted normalcy by creating boundaries. Although these boundaries often protected them from negative reactions, they also stifled personal expression. For example, Bella explained her new normal:

From the time that I came out, and the way that my parents reacted, I felt like, I couldn’t be about like. . .So, I just decided to like, keep silent. And from that day, I used to be like a private person I didn’t like talk that much to them. (Female, Lesbian)

After she came out to her parents, Bella crafted a new normal by no longer discussing her queer identity. Indeed, EQAs who were less embedded in the LGBTQ+ community discussed managing their identities, experiences, and information more closely. Thus, although many EQAs developed new routines, access to LGBTQ+ resources might have made an important difference in their experience of a new normal.

Putting alternative logics to work

EQAs utilized putting alternative logics to work in two ways: (a) reframing and (b) speaking positive futures into being.

Reframing

EQAs expressed alternative logics that reflected their enmeshment in the LGBTQ+ community. EQAs entrenched in the community had the language to reframe their situation to both celebrate their identities and help others. As Mark reports:

I feel like people that are going through, you know, people that are an LGBTQ and that are transitioning to a different gender or that are transgender, I feel like people need to hear the stories to understand what we’re going through. And telling, telling people, our family life understand how hard it is to be transgender is one of the areas that you have to show for people to understand it. But I’m telling my story and telling how my family treats me, I think is very important to educate our, our new, like the youth that are coming along into Junior High, High School, and even younger grades for them to understand that being gay or anything like that is okay. (Trans male, Pansexual)

Mark reframed the situation that he was experiencing with his parents from one of hardship to one where he could both celebrate his identity and use his story to help other LGBTQ+ individuals in the future. Indeed, EQAs who put alternative logics to work often mentioned focusing their logic on improving their community at large.

Less entrenched EQAs engaged in alternative logics that reframed their hardships by excusing their parents’ inability to accept them. Bethany shared:

My parents are pretty old. They’re stressed out. You know, just trying to make ends meet in a world that doesn’t really, you know, cater to them or really care about them or consider them. And just that alone, I feel for them because I feel like them growing up where they grew up. . . I feel like maybe they, I don’t know, if it’s not their own ignorance that’s stopping them from being better, then maybe it’s their trauma because sometimes I forget that my parents are people too. (Female, Bisexual)

Bethany, like EQAs who were less embedded, reframed her parents’ behaviors to one that she could understand. Yet, unlike EQAs who were more embedded, EQAs who were less embedded did not reframe their own situation into something that could be positive for themselves.

Speaking positive futures into being

In addition to utilizing reframing as an alternative logic (see Wilson et al., 2021), some EQAs spoke a positive future into being by communicating hope and discussing an optimistic future that they could achieve. Often, these positive futures aligned with the “it gets better” sentiment (Savage & Miller, 2011), and focused on potentials contingent on future access to resources. Speaking a positive future into being also varied by embeddedness in the LGBTQ+ community such that EQAs who were more embedded discussed specific hopes whereas those who were less embedded spoke more generally. Grant, a trans man seeking a medical transition that his parents could not afford, explained:

I’ve tried my best to get some support from organizations which are dealing with LGBTQ and address my concern. And I’m looking forward, if I could get some help from them and probably if all my issues could be settled, I think it will be my moment to try them and try to remain in my family because I must admit there’s something which hurts and I don’t feel comfortable me being separated from my parents. (Trans male, Gay)

Similar to other embedded transgender EQAs, Grant discussed the importance of getting help from LGBTQ+ organizations to transition. For some transgender EQAs, this meant anticipating a positive future for themselves and their parental relationship after a transition. For non-transgender embedded EQAs, speaking positive futures into being included specific plans like forgiving their parents to improve their own peace instead of improving their relationship.

In contrast, EQAs who were less embedded in the LGBTQ+ community spoke of positive futures that were less specific, such as having the access to the language and knowledge that would help them explain their experiences. As Aiden reported:

I think because of my age, I couldn’t be able to answer them correctly, because I didn’t have so much information on how to handle such but I think, I think in the future probably I’ll have gone through or experienced a lot, so I’d be able to, or rather be in a position, to answer most of the questions, are rather like any concern, which comes across to me. But we are still like trying hard and I’m really optimistic. In the future, probably in the near future we are going to like, get a solution and we’ll be back with my family, and they’ll be able to accept me back. (Male, Gay)

Aiden explained that he hoped for a future in which he had the language and knowledge of the LGBTQ+ community. Similarly, other EQAs who were less embedded in the LGBTQ+ community articulated general hope for the future, such as Zara who stated that she is “trying to be hopeful that maybe tomorrow will be better” (Female, Lesbian). Although these EQAs were still speaking positive futures into being, their hope was less specific and focused than the hope conveyed by EQAs who were more embedded in the community.

Foregrounding productive action while backgrounding negative feelings

Across all CR processes, EQAs often had the most difficulty articulating the ways they backgrounded negative feelings while foregrounding productive action. This might have been a product of the EQAs development stage (i.e., emotion regulation is more difficult in adolescence; Begley, 2000) and/or because EQAs lacked resources that would have been helpful in engaging in desired actions (e.g., seeking counseling; see Table 1). Yet, similar to other CR processes, enactment varied by embeddedness. As Kevin explained:

As a young person, I really, I really had like, questions like, is this really who I am? Or is this really what I want in my life? . . . I would start questioning, because well, being used to following my parents’ norms, and everything they would, sometimes it would confuse me a bit. Because I really wanted, I really want them to be there for me. And sometimes it scares me when I want, or when I try or I really think about telling them. . .Well, I would search about it even though I had to do that, like in secret. I would search about it just to like, be sure of what, the information I knew was right. And to consummate⁴ everything, to answer the questions that I had. (Trans male, Aromantic Bisexual)

Rather than focusing on his fears about coming out to his parents, Kevin backgrounded these negative feelings by searching for LGBTQ+ information online to answer his identity questions. Similarly, EQAs who were more embedded in the LGBTQ+ community focused on the actions that they could take that were specific to their negative feelings. For EQAs who were more embedded in the LGBTQ+ community, negative feelings focused on their identities and therefore their productive action centered around understanding their identities.

EQAs who were less embedded in the LGBTQ+ community foregrounded more general actions related to their negative feelings. Farah who was worried about the lack of contact between her and her parents reported, “when I get that concern, I just go for a walk and think about it, trying to figure out the best way that I can start to approach my parents and be able to have that relationship back” (Female, Bisexual). In this example, Farah assuaged her concerns by creating a space for her to think (i.e., taking a walk). EQAs who were less embedded in the LGBTQ+ community utilized productive action as a response that could be generally applied to any negative emotion, rather than a targeted response to their specific negative feelings.

Overall, the findings of RQ2 suggest that not only is communication an essential component of the resilience process but also tensional, such that people who have more access to particular vocabularies and groups of people with a common vocabulary might be more able to engage in those CR processes. Next, we discuss how CR triggers and processes are interrelated.

RQ3: Co-occurrences Between Themes

Our third research question asked about which themes co-occurred within and between research questions (see Table 1). In addition to the two ubiquitous themes (e.g., negative parental reactions and maintaining and using networks) which co-occurred with everything, three nuanced relationships emerged from our analysis, (a) a unilateral unbalanced sporadic relationship between ideological differences and a lack of access to resources, (b) a unilateral balanced sporadic relationship between crafting normalcy and putting alternative logics to work, and (c) an inverse relationship between a lack of access to resources and foregrounding productive action while backgrounding negative feelings.

Relationship between ideological differences and a lack of access to resources

Our analysis revealed a relationship between the triggers of ideological differences and a lack of access to resources (marked as relationship A in Table 1). This relationship was unilateral such that when EQAs reported that they lacked access to resources they also reported ideological tensions between themselves and their parents, although the inverse of the relationship did not manifest. Similarly, this relationship was unbalanced because ideological differences were more recurrent and repetitious than a lack of access to material resources, even though the lack of access to resources was more forceful. To illustrate, Ezra experienced ideological differences with his parents when he explained, “they told me that [being gay] was going against my religion. My parents are strong Christians, so I was against it. So, they tried all the means they could to get me out” (Male, Gay). Indeed, many EQAs discussed how coming out highlighted an ideological difference between themselves and their parents. Ezra continued:

When I was living with my brother, I could ask my friend for financial support, because my brother is not well off. So sometimes we could go a day without eating. So, I could ask my friend for some support, because I had no job I had run away from my parents. My brother is not well off, you know, bring him, bringing my brother some other burdens, you know, that will be a financial instability to him.

Like many EQAs, Ezra struggled to obtain material resources to provide for himself. Many EQAs were unable to work because they were adolescents which made even basic necessities difficult to attain. In this regard, triggers might have cascaded (see Hintz et al., 2021) such that ideological differences contributed to a lack of material resources. Yet, it is important to note that some EQAs reported a lack of material resources unrelated to the ideological differences. Thus, although relationships between themes co-occurred, we cannot claim causality.

Crafting normalcy and alternative logics

A relationship between (a) crafting normalcy and putting alternative logics to work developed from our analysis (identified as relationship B in Table 1). This relationship was a unilateral balanced co-occurrence, such that putting alternative logics to work indicated the presence of crafting normalcy but not the inverse. Both themes were balanced as they share similar recurrence, repetition, and forcefulness. For example, Sue explained:

Right now, when my dad tries to initiate conversations . . . I feel like, it’s hard for me, I sort of just withdraw and I keep silent. I don’t engage with that. I just let him speak. And once he’s done, he just keeps quiet. That’s how things are . . . I’m a lesbian. And whatever reaction that I get, I really don’t give much attention to that. Because right now, I just feel like I’m living my life. And I don’t have to pretend anymore. Because I feel like if you’re going to choose to pretend the whole of your life, it’s going to be hard for you. So, it’s better for you to just be upfront and be accepting of who you are. And for those people who are going to be there for you, and love you, that’s great. And for those people are going cut you off that shows you that those people are not meant to be in your life . . . For my dad I feel like in as much as he has been quite cold to me he is still my dad and I still love him anyway. So, I don’t think I can keep that grudge. I’ve already forgiven him I’m just waiting for him to accept me and when that day finally comes, I’m just going be glad and I’m just hoping everything is going to go the way you choose to be. (Female, lesbian)

In this example, Sue explained how part of her new routine is to let her dad finish what he was saying and not respond. She then put both subthemes of alternative logics to work (e.g., reframing and speaking positive futures into being). Initially, she detailed how she enacted reframing to accept who she is, regardless of what anyone else thought. Sue also spoke positive futures into being when she discussed her hope of everything working out the way she would like with her father. Although Sue articulated both subthemes of putting alternative logics to use, some EQAs only illustrated reframing or putting positive futures into being. Regardless of how EQAs put alternative logics to work, this theme co-occurred with their use of crafting normalcy.

Inverse relationship between lack of access to resources and productive action

Our analysis revealed a co-occurrence that extends TCA. Specifically, an inverse relationship emerged between the trigger lack of access to resources and the CR process foregrounding productive action such that the occurrence of one theme indicated the absence of the other (marked as relationship C in Table 1). For example, when EQAs experienced the trigger of a lack of access to resources, which centered around money, they often did not have the resources that would have allowed them to background their negative feelings through productive action. Similarly, EQAs who had access to resources had the means that allowed them to foreground productive action while backgrounding negative emotions (i.e., having enough money to go to counseling). This inverse relationship gives insight into the few EQAs who utilized the CR process of productive action. Of our EQAs, 24 of them no longer lived with their parents of origin, therefore, they often lacked the monetary resources that parents typically provide. When EQAs were struggling to obtain enough money for their basic needs, such as food and shelter, they did not have enough to spare for many of the activities that might be classified as productive action (i.e., LGBTQ adolescent advocacy).

Findings across these research questions reveal robust relationships between both the triggers and processes while emphasizing the importance of both interpersonal communication and particular linguistic vernacular. We now turn to explicating the theoretical implications and practical applications of our findings.

Discussion

Framed by the CTR, findings from this study illuminated the CR processes EQAs enact in response to the triggers they face and how, if at all, the CR triggers and processes co-occur both within and across research questions. In summary, EQAs discussed four triggers that served as catalysts for four tensional resilient responses. Finally, findings revealed relationships among CR triggers (e.g., ideological differences and a lack of resources), among CR processes (e.g., crafting normalcy and alternative logics), and an inverse relationship between the triggers (lack of resources) and processes (productive action).

Theoretical and Methodological Implications

Theoretically, findings from this study advance the CTR in a variety of ways. Specifically, this is one of the first studies to illustrate the process of CR for an adolescent population (see Craig et al., 2020 for exception). Indeed, two notable differences emerged compared to existing research based on adult populations. First, speaking positive futures into being emerged as a new facet of putting alternative logics to work. This subtheme attends to the past-future orientation Buzzanell (2019) discusses, animating the anticipatory-reactive dialectic. Put differently, speaking positive futures into being problematizes previous conceptions of anticipatory resilience that situate it as something that inherently occurs before trigger events. Thus, unlike previous conceptualizations of alternative logics that focus on retrospective sense-making and humor (see Wilson et al., 2021), this sub-process, constructed in the moment, focused on hope and the ways situations might improve over time or with access to more resources. We think this might have been especially salient for adolescents who recognized the ways their lives could change once they were adults and had more financial freedom. This finding also corresponds to theorizing about anticipatory resilience. Specifically, Betts et al. (2022) argues that anticipatory resilience is a narrative logic whereby people attempt to make sense of their disruption and in doing so utter incoherent fragments that reveal future-oriented logics. Yet in our study, speaking positive futures into being was not a sensemaking endeavor that reflected future logics or a way to accumulate resources in anticipation of disruption, but rather a communicative enactment that constituted a positive future reality. Thus, the inclusion of speaking positive futures into being is a logically consistent theoretical extension that strengthens the usefulness of CTR as a mid-range heuristic.

The second major difference between adult and adolescent accounts emerged in the (non)patterned co-occurrences between the CR triggers and processes. To date, researchers have illustrated strong patterns across triggers and processes. For example, in a sample of first-generation students, one CR process (i.e., crafting normalcy) co-occurred with multiple triggers (Scharp et al., 2022) and in the context of migration to US, multiple CR processes co-occurred to one specific trigger (Scharp et al., 2021). Although relationships among the triggers and processes independently manifested in patterned ways in this study, they did not do so across triggers and processes, with the exclusion of maintaining and using networks which EQAs enacted ubiquitously. There are multiple potential interpretations of this finding, none which are mutually exclusive. First, it is possible that the maintaining networks serves as a blanket band-aid that works to assuage triggers across the board. Interpretation of this finding then would suggest that regardless of what else EQAs are doing, networks are essential for survival, which would be logical considering these adolescents were often left without basic necessities. In the future, scholars should attend more closely to the role of others. For example, network members might be essential in not only enacting CR with others but for others as well (i.e., other resilience). Second, it is possible that EQAs, perhaps because of their developmental stage, have not determined which processes address which triggers and instead are trying whatever they can to respond to whatever they experience in the moment. This could mean that EQAs are not investing their effort where it might count best, especially if they have higher order concerns such as trying to find housing (Maslow, 1943). Thus, it might be that even though most of the CR processes do not differ from adults, the strategic pairing of process to trigger could be lacking. This is especially possible given that many migrants experienced a similar lack of resources as EQAs (Scharp et al., 2021). Finally, it is also possible that the specific enactments of each process are not corresponding to particular triggers. For example, EQAs simply might not have come across an alternative logic, etc. that specifically responds to their triggers even if they are enacting these CR processes broadly. In the future, researchers should attend to the ways populations might enact each CR process and whether certain enactments are more effective.

In addition to differences between adults and adolescents, this study also advances research methodology. Specifically, thematic co-occurrence analysis originally characterized the relationships between and across research questions based on whether those relationships were sporadic/pervasive, unilateral/bilateral, and (un)balanced (Scharp, 2021). Findings from this study introduce two new possibilities researchers can assess based on the co-occurrence matrix: (a) ubiquity and (b) inverse relationships. Specifically, we identified two ubiquitous relationships such that negative reactions and maintaining/using social networks were common across all EQA accounts. Ubiquity, then, becomes a meaningful determination because it lets the researcher identify a pervasive commonality across participants. In our study, the ubiquitous relationships tell a story of parental rejection and the need for support in the absence of parental approval. Perhaps even more salient in this study was the inverse relationship that emerged between a lack of material resources and the absence of foregrounding productive action. Recognizing this inverse relationship attunes researchers to the ways that resilience triggers might also serve as barriers to CR. Taken together, these two methodological advancements can serve to help researchers paint a more complete picture of their participants’ experiences.

Finally, findings from the present study contribute to mounting evidence that power is a distinct tensional dimension of the CTR. Although EQAs identified lacking access to material resources as a trigger, perhaps more notable was the importance that specific vocabulary and embeddedness in queer communities played into informing the tensions between the CR processes. EQAs who had the vocabulary to discuss their sexuality/gender identity and connectedness to/embeddedness in the LGBTQ+ community were able to better enact the CR processes than those EQAs who had less access to those language and relational resources. Although all CTR research foregrounds the importance of communication in constituting resilience, this study cements the importance of attending to power to understand resilience. Thus, we argue that CR might vary not only by access to ideological (i.e., privilege) and material resources, but also communicative (i.e., vocabulary/language) and relational (i.e., community connection) resources. In this regard, communicative resources are afforded to people who have both the cognitive ability and knowledge to describe and make their situation understood by others. In some regards this corresponds to the supportive communication literature that suggests it is difficult to garner support if people are unaware that someone has a problem, the content of the problem, and what is needed to address it (see MacGeorge, 2011). Finally, relational resources refer to whether people know about and have access to a specific community instead of a general one. For example, the combination of individual resilience practices and online community practices facilitated a robust resilience response where participation in an online community filled in gaps that individual resilience enactments did not completely address (Scharp et al., 2019). Thus, a specific vocabulary and access to a support community are factors that researchers should consider when studying resilience enactment.

Furthermore, the importance of power might be evident in the inverse relationship between lack of resources and productive action. Specifically, EQAs who did not have as many resources might have been constrained in their ability to engage in productive action. This relationship calls attention to both the theoretical and practical consequences for people who lack power such as EQAs. In the future, researchers should model how intersecting disadvantages predict the severity of the triggers people experience and people’s ability to enact resilience processes in response. This contribution is particularly meaningful in moving away from trait-based definitions of resilience and hold significant promise for practical application.

Practical Applications

Unlike trait-based conceptualizations of resilience that suggest adolescents might possess some sort of “ordinary magic,” findings from this study suggest that increased education and connection to support groups could play a major difference in how well EQAs can craft a new normal for themselves (Masten, 2001, p. 277). Better education about sexual and gender identities available on the internet or even in primary and secondary school education not only could give EQAs better language to understand and describe their own experiences but also reduce the triggers they report experiencing when educating others. Specifically, educational materials that help EQAs discuss their sexuality/gender-identity in ways that resonate with other cultures might be particularly useful considering the ideological differences trigger. Indeed, it might not be surprising that the EQAs who lacked the language to understand their own situation also struggled to explain it to their parents. Furthermore, it could be particularly frustrating when the materials available do not account for cultural differences. Better materials might shift the burden EQAs experience to an opportunity to discuss their sexuality/gender-identity with their parents in ways that could reduce anything from parental disbelief to outright rejection.

Findings from our study also connect theory to practice regarding the non-co-occurrent relationships between CR triggers and processes. Holistically, EQAs were not engaging in resilience processes to address specific triggers in any patterned or apparent ways. Yet, existing research has linked both crafting normalcy and alternative logics to structural issues ostensibly out of a person’s control in adult populations (see Scharp et al., 2021, 2022). Thus, it might be useful for counselors to help EQAs see how the CR processes they already are engaging in (i.e., crafting normalcy and putting alternative logics to work) might be particularly useful in making sense of the ideological differences they perceive and lack of resources at their disposal. Even helping EQAs strategize about how their resilience enactments are addressing their triggers might facilitate efficacy or give EQAs some additional ideas about what is within their control.

Lastly, although our study examined the experiences of EQAs in the US, other countries have made significant strides in supporting estranged adolescents with material resources especially when it comes to gaining a college education. The non-profit organization StandAlone, for example, has garnered a pledge from multiple institutions across the United Kingdom soliciting free tuition and housing for college students estranged from their parents (see https://www.thestandalonepledge.org.uk). Support like this can reduce unhousedness and start EQAs on a path to help them gain financial independence. LGBTQ+ advocates and nonprofits seeking to support EQAs might consider launching a similar campaign to partner with institutions of higher learning to reduce the inequities and disparities EQAs currently experience.

Limitations and Future Directions

All studies have limitations. First, there was a 6-year age gap between our youngest and oldest participants. For EQAs, not only are there major physical and psychological differences, but also differences in their legal status, especially regarding employment. Second, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we were required to conduct our interviews through the online platform Zoom. Therefore, only participants who had access to technological resources were able to participate. When it is safe to do so, researchers should consider engaging more directly with the LGBTQ+ community to gain more diverse inclusion.

Despite these limitations, findings from this study advance theory, method, and practice by attending to the experiences of EQAs. In the future, researchers should attend closely to the implications of negative parental reactions and how even engaging in resilience processes could be dangerous for some adolescents. For example, hostile reactions might not only lead to rejection but open up EQAs to other adults who might take advantage of them. Indeed, researchers suggest that in addition to becoming unhoused, EQAs are more likely to experience violence, experience sexual trauma, and be recruited into sex-trafficking than their cisgender heterosexual counterparts (see Forge et al., 2018). Thus, especially for adolescents, researchers might consider the ways that CR processes might create triggers in other contexts.

Supplemental Material

sj-docx-1-crx-10.1177_00936502221142175 – Supplemental material for Overcoming Obstacles by Enacting Resilience: How Queer Adolescents Respond to Being Estranged From Their Parents

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-crx-10.1177_00936502221142175 for Overcoming Obstacles by Enacting Resilience: How Queer Adolescents Respond to Being Estranged From Their Parents by Kristina M. Scharp, Cimmiaron F. Alvarez, Brooke H. Wolfe, Pamela J. Lannutti and Leah E. Bryant in Communication Research

Supplemental Material

sj-docx-2-crx-10.1177_00936502221142175 – Supplemental material for Overcoming Obstacles by Enacting Resilience: How Queer Adolescents Respond to Being Estranged From Their Parents

Supplemental material, sj-docx-2-crx-10.1177_00936502221142175 for Overcoming Obstacles by Enacting Resilience: How Queer Adolescents Respond to Being Estranged From Their Parents by Kristina M. Scharp, Cimmiaron F. Alvarez, Brooke H. Wolfe, Pamela J. Lannutti and Leah E. Bryant in Communication Research

Supplemental Material

sj-docx-3-crx-10.1177_00936502221142175 – Supplemental material for Overcoming Obstacles by Enacting Resilience: How Queer Adolescents Respond to Being Estranged From Their Parents

Supplemental material, sj-docx-3-crx-10.1177_00936502221142175 for Overcoming Obstacles by Enacting Resilience: How Queer Adolescents Respond to Being Estranged From Their Parents by Kristina M. Scharp, Cimmiaron F. Alvarez, Brooke H. Wolfe, Pamela J. Lannutti and Leah E. Bryant in Communication Research

Footnotes

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the Royalty Research Fund at the University of Washington for funding this research. We would also like to thank Dr. Jennifer Gibbs and the anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful feedback and guidance.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iDs

Kristina M. Scharp

Brooke H. Wolfe

Leah E. Bryant

Supplemental Material

Supplemental material for this article is available online.

Notes

Author Biographies

Kristina M. Scharp (PhD, University of Iowa) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication and Director of the Family Communication and Relationships Lab at the Rutgers University.

Cimmiaron F. Alvarez is a Graduate Student at Rutgers University.

Brooke H. Wolfe is a Graduate Student at the University of Washington.

Pamela J. Lannutti, (PhD) is a Professor and Director of the Center for Human Sexuality Studies at Widener University.

Leah E. Bryant (PhD) is an Associate Professor in the College of Communication at DePaul University.

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