"You Live Where?!" Lesbian Mothers' Attachment to Nonmetropolitan Communities

Ramona Faith Oswald, Vanja Lazarevic

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

A positive attachment to one's residential community has been linked to better mental health (), stronger social support (), and a higher quality of life (). Attachment to residential community has been understudied in research on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) families. The current study attempts to fill this gap by using family and minority stress theories to examine the predictors of residential community attachment among 77 lesbian mothers living in nonmetropolitan communities. Our findings indicate that stronger residential community attachment is predicted by more frequent contact with family of origin, low religiosity, and an interaction between close LGBT friendships and the presence of at least one local LGBT organization. Contrary to expectations, anti-LGBT victimization perpetrated by community members did not have an effect on residential community attachment.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)373-386
Number of pages14
JournalFamily Relations
Volume60
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2011

Keywords

  • Attachment to community
  • Family of origin
  • LGBT community
  • Lesbian mothers
  • Nonmetropolitan
  • Religiosity

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Education
  • Developmental and Educational Psychology
  • Social Sciences (miscellaneous)

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