A Boy, His Two Mothers, And Psychosexual Development

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The Relationship Between Father Involvement and Father-Role Confidence for Fathers of Gay Sons

This nonexperimental quantitative study of 70 participants explored how father involvement during their gay sons’ childhood and adolescence was impacted by their levels of father-role confidence (FRC) and past father involvement experiences (PFIE). As hypothesized, the results indicated that participants’ past involvement with their fathers, and reported levels of father-role confidence, predicted father-gay son involvement (FGSI). Participants in this study predominately exhibited indirect, non-nurturing, or low-engagement types of father involvement activities with their gay sons rather than direct, nurturing, or high-engagement activities. Implications from the results of this study may be used to inform existing therapeutic approaches for fathers of gay sons, increase father-gay son engagement, and promote relationship reconciliation efforts between adult gay men and their fathers.
Keywords: gay sons, father involvement, parents, sexual minority, homosexuality