Ambiguous Loss and Emotional Intelligence in Families of Transgender People: A Mixed-Methods Study

Abstract

Family can be a supportive and protective mental health context for trans children, yet little research, mainly qualitative, has focused on the experience of parents, who also suffer the impact of minority stress and live a process of meaning-making during gender affirmation process. This research aims to explore the impact of ambiguous loss and its relationship to their emotional intelligence and well-being. A mixed methods triangulation design with cross-sectional observation was used. Eighty-nine parents of transgender people participated in the study. The mean age was 46.37 years (S.D. = 7.15), 86.5% (n = 77) identified themselves as female and 44.4% reported a grieving process, although there were no statistically significant differences on well-being, emotional intelligence or emotional symptoms depending on it. However, parents with loss reported more negative emotions and do not benefit to the same extent from emotional intelligence or the buffering effect of positive emotions (especially pride). Perception of loss increases family distress, encouraging the gender affirmation process to be felt as a rupture and hindering the elaboration of new meanings. Future studies could include different personal, family, and contextual variables to further explore the experience of loss during the process, to assist these families more effectively.