Histórias de adoção tardia: considerações a partir da analítica existencial heideggeriana

Adoption establishes a filiation status, resulting from a legal act, which attributes to the child and parents the rights and obligations associated with such condition, being legally irrevocable. Nevertheless, in practice there are adoptions that do not concretize and the child returns to justice during or even after the legal process is closed. Late adoption is the denomination of the adoption of children over two years and it is still permeated by myths and stigmas, leading to a frequent return of the child to justice in these cases. The late adoption involves a process of building a unique relationship with a child whose backstory is commonly marked by the dissolution of the relationship with the family of origin, due to violation of rights and, in some cases, the experience of institutional care. Given such a scenario, this research, based on the Existential Analytic proposed by Martin Heidegger, seeks to understand the experience of mothers and children in the process of late adoption, in order to obtain subsidies to psychological attention in this context. This is a qualitative, phenomenological study with a comprehensive focus. The participants were two mothers and two children who have gone through late adoption for about two years. The procedures of data generation contemplated narrative interviews with mothers and individual meetings with children, in which ludic resources were used as mediators of expression (free drawings, unfinished children's story and "Story-Drawings" on late adoption). The procedures were audiotaped and transcribed. Data analysis was grounded in Heidegger's hermeneutics. The late adoption process, permeated by historical, social and cultural determinants and the web of meanings that create the historical singularity of each person involved have proved to be complex as seen in the narratives. The construction of the meanings of parenthood and filiation has been developing in the families in the study, from the experience of being-with-the-other, caring and dwelling in their peculiar modes of expression. The family of origin and the adoptive family mingle and differentiate by means of the experience of children, especially because of the existence of biological siblings. Data point to the importance of psychological care to family core in late adoption processes

Obstetric mode of delivery and child psychological development

Background/aims: Objective of the current thesis is to investigate the potential impact of birth by Caesarean section (CS) on child psychological development, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), behavioural difficulties and school performance. Structure/methods: Published literature to date on birth by CS, ASD and ADHD was reviewed (Chapter 2). Data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) were analysed to determine the association between CS and ASD, ADHD and parent-reported behavioural difficulties (Chapter 3). The Swedish National Registers were used to further assess the association with ASD, ADHD and school performance (Chapters 4-6). Results: In the review, children born by CS were 23% more likely to be diagnosed with ASD after controlling for potential confounders. Only two studies reported adjusted estimates on the association between birth by CS and ADHD, results were conflicting and limited. CS was not associated with ASD, ADHD or behavioural difficulties in the UK MCS. In the Swedish National Registers, children born by CS were more likely to be diagnosed with ASD or ADHD. The association with elective CS did not persist when compared amongst siblings. There was little evidence of an association between birth by elective CS and poor school performance. Children born by elective CS had slight reduction in school performance. Conclusions: The lack of association with the elective CS in the sibling design studies indicates that the association in the population is most probably due to confounding. A small but significant association was found between birth by CS and school performance. However, the effect may have been due to residual confounding or confounding by indication and should be interpreted with caution. The overall conclusion is that birth by CS does not appear to have a causal relationship with the aspects of child psychological development investigated.

The differential impact of oxytocin receptor (OXTR) genotypes on the risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and resulting social communication deficits

Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is multifactorial and is likely the result of complex interactions between multiple environmental and genetic factors. Recently, it has been suggested that each symptom cluster of the disorder, such as poor social communication, may be mediated by different genetic influences. Genes in the oxytocin pathway, which mediates social behaviours in humans, have been studied with single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) being implicated in ASD. This thesis examines the presence of different oxytocin receptor genotypes, and their associations with ASD and resulting social communication deficits. Methods: The relationship between four OXTR variants and ASD was evaluated in 607 ASD simplex (SPX) families. Cases were compared to their unaffected siblings using a conditional logistic approach. Odds ratios and associated 95 percent confidence intervals were obtained. A second sample of 235 individuals with a diagnosis of ASD was examined to evaluate whether these four OXTR variants were associated with social communication scores on the Autism Diagnostic Interview – Revised (ADI-R). Parameter estimates and associated 95 percent confidence intervals were generated using a linear regression approach. Multiple testing issues were addressed using false discovery adjustments. Results: The rs53576 AG genotype was significantly associated with a lower risk of ASD (OR = 0.707, 95% CI: 0.512-0.975). A single genotype (AG) provided by the rs2254298 marker was found to be significantly associated with higher social communication scores (Parameter estimate = 1.833, SE = 0.762, p = 0.0171). This association was also seen in a Caucasian only and mothers as the respondent samples. No association was significant following false discovery rate adjustments. Conclusion: The findings from these studies provide limited support for the role of OXTR SNPs in ASD, especially in social communication skills. The clinical significance of these associations remains unknown, however, it is likely that these associations do not play a role in the severity of symptoms associated with ASD. Rather, they may be important in the appearance of social deficits due to the rs2254298 markers association with enlarged amygdalas.

Understandings of transnational families in debates on Migration and development

International migration sets in motion a range of significant transnational processes that connect countries and people. How migration interacts with development and how policies might promote and enhance such interactions have, since the turn of the millennium, gained attention on the international agenda. The recognition that transnational practices connect migrants and their families across sending and receiving societies forms part of this debate. The ways in which policy debate employs and understands transnational family ties nevertheless remain underexplored. This article sets out to discern the understandings of the family in two (often intermingled) debates concerned with transnational interactions: The largely state and policydriven discourse on the potential benefits of migration on economic development, and the largely academic transnational family literature focusing on issues of care and the micro-politics of gender and generation. Emphasizing the relation between diverse migration-development dynamics and specific family positions, we ask whether an analytical point of departure in respective transnational motherhood, fatherhood or childhood is linked to emphasizing certain outcomes. We conclude by sketching important strands of inclusions and exclusions of family matters in policy discourse and suggest ways to better integrate a transnational family perspective in global migration-development policy.

Correlation between anxiety and academic self-concept in interpreter trainees

This paper focuses on two basic issues: the anxiety-generating nature of the interpreting task and the relevance of interpreter trainees’ academic self-concept. The first has already been acknowledged, although not extensively researched, in several papers, and the second has only been mentioned briefly in interpreting literature. This study seeks to examine the relationship between the anxiety and academic self-concept constructs among interpreter trainees. An adapted version of the Foreign Language Anxiety Scale (Horwitz et al., 1986), the Academic Autoconcept Scale (Schmidt, Messoulam & Molina, 2008) and a background information questionnaire were used to collect data. Students’ t-Test analysis results indicated that female students reported experiencing significantly higher levels of anxiety than male students. No significant gender difference in self-concept levels was found. Correlation analysis results suggested, on the one hand, that younger would-be interpreters suffered from higher anxiety levels and students with higher marks tended to have lower anxiety levels; and, on the other hand, that younger students had lower self-concept levels and higher-ability students held higher self-concept levels. In addition, the results revealed that students with higher anxiety levels tended to have lower self-concept levels. Based on these findings, recommendations for interpreting pedagogy are discussed.

‘Poor prison flowers’: convict mothers and their children in Ireland, 1853-1900

Pregnant women and mothers were among the thousands of individuals who were sentenced to at least three years’ penal servitude and admitted to the nineteenth-century Irish female convict prison. While some babies were born behind bars, others were permitted to accompany their convicted mothers into the prison after the penal practice of transportation had ceased. Other dependent children were separated from their convicted mothers for years, cared for by family members or friends, or accommodated in Ireland’s growing web of institutions. Using individual case studies, this article focuses on convict mothers and their young offspring. It draws attention to the increasing restrictions on the admission of infants that were imposed as the nineteenth century progressed, the problems that children of various ages in the penal system seemed to pose for officials, and the difficulties faced by incarcerated mothers who wished to maintain communication with their offspring. This article argues that while there were benefits to parenting within the confines of the prison, sentences of penal servitude had a significant impact on the lives of dependent offspring by dislocating families, separating siblings, or initiating institutional or other care that broke familial bonds permanently. In so doing, the article reveals attitudes towards motherhood as well as female criminality and institutionalization generally during this period and sheds light on an aspect of convict life unique to the women’s prison.

Promises, Promises...Family Farms and Estoppel (Again)

Family farms are a fertile source of litigation, especially when it comes to succession planning and inter-generational transfers. The problems are obvious: large value assets, emotional ties to the land, a lack of retirement planning and the ‘older’ generation’s unwillingness to relinquish control, and managing the expectations of siblings or others who have worked on the farm. Recent years have seen a spate of estoppel cases involving farms in both Northern Ireland and England and Wales, brought by children, nephews, close friends and long-term partners who were promised or had expected to inherit farms. The recent decision of the English Court of Appeal in Davies v Davies is another example, this time involving an adult daughter who had worked on her parents’ farm for years in the belief that it would pass to her. When her parents changed their minds, this particular daughter brought a successful proprietary estoppel claim. The issue then turned to satisfying the claim, and what financial remedy the daughter was entitled to.

Perceção das Competências Parentais por Pais e Filhos: fatores determinantes

O termo parentalidade tem evoluído com os estudos que foram sendo desenvolvidos na área, na sua maioria pretendem compreender como as crianças percecionam as competências parentais dos seus progenitores e qual o comportamento da criança em função do estilo educativo exercido. Para avaliar e analisar a parentalidade é necessário conhecer a comunidade onde se insere a família, sendo já amplamente discutida a influência do meio e contexto no comportamento e na perceção que temos de nós e do outro. O presente estudo propôs-se a entender quais os fatores sociodemográficos e comportamentais que podem condicionar o exercício das competências parentais. Constitui-se como um estudo descritivo-correlacional, com uma amostra não probabilística aleatória por conveniência, com 62 pais de crianças com idade compreendidas entre os 6 e os 11 anos e frequentam o 1º Ciclo do Ensino Básico no Distrito de Leiria. Para responder ao objetivo inicial foram utilizados os seguintes instrumentos: para a perceção das competências parentais recorreu-se às escalas EMBU-P e EMBU-C, para avaliar a ansiedade nos pais foi aplicado o Inventário de Ansiedade de Beck (IAB) e finalmente, o questionário sociodemográfico que pretendia identificar características da amostra (residência, idades, empregabilidade, escolaridade, frequência de ATL, rotinas familiares). Os resultados obtidos evidenciam que os pais percecionam fornecer um elevado suporte emocional aos filhos, que é coincidente com o sentido pelas crianças. Sendo de destacar que quando os pais exercem uma tentativa de controlo ou rejeição, o seu índice de ansiedade tendem a aumentar antevendo uma relação entre ambas as variáveis. Outro resultado com relevância estatística significativa é a relação entre a perceção da sua competência parental e o número de filhos que têm. Destaca-se, ainda, que existem dados sociodemográficos que apresenta uma relação estatisticamente significativa com o exercício da competência parental, como o rendimento mensal do agregado, a existência de irmãos e a subescala de tentativa de controlo. / The term parenting has evolved along with the studies in this field, and most of them aim to understand how children perceive their parents’ parenting skills as well as the child's behaviour depending on the style of education. To evaluate and analyse parenting it is also necessary to know the community, as we are aware of the influence of the environment on the behaviour and perception of ourselves and the people next to us. This study aims to understand which sociodemographic and behavioural factors might influence the performance of parenting skills. It is a descriptive-correlational study with a non-probabilistic sample, randomly chosen, with 62 parents, whose children are not only aged 6-11 years but also attending the primary school in the District of Leiria. In order to respond to the initial goal we used the following instruments: the scales EMBU-P and EMBU-C were used to perceive parenting skills, Beck’s Anxiety Inventory (BAI) was used to assess parents’ anxiety, and finally, the sociodemographic questionnaire was used to identify the characteristics of the sample (residence, ages, employment, education, ATL (after-school activities), family routines). The results show that parents believe they provide a high emotional support to their children, which is coincident with the children’s opinion. It is also important to mention that whenever parents attempt to control or reject, their level of anxiety tends to increase, foreseeing a relationship between both variables. Another result presenting significant statistic relevance is the correlation between parents’ perception of their parental competence and the number of children they have. Finally, it is worth mentioning that there are sociodemographic data that show a statistically significant correlation with parental competence, such as the monthly income of the household, the existence of siblings and the control subscale.

Adultos com experiências precoces de vitimação e resiliência

A literatura tem vindo a comprovar que determinados indivíduos conseguem integrar-se ou ajustar-se de forma positiva e normativa nas sociedades em que vivem, apesar das vivências altamente adversas ocorridas, ainda numa idade precoce, poderem potenciar um percurso significativamente diferente. O presente estudo, de índole qualitativo, tem como objetivo geral analisar e caracterizar o percurso de vida de adultos, que precocemente vivenciaram formas de vitimação em contexto familiar, procurando identificar os fatores que contribuíram para o seu ajustamento psicossocial. Para tal, recorreu-se a uma entrevista semiestruturada, elaborada para o efeito, e a qual foi administrada a 10 participantes com idades entre 19 e 41 anos (M=26.1; DP=8), selecionados a partir de informantes privilegiados e que os identificaram como sendo resilientes. O conteúdo das entrevistas foi analisado através da grounded analysis. Os resultados revelam que os participantes no decorrer do processo de vitimação desenvolveram características comportamentais semelhantes (e.g., isolamento, baixa autoestima, revolta, agressividade), identificando a retirada do meio familiar como elemento promotor da mudança ocorrida no seu percurso e autoconceito. De igual modo, identificaram a existência de sonhos, de objetivos de vida e a presença de pessoas significativas (e.g., irmãos, parceiros, amigos) como sendo determinantes na construção do seu percurso resiliente. A retirada do contexto familiar foi identificada pelos participantes como uma medida de intervenção relevante na proteção da criança e subsequente ajustamento psicossocial. Os resultados do presente estudo permitem evidenciar a importância dos fatores protetivos no ajustamento psicossocial, algo que deve ser considerado na intervenção psicoterapêutica com crianças em risco.

Early post-fledgling survival in a fragmented population of a tropical cooperative breeding passerine

During the last years tropical forest has been a target of intense study especially due to its recent big scale destruction. Although a lot still needs to be explored, we start realizing how negative can the impact of our actions be for the ecosystem. Subsequently, the living community have been developing strategies to overcome this problem avoiding bottlenecks or even extinctions. Cooperative breeding (CB) has been recently pointed out as one of those strategies. CB is a breeding system where more than two individuals raise one brood. In most of the cases, extra individuals are offspring that delay their dispersal and independent breeding what allows them to help their parents raising their siblings in the subsequent breeding season. Such behavior is believed to be due, per example, to the lack of mates or breeding territories (ecological constraints hypothesis), a consequence of habitat fragmentation and/or disturbance. From this point, CB is easily promoted by a higher reproductive success of group vs pairs or single individuals. Accordingly, during this thesis I explore the early post-fledging survival of a cooperative breeding passerine, namely the impact of individual/habitat quality in its survival probability during the dependence period of the chicks. Our study species is the Cabanis’s greenbul (Phyllastrephus cabanisi), a medium-sized, brownish passerine, classified within the Pycnonotidae family. It is found over part of Central Africa in countries such as Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique and Kenya, inhabiting primary and secondary forests, as well as woodland of various types up to 2700m of altitude. Previous studies have concluded that PC is a facultative cooperative breeder. This study was conducted in Taita Hills (TH) at the Eastern Arc Mountains (EAM), a chain of mountains running from Southeast Kenya to the South of Tanzania. TH comprises an area of 430 ha and has been suffering intense deforestation reflecting 98% forest reduction over the last 200 years. Nowadays its forest is divided in fragments and our study was based in 5of those fragments. We access the post-fledging survival through radio-telemetry. The juvenile survey was done through the breeding females in which transmitters were placed with a leg-loop technique. Ptilochronology is consider to be the study of feather growth bars and has been used to study the nutritional state of a bird. This technique considers that the feather growth rate is positively proportional to the individual capability of ingesting food and to the food availability. This technique is therefore used to infer for individual/habitat quality. Survival was lowest during the first 5 days post-fledging representing 53.3%. During the next 15 days, risk of predation decreased with only 14.3% more deceased individuals. This represents a total of only 33% survived individuals in the end of the 50 days. Our results showed yet a significant positive relationship between flock size and post-fledging survival as well as between ptilochronology values and post-fledgling survival. In practice, these imply that on this population, as bigger the flock, as greater the post fledging survival and that good habitat quality or good BF quality, will lead to a higher juvenile survival rate. We believe that CB is therefore an adaptive behaviour to the lack of mates/breeding territory originated from the mass forest destruction and disturbance. Such results confirms the critical importance of habitat quality in the post-fledging survival and, for the first time, demonstrates how flock size influences the living probability of the juveniles and therefore how it impacts the (local) population dynamics of this species. In my opinion, future research should be focus in disentangle individual and habitat quality from each other and verify which relationship exist between them. Such study will allow us to understand which factor has a stronger influence in the post-fledging survival and therefore redirect our studies in that direction. In order to confirm the negative impact of human disturbance and forest fragmentation, it would be of major relevance to compare the reproductive strategies and reproductive success of populations living in intact forests and disturbed patches.

G181(P) Evaluation of a new e-health intervention in neonatal care : perspectives of parents and health professionals.

Aim This paper will report findings from the first phase of an evaluation of a new e-health intervention designed to allow mothers to ‘see’ their baby in neonatal care (NNU) when they are not able to be with them. The intervention, MyLittleOne, involves a web-camera being placed over the incubator in NNU, which transmits a real-time video wirelessly to a coupled tablet device at the mother’s bedside. Guided by the MRC Framework for the Development and Evaluation of Healthcare Interventions (MRC, 2008), the aim was to explore parent and professional views of the technology and make recommendations for its future development, use and evaluation. Methods A qualitative approach was adopted, guided by a critical realist perspective (McEvoy and Richards, 2003). The study took place in a Level 3 NNU in Scotland. Participants were recruited purposively and included parents (n = 33) and a range of health professionals working in neonatal and postnatal care (n = 21). The data were collected during semi-structured individual, paired and small group interviews and were analysed thematically using NVivo v10. Results The majority of parents and professionals spoke positively about MyLittleOne. Perceptions were that: use of the technology assisted bonding and responsiveness; it promoted the recovery process following birth; and, for mothers who wished to breast-feed, being able to see their baby on the tablet device encouraged the ‘let-down’ reflex. An additional benefit was that siblings and others who may not be able to visit the NNU were able to see the baby. In contrast, for a small number of mothers, viewing their baby remotely appeared to increase their levels of anxiety. Switching off the camera during a medical procedure and back on after the procedure was completed was found to be problematic, at times and in different ways, for both parents and professionals. Conclusions Findings from this preliminary evaluation will guide future developments of the technology, including its use in family homes following the mother’s discharge. The findings will also inform the design of a feasibility study and subsequent RCT to assess the impact of MyLittleOne on a range of psychological indicators of postnatal adjustment.

Heritage Language Maintenance and Biliteracy Development for Immigrants' Children: A Study of Chinese Immigrants' Family Language Policy and Biliteracy Practices

This study reports on research that examines the family language policy (FLP) and biliteracy practices of middle-class Chinese immigrant families in a metropolitan area in the southwest of the U.S. by exploring language practices pattern among family members, language and literacy environment at home, parents’ language management, parents’ language attitudes and ideologies, and biliteracy practices. In this study, I employed mixed methods, including survey and interviews, to investigate Chinese immigrant parents’ FLP, biliteracy practices, their life stories, and their experience of raising and nurturing children in an English-dominant society. Survey questionnaires were distributed to 55 Chinese immigrant parents and interviews were conducted with five families, including mothers and children. One finding from this study is that the language practices pattern at home shows the trend of language shift among the Chinese immigrants’ children. Children prefer speaking English with parents, siblings, and peers, and home literacy environment for children manifests an English-dominant trend. Chinese immigrant parents’ language attitudes and ideologies are largely influenced by English-only ideology. The priority for learning English surpasses the importance of Chinese learning, which is demonstrated by the English-dominant home literacy practices and an English-dominant language policy. Parents invest more in English literacy activities and materials for children, and very few parents implement Chinese-only policy for their children. A second finding from this study is that a multitude of factors from different sources shape and influence Chinese immigrants’ FLP and biliteracy practices. The factors consist of family-related factors, social factors, linguistic factors, and individual factors. A third finding from this study is that a wide variety of strategies are adopted by Chinese immigrant families, which have raised quite balanced bilingual children, to help children maintain Chinese heritage language (HL) and develop both English and Chinese literacy. The close examination and comparison of different families with English monolingual children, with children who have limited knowledge of HL, and with quite balanced bilingual children, this study discovers that immigrant parents, especially mothers, play a fundamental and irreplaceable role in their children’s HL maintenance and biliteracy development and it recommends to immigrant parents in how to implement the findings of this study to nurture their children to become bilingual and biliterate. Due to the limited number and restricted area and group of participant sampling, the results of this study may not be generalized to other groups in different contexts.

ASSOCIAÇÃO DA ATIVIDADE FÍSICA DE ADOLESCENTES, FAMILIARES E PARES: UMA REVISÃO SISTEMÁTICA

Objetivo: Analisar a associação entre a atividade física (AF) de pais, irmãos e pares à AF de adolescentes brasileiros por meio de uma revisão sistemática da literatura. Métodos: Realizou-se revisão sistemática em duas etapas, em junho de 2013 e fevereiro de 2014, nas bases de dados PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science, EBSCO e LILACS, utilizando-se quatro grupos de descritores, sendo estes “influência de pais e irmãos”, “atividade física”, “tipo de amostra” e “nacionalidade”, nos idiomas inglês e português, que atendesse aos seguintes critérios: (i) indivíduos saudáveis; (ii) adolescentes brasileiros; (iii) estudos abordando a AF; e (iv) estudos publicados entre janeiro de 2008 e fevereiro de 2014. Resultados: A busca nas bases de dados resultou em 2.094 títulos de artigos potencialmente relevantes, mas apenas 7 atenderam a todos os critérios de inclusão. Há uma associação positiva entre a AF de pais e filhos, porém, ao estratificar por sexo, esta é encontrada apenas no feminino, tanto para a inatividade quanto para estar fisicamente ativo. O apoio social possui grande influência na AF de crianças e adolescentes, no entanto, tal associação não foi encontrada em estudos longitudinais. Conclusão: Existe uma associação positiva entre a atividade física do pai e da mãe com suas filhas, tanto para a inatividade quanto para serem ativos, mas não foram encontradas associações entre os pais e os filhos, fato também observado para com irmãos inativos. O apoio social mostrou-se eficaz para aumentar o nível de atividade física de adolescentes.

The interpersonal and mental health implications of the coherence of coming out narratives for a sample of gay men in committed romantic relationships

The coming out process has been conceptualized as a developmental imperative for those who will eventually accept their same-sex attractions. It is widely accepted that homophobia, heterosexism, and homonegativity are cultural realities that may complicate this developmental process for gay men. The current study views coming out as an extra-developmental life task that is at best a stressful event, and at worst traumatic when coming out results in the rupture of salient relationships with parents, siblings, and/or close friends. To date, the minority stress model (Meyer, 1995; 2003) has been utilized as an organizing framework for how to empirically examine external stressors and mental health disparities for lesbians, gay men, and bisexual individuals in the United States. The current study builds on this literature by focusing on the influence of how gay men make sense of and represent the coming out process in a semi-structured interview, more specifically, by examining the legacy of the coming out process on indicators of wellness. In a two-part process, this study first employs the framework well articulated in the adult attachment literature of coherence of narratives to explore both variation and implications of the coming out experience for a sample of gay men (n = 60) in romantic relationships (n = 30). In particular, this study employed constructs identified in the adult attachment literature, namely Preoccupied and Dismissing current state of mind, to code a Coming Out Interview (COI). In the present study current state of mind refers to the degree of coherent discourse produced about coming out experiences as relayed during the COI. Multilevel analyses tested the extent to which these COI dimensions, as revealed through an analysis of coming out narratives in the COI, were associated with relationship quality, including self-reported satisfaction and observed emotional tone in a standard laboratory interaction task and self-reported symptoms of psychopathology. In addition, multilevel analyses also assessed the Acceptance by primary relationship figures at the time of disclosure, as well as the degree of Outness at the time of the study. Results revealed that participant’s narratives on the COI varied with regard to Preoccupied and Dismissing current state of mind, suggesting that the AAI coding system provides a viable organizing framework for extracting meaning from coming out narratives as related to attachment relevant constructs. Multilevel modeling revealed construct validity of the attachment dimensions assessed via the COI; attachment (i.e., Preoccupied and Dismissing current state of mind) as assessed via the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) was significantly correlated with the corresponding COI variables. These finding suggest both methodological and conceptual convergence between these two measures. However, with one exception, COI Preoccupied and Dismissing current state of mind did not predict relationship outcomes or self-reported internalizing and externalizing symptoms. However, further analyses revealed that the degree to which one is out to others moderated the relationship between COI Preoccupied and internalizing. Specifically, for those who were less out to others, there was a significant and positive relationship between Preoccupied current state of mind towards coming out and internalizing symptoms. In addition, the degree of perceived acceptance of sexual orientation by salient relationship figures at the time of disclosure emerged as a predictor of mental health. In particular, Acceptance was significantly negatively related to internalizing symptoms. Overall, the results offer preliminary support that gay men’s narratives do reflect variation as assessed by attachment dimensions and highlights the role of Acceptance by salient relationship figures at the time of disclosure. Still, for the most part, current state of mind towards coming out in this study was not associated with relationship quality and self-reported indicators of mental health. This finding may be a function of low statistical power given the modest sample size. However, the relationship between Preoccupied current state of mind and mental health (i.e., internalizing) appears to depend on degree of Outness. In addition, the response of primary relationships figures to coming out may be a relevant factor in shaping mental health outcomes for gay men. Limitations and suggestions for future research and clinical intervention are offered.