Many people think about LGBTQ+ identity disclosure—or the act of coming out—as a singular event that happens during one conversation or social interaction. But, in a new review of studies, University of Delaware doctoral student Mohammad Mousavi, Associate Professor Valerie Earnshaw, Assistant Professor Eric Layland and Norman Chong of the University of Malaya found that coming out for LGBTQ+ youth is a complex, developmental process extending over time and across diverse contexts.

After screening nearly 5,500 articles and closely scrutinizing 29 studies, they also found that research on LGBTQ + youth disclosure is advancing and evolving, with increasing attention to the reasons for or against disclosure and associated mental health outcomes. 

“Results of this study challenge the idea that coming out is a single, one-time event where adolescents announce their LGBTQ+ identity and then move forward,” said Layland, who studies LGBTQ+ development in UD’s College of Education and Human Development (CEHD). “Many LGBTQ+ people come out in many different ways and places over their life, including in adolescence. By taking a developmental approach to identity disclosure, we see clear evidence of a complex process that includes navigating relationships, sorting through intentions and goals when coming out and grappling with the costs and benefits of disclosing a stigmatized sexual or gender identity.” 

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