Adoption of Black Children by White Parents in Heterosexual and Homosexual Relationships: Exploring Mental Health Trainees' Explicit and Implicit Attitudes
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2017
Keywords
implicit attitudes, transracial adoption, same-sex adoption, mental health trainees
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1080/10538720.2017.1320256
Abstract
We investigated 163 (82.2% female; 73% White; and 91.4% heterosexual) mental health trainees' explicit and implicit attitudes toward heterosexual, lesbian, and gay White couples adopting and raising Black children. Explicit attitudes were assessed with a vignette depicting a Black child in need of a home. Implicit attitudes were assessed with the multifactor implicit association test (IAT) protocol. Explicit data showed that most participants indicated no strong family preference. However, IAT data showed that most trainees had implicit preference, with a moderate preference for lesbian couples over heterosexual couples and a moderate-to-strong preference for lesbian couples over gay couples. The trainees only demonstrated a very weak preference for heterosexual couples over gay couples. Overall, congruence between explicit and implicit is very low. Implications for training are discussed.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services, v. 29, issue 3, p. 233-251
Scholar Commons Citation
Tan, Tony Xing; Smith, Vernon L.; and Norton, Aaron, "Adoption of Black Children by White Parents in Heterosexual and Homosexual Relationships: Exploring Mental Health Trainees' Explicit and Implicit Attitudes" (2017). Department of Leadership, Policy, and Lifelong Learning. 331.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/ehe_facpub/331
