Do My Parents Think I’m Going to Hell? Religious Parents’ Communication and Religious Disaffiliated Young Adults’ Feelings of Stigma

Parents often desire to raise their children to share their religious beliefs, yet religious affiliation among young adults is on the decline in the U.S.. This study explored the impact of young adults’ religious disaffiliation and feelings of stigma related to their parent-child communication. Fifteen in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with self-identified religiously disaffiliated young adults (age 18–34). Interviews were analyzed inductively to illuminate their lived experiences in disaffiliating from their parent’s religion/religious views using a lens of stigma communication that has not been applied in the parent-child relationship literature. Four dominant themes emerged around religious disaffiliation and stigma communication from: (1) Parent reiteration of church religious stigma messages, (2) Unrelenting parent religious standard messages, (3) Negative parental judgment religious messages, and (4) Internalized religious stigma messages. A majority identified as LGBTQ+ pointing to the salience of religious stigma messages to their self-identity. Anti-LGBTQ+ communication from parents in particular, based on church messaging, contributed to feelings of stigmatization associated with their religious disaffiliation. Findings indicate that these young adults experienced stigma as a personal struggle that had a negative impact on their parent-child communication and relational closeness.