{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T01:04:08Z","timestamp":1760058248006,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,20]],"date-time":"2025-03-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1742428800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention, and Policy (InCHIP), University of Connecticut"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the living arrangements of many college students in the United States, potentially impacting their academic development, which plays a critical role in their mental health. At the start of the pandemic, university closures led to an abrupt transition from face-to-face instruction to online instruction, which may have caused significant challenges for college students, particularly lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and others who identify as having a minority sexual orientation and\/or gender identity (LGBTQ+). To identify academic challenges and associated protective factors, we examined LGBTQ+ college students\u2019 social support from family and friends, the parent\u2013child relationship quality, and their associations with academic challenges during the first months of the pandemic. The results of online surveys indicated that LGBTQ+ college students (N = 408; Mean Age = 20.4 yrs) who reported less family support and worse relationship quality with their parents perceived that academics had become relatively harder than before the pandemic. In contrast, friend support was unrelated to perceived academic challenges. These findings underscore the potentially protective role of supportive and high-quality relationships with family. The findings also provide insight into how universities could support students\u2019 academic success during other temporary academic breaks and sudden, unplanned disruptions, such as hurricanes or other weather-related events, which is essential in promoting LGBTQ+ college students\u2019 mental health and academic success.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph22030459","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,20]],"date-time":"2025-03-20T09:17:39Z","timestamp":1742462259000},"page":"459","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["How Social Support and Parent\u2013Child Relationships Related to LGBTQ+ College Students\u2019 Academic Challenges During COVID-19"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"22","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9998-8535","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yuan","family":"Zhang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Social and Family Dynamics, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Miranda R.","family":"Garcia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Women\u2019s Resource Center, Student Engagement and Wellbeing, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9227-0662","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Eva. S.","family":"Lefkowitz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 85287, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,20]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"545","DOI":"10.1080\/00918369.2020.1868182","article-title":"Introduction to special issue: Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on LGBTQ+ health and well-being","volume":"68","author":"Drabble","year":"2021","journal-title":"J. Homosex."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Barbayannis, G., Bandari, M., Zheng, X., Baquerizo, H., Pecor, K.W., and Ming, X. (2022). Academic stress and mental well-being in college students: Correlations, affected groups, and COVID-19. Front. 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