What does recent research say about I am studying the impact of found families on sense of belongingness and possible selves in young adults?
Short answer
Recent research suggests that chosen or “found” families can be important sources of affirmation, care, and community connection for LGBTQ+ young adults—processes plausibly relevant to belonging and future self-concepts. But the direct evidence is uneven: in this search I did not find a study that tests the full pathway from found-family involvement to both belongingness and possible selves in a young-adult sample. The best-supported conclusion is therefore a promising association and a clear research gap, not a demonstrated causal effect.
What the evidence supports
Belonging and recognition: In an ethnographic study of a Vietnamese American LGBTQ+ community organization, interviews with 15 members and six months of observation suggested that chosen-family ties and community connectedness shaped participants’ sense of self, belonging, purpose, and perceived well-being. This is directly relevant to belonging, but it is a small, context-specific qualitative study rather than a test of effects in young adults broadly. [citation_25aefg]
Identity affirmation and relational support: A 2020 interview study of 11 queer and transgender young adults described chosen family through mutual care, “leaning on each other,” and mutual aid. A 2025 study of Black queer and trans young adults likewise describes identity affirmation, emotional safety, cultural resonance, and communal support across chosen and family-of-origin networks. These findings suggest plausible routes through which found family could support belonging and identity exploration, but neither abstract reports a direct measure of belongingness or possible selves. [citation_25aee3] [citation_28494s]
Family membership is varied, and outcomes are not uniform: In a Detroit-area sample of 350 gay and bisexual men aged 18–29, 63% reported having chosen families, and associations between support/undermining and distress differed by family type. This cautions against treating found families as a single, uniformly supportive exposure. [citation_28494w] Another study of 175 LGBTQ+ adults found that family-of-origin support, rather than chosen-family support, was the only significant predictor of depression in its final regression model. That result concerns depression—not belonging—and does not show that chosen family has no value for other outcomes. [citation_25aefl]
The possible-selves connection is theoretically plausible, but largely untested here: Possible selves refer to images of what a person hopes, expects, or fears becoming; research describes these future identities as shaped by social context and important others who can serve as role models and convey what is valued. This offers a useful framework for asking whether found-family members help young adults imagine affirming futures, and whether they provide encouragement or practical routes toward those futures. It is a theory-based rationale, not evidence that found-family ties have already been shown to change possible selves. [citation_2849bj]
What this means for your study
A strong framing would distinguish belongingness (feeling accepted, valued, and connected within chosen family) from possible selves (hoped-for, expected, and feared future identities). You could test whether belonging mediates or moderates an association between found-family support and the clarity, range, or attainability of young adults’ possible selves; measure family-of-origin support and identity affirmation separately; and avoid assuming all chosen-family ties are supportive. The existing literature makes those relationships worth testing, but the design should not presuppose a positive causal effect.
Evidence limits: This answer uses academic database records and abstracts only; no full texts were retrieved. The databases searched did not yield a direct young-adult study jointly measuring found family, belongingness, and possible selves, so that specific relationship remains unestablished in this search.