Impact of Parental Sexual Orientation on Child Development: Findings from Research - Prof., Apuntes de Psicología

¡Descarga Impact of Parental Sexual Orientation on Child Development: Findings from Research - Prof. y más Apuntes en PDF de Psicología solo en Docsity! Children of Lesbian and Gay Parents Charlotte J. Patterson University of Virginia ABSTRACT—Does parental sexual orientation affect child development, and if so, how? Studies using convenience samples, studies using samples drawn from known popu- lations, and studies based on samples that are represen- tative of larger populations all converge on similar conclusions. More than two decades of research has failed to reveal important differences in the adjustment or de- velopment of children or adolescents reared by same-sex couples compared to those reared by other-sex couples. Results of the research suggest that qualities of family re- lationships are more tightly linked with child outcomes than is parental sexual orientation. KEYWORDS—sexual orientation; parenting; lesbian; gay; child; socialization Does parental sexual orientation affect child development, and if so, how? This question has often been raised in the context of legal and policy proceedings relevant to children, such as those involving adoption, child custody, or visitation. Divergent views have been offered by professionals from the fields of psychology, sociology, medicine, and law (Patterson, Fulcher, & Wainright, 2002). While this question has most often been raised in legal and policy contexts, it is also relevant to theoretical issues. For example, does healthy human development require that a child grow up with parents of each gender? And if not, what would that mean for our theoretical understanding of parent–child relations (Patterson & Hastings, in press)? In this article, I describe some research designed to address these questions. EARLY RESEARCH Research on children with lesbian and gay parents began with studies focused on cases in which children had been born in the context of a heterosexual marriage. After parental separation and divorce, many children in these families lived with divorced lesbianmothers. A number of researchers compared development among children of divorced lesbian mothers with that among children of divorced heterosexual mothers and found few signif- icant differences (Patterson, 1997; Stacey & Biblarz, 2001). These studies were valuable in addressing concerns of judges whowere required to decide divorce and child custody cases, but they left many questions unanswered. In particular, because the children who participated in this research had been born into homes with married mothers and fathers, it was not obvious how to understand the reasons for their healthy development. The possibility that children’s early exposure to apparently hetero- sexual male and female role models had contributed to healthy development could not be ruled out. When lesbian or gay parents rear infants and children from birth, do their offspring grow up in typical ways and show healthy development? To address this question, it was important to study children who had never lived with heterosexual parents. In the 1990s, a number of investigators began research of this kind. An early example was the Bay Area Families Study, in which I studied a group of 4- to 9-year-old children who had been born to or adopted early in life by lesbianmothers (Patterson, 1996, 1997). Data were collected during home visits. Results from in-home interviews and also from questionnaires showed that children had regular contact with a wide range of adults of both genders, both within and outside of their families. The children’s self-concepts and preferences for same-gender playmates and activities were much like those of other children their ages. Moreover, stand- ardized measures of social competence and of behavior problems, such as those from the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), showed that they scored within the range of normal variation for a repre- sentative sample of same-aged American children. It was clear from this study and others like it that it was quite possible for lesbian mothers to rear healthy children. STUDIES BASED ON SAMPLES DRAWN FROM KNOWN POPULATIONS Interpretation of the results from the Bay Area Families Study was, however, affected by its sampling procedures. The study Address correspondence to Charlotte J. Patterson, Department of Psychology, P.O. Box 400400, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904; e-mail: cjp@virginia.edu. CURRENT DIRECTIONS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE Volume 15—Number 5 241Copyright r 2006 Association for Psychological Science had been based on a convenience sample that had been as- sembled by word ofmouth. It was therefore impossible to rule out the possibility that families who participated in the research were especially well adjusted. Would a more representative sample yield different results? To find out, Ray Chan, Barbara Raboy, and I conducted re- search in collaboration with the SpermBank of California (Chan, Raboy, & Patterson, 1998; Fulcher, Sutfin, Chan, Scheib, & Patterson, 2005). Over the more than 15 years of its existence, the Sperm Bank of California’s clientele had included many lesbian as well as heterosexual women. For research purposes, this clientele was a finite population from which our sample could be drawn. The Sperm Bank of California also allowed a sample in which, both for lesbian and for heterosexual groups, one parent was biologically related to the child and one was not. We invited all clients who had conceived children using the resources of the Sperm Bank of California and who had children 5 years old or older to participate in our research. The resulting sample was composed of 80 families, 55 headed by lesbian and 25 headed by heterosexual parents. Materials were mailed to participating families, with instructions to complete them pri- vately and return them in self-addressed stamped envelopes we provided. Results replicated and expanded upon those from earlier re- search. Children of lesbian and heterosexual parents showed similar, relatively high levels of social competence, as well as similar, relatively low levels of behavior problems on the parent form of the CBCL. We also asked the children’s teachers to provide evaluations of children’s adjustment on the Teacher Report Form of the CBCL, and their reports agreed with those of parents. Parental sexual orientation was not related to children’s adaptation. Quite apart from parental sexual orientation, how- ever, and consistent with findings from years of research on children of heterosexual parents, when parent–child relation- ships were marked by warmth and affection, children were more likely to be developing well. Thus, in this sample drawn from a known population, measures of children’s adjustment were un- related to parental sexual orientation (Chan et al., 1998; Fulcher et al., 2005). Even as they provided information about children born to lesbian mothers, however, these new results also raised additional questions. Women who conceive children at sperm banks are generally both well educated and financially comfortable. It was possible that these relatively privileged women were able to protect children from many forms of dis- crimination. What if a more diverse group of families were to be studied? In addition, the children in this sample averaged 7 years of age, and some concerns focus on older children and adolescents. What if an older group of youngsters were to be studied? Would problems masked by youth and privilege in earlier studies emerge in an older, more diverse sample? STUDIES BASED ON REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLES An opportunity to address these questions was presented by the availability of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). The Add Health study in- volved a large, ethnically diverse, and essentially representative sample of American adolescents and their parents. Data for our research were drawn from surveys and interviews completed by more than 12,000 adolescents and their parents at home and from surveys completed by adolescents at school. Parents were not queried directly about their sexual orienta- tion but were asked if they were involved in a ‘‘marriage, or marriage-like relationship.’’ If parents acknowledged such a relationship, they were also asked the gender of their partner. Thus, we identified a group of 44 12- to 18-year-olds who lived with parents involved in marriage or marriage-like relationships with same-sex partners. We compared them with a matched group of adolescents living with other-sex couples. Data from the archives of the Add Health study allowed us to address many questions about adolescent development. Consistent with earlier findings, results of this work revealed few differences in adjustment between adolescents living with same-sex parents and those living with opposite-sex parents (Wainright, Russell, & Patterson, 2004; Wainright & Patterson, 2006). There were no significant differences between teenagers living with same-sex parents and those living with other-sex parents on self-reported assessments of psychological well-being, such as self-esteem and anxiety; measures of school outcomes, such as grade point averages and trouble in school; ormeasures of family relationships, such as parental warmth and care from adults and peers. Adolescents in the two groups were equally likely to say that theyhad been involved in a romantic relationship in the last 18months, and theywere equally likely to report having engaged in sexual intercourse. The only statistically reliable difference between the two groups—that those with same-sex parents felt a greater sense of connection to people at school— favored the youngsters living with same-sex couples. There were no significant differences in self-reported substance use, delin- quency, or peer victimization between those reared by same- or other-sex couples (Wainright & Patterson, 2006). Although the gender of parents’ partners was not an important predictor of adolescent well-being, other aspects of family re- lationships were significantly associated with teenagers’ ad- justment. Consistent with other findings about adolescent development, the qualities of family relationships rather than the gender of parents’ partners were consistently related to ad- olescent outcomes. Parents who reported having close rela- tionships with their offspring had adolescents who reportedmore favorable adjustment. Not only is it possible for children and adolescents who are parented by same-sex couples to develop in healthy directions, but—even when studied in an extremely diverse, representative sample of American adolescents—they generally do. 242 Volume 15—Number 5 Children of Lesbian and Gay Parents