Family conflict observations and outcomes among adopted school-age children with lesbian, gay, and heterosexual parents

Using chi-squared automatic interaction detection modelling to identify student opinion profiles regarding same-sex couples as a family structure

The aim was to determine the opinions held by a sample of students in relation to homoparenting as a family modality. A cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of university students specialization: social sciences using the AHFH. It is patent that opinions of students about the three factors (support, rejection and acceptance) that compose the construct of attitudes towards same-sex couples as a family structure, differ greatly depending on the positive or negative nature of these components. In conclusion, in relation to the dimension pertaining to rejection of same-sex couples as a family entity, we derived a configuration determined by 1 of the 4 predictor variables. In this case, gender was the only one of the 4 variables considered to support formation of a profile. This profile was constituted by male students who, independent of their birthplace setting, qualification and whether they personally know any same-sex couples, showed stronger agreement with the dimension describing rejection of same-sex couples as a family structure.

Stigma Experiences, Mental Health, Perceived Parenting Competence, and Parent-Child Relationships Among Lesbian, Gay, and Heterosexual Adoptive Parents in the United States

Adoptive parents often face stigma related to "non-traditional" family structures. Lesbian and gay (LG) adoptive parents often face additional stigmatization based on sexual identity, which in turn may negatively affect parents' mental health. Despite controversy about LG parenting, research demonstrates that family processes are more strongly associated with individual outcomes than family structure. Thus, family systems and minority stress theories provided our conceptual foundation in examining how adoptive LG parents' stigma experiences were associated with mental health, parenting competence, and parent-child relationships. Participating families (N = 106; n = 56 LG parent families) were originally recruited from five US domestic private infant adoption agencies and completed two waves of data collection (W1, W2; 91% retention) when children were preschool-age (M age = 3.01 years) and school-age (M age = 8.36 years), respectively. Data for the current study are largely drawn from W2. Via Qualtrics, parents completed assessments of mental health symptoms, adoption stigma, and perceived childcare competence. LG parents also reported on their experiences of homonegative microaggressions, and children responded to a measure about their relationships with parents. No significant differences emerged as a function of parental sexual orientation and gender except that lesbian mothers, heterosexual mothers, and gay fathers all reported higher parenting competence than heterosexual fathers. Although parents' mental health did not significantly predict parent-child relationship quality, parents' perceived competence and LG parents' current homonegative microaggression experiences did (e.g., greater competence, greater closeness; more microaggressions, lower closeness). Consistent with our conceptual framework, our results-derived from parent and child reports-demonstrate that although adoptive and LG parent families experience stigma, family processes (rather than structure) are most associated with individual outcomes. Researchers, policy makers, and practitioners should work together to employ identity-affirming practices to reduce stigma and support adoptive family functioning and well-being.