title: Children of homosexual parents report childhood difficulties.
abstract: Referenced as both supporting and weakening the case for parenting by homosexuals, 57 life-story narratives of children with homosexual parents published by Rafkin in 1990 and Saffron in 1996 were subjected to content analysis. Children mentioned one or more problems or concerns in 48 (92%) of 52 families. Of the 213 scored problems, 201 (94%) were attributed to the homosexual parent(s). Older daughters in at least 8 (27%) of 30 families and older sons in at least 2 (20%) of 10 families described themselves as homosexual or bisexual. These findings are inconsistent with propositions that children of homosexuals do not differ appreciably from those who live with married parents or that children of homosexuals are not more apt to engage in homosexuality.
authors.affiliation: Family Research Institute, Inc., Colorado Springs, CO 80962-2640, USA.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cameron
authors.forename: Kirk
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Cameron
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000523:psychology; D001727:Bisexuality / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000523:psychology; D016241:Child of Impaired Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D018452:Homosexuality, Female / Q000523:psychology*; D018451:Homosexuality, Male / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D010553:Personality Development; D012307:Risk Factors