Children with lesbian parents: a community study.
Existing research on children with lesbian parents is limited by reliance on volunteer or convenience samples. The present study examined the quality of parent-child relationships and the socioemotional and gender development of a community sample of 7-year-old children with lesbian parents. Families were recruited through the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, a geographic population study of 14,000 mothers and their children. Thirty-nine lesbian-mother families, 74 two-parent heterosexual families, and 60 families headed by single heterosexual mothers were compared on standardized interview and questionnaire measures administered to mothers, co-mothers/fathers, children, and teachers. Findings are in line with those of earlier investigations showing positive mother-child relationships and well-adjusted children.
Golombok
Susan
S
Family and Child Psychology Research Center, City University, London, England. S.E.Golombok@city.ac.uk
Perry
Beth
B
Burston
Amanda
A
Murray
Clare
C
Mooney-Somers
Julie
J
Stevens
Madeleine
M
Golding
Jean
J
D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D018452:Homosexuality, Female / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting; D002666:Psychology, Child; D020954:Single-Parent Family / Q000523:psychology; D012917:Social Adjustment