title: Child Well-Being in Same-Sex Parent Families: Review of Research Prepared for American Sociological Association Amicus Brief.
abstract: Recent legal cases before the Supreme Court of the United States were challenging federal definitions of marriage created by the Defense of Marriage Act and California's voter approved Proposition 8 which limited marriage to different-sex couples only. Social science literature regarding child well-being was being used within these cases, and the American Sociological Association sought to provide a concise evaluation of the literature through an amicus curiae brief. The authors were tasked in the assistance of this legal brief by reviewing literature regarding the well-being of children raised within same-sex parent families. This article includes our assessment of the literature, focusing on those studies, reviews and books published within the past decade. We conclude that there is a clear consensus in the social science literature indicating that American children living within same-sex parent households fare just, as well as those children residing within different-sex parent households over a wide array of well-being measures: academic performance, cognitive development, social development, psychological health, early sexual activity, and substance abuse. Our assessment of the literature is based on credible and methodologically sound studies that compare well-being outcomes of children residing within same-sex and different-sex parent families. Differences that exist in child well-being are largely due to socioeconomic circumstances and family stability. We discuss challenges and opportunities for new research on the well-being of children in same-sex parent families.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology and Center for Family and Demographic Research, Bowling Green State University, Williams Hall, Bowling Green, OH 43403, USA.
authors.forename: Wendy D
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Manning
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology and Center for Family and Demographic Research, Bowling Green State University, Williams Hall, Bowling Green, OH 43403, USA.
authors.forename: Marshal Neal
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Fettro
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology and Center for Family and Demographic Research, Bowling Green State University, Williams Hall, Bowling Green, OH 43403, USA.
authors.forename: Esther
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lamidi
keywords: Children; Gay; Legal brief; Lesbian; Review of literature; Same-sex parents