Is One’s Sexual Orientation Related to Parenting Stress?
A Comparison of Heterosexual-parent Families, Gay-father Families and Lesbian-mother Families
Masterthesis Preventive Youthcare and Child Rearing Pedagogical Sciences and Education Science University of Amsterdam Pim A. C. Looze 10581529 Assessor: Mw. Dr. L. van Rijn-van Gelderen
Second Assessor: Dhr. Dr. P. Hoffenaar Amsterdam June, 2018
Abstract
This study investigated differences in parenting stress in 80 families (94% White, Mage =
34.9) headed by 22 heterosexual, 20 gay and 38 lesbian couples with 12-month-old children. Furthermore, the relation between internalized homophobia, an indicator for sexual minority stress, and parenting stress has been studied to see whether sexual minority stress is related to parenting stress experienced by gay and lesbian parents. One-way repeated-measures
ANOVA results showed no differences between parenting stress levels of heterosexual parents, gay fathers and lesbian mothers. In addition, for gay fathers and lesbian mothers separately and combined, a positive, moderate relation was found between internalized homophobia and parenting stress. Findings indicate that a parents’ sexual orientation does not influence the parenting stress they experience and that the sexual minority stress and
parenting stress experienced by gay and lesbian parents are related. Findings of this study can be used to educate, counsel and guide parents and others with work concerning children. Moreover, these results can influence policymakers in the U.K and the Netherlands to create, adjust and update policies and legislation to increase the availability of and access to new methods of conception to all types of parents and families.
Keywords: sexual orientation, parenting stress, sexual minority stress, internalized homophobia
Is One’s Sexual Orientation Related to Parenting Stress?
A Comparison of Heterosexual-parent Families, Gay-father Families and Lesbian-mother Families
For all parents, taking care of their child(ren) can be challenging and frustrating at times (Crnic & Greenberg, 1990). Daily hassles, such as feeding and comforting the child, are individually likely to be of little significance to the life of any parent. However, the impact of these daily minor events taken together may turn into a stressor (i.e. something that causes stress; Cambridge Dictionary) that can have a major impact on the life of both the parent and the child. The aversive psychological reaction to the demands that come with being a parent is called parenting stress (Deater-Deckard, 1998). This is experienced as negative feelings toward the self and/or the child(ren) and these feelings are the result of the demands of
parenthood (Deater-Deckard, 1998). Parenting stress can be of great importance to the overall family functioning (Deater-Deckard, 1998; Patterson, 1988; Pisula & Porębowicz-Dörsmann, 2017). To gain understanding of family functioning and individual differences of parent and child, it is important to further investigate the causes and effects of parenting stress. While parenting stress has been the focus of a substantial amount of research, little is known about parenting stress for parents with a non-heterosexual orientation. Therefore, the current study focuses on the differences in parenting stress between parents with a heterosexual and with a same-sex orientation (i.e. gay- and lesbian parents).
Literature on the general workings of parenting stress suggests that the effects of parenting stress on the child go through a certain mechanism: parenting stress affects the parenting behaviour and alters the parent-child interactions, which in turn affects the child (Deater-Deckard, 1998). In addition, the impact of parenting stress on the child may not be unidirectional. Hastings (2002) proposed a transactional relationship, where children’s behavioural problems, parenting stress, and parenting behaviour are related. This means that
adverse child outcomes caused by parenting stress and negative parenting behaviour may further contribute to parenting stress. For example, when a child is exhibiting externalizing behaviour problems (e.g. aggressive, hyperactive), this may cause more stress for the parent and negatively affect their parenting practices (Donenberg & Baker, 1993).
Empirical research has repeatedly shown parenting stress to be a risk factor for several adverse child outcomes. This includes the development of aggression and externalizing behaviour problems such as temper tantrums (Baker, Heller, & Henker, 2000; Podolski & Nigg, 2001; Theule, Wiener, Tannock, & Jenkins, 2010), internalizing problems such as anxiety (Costa, Weems, Pellerin, & Dalton, 2006; Mäntymaa et al., 2011), compromised emotional coping (Cappa, Begle, Conger, Dumas, & Conger, 2011), impaired social cognition and competence (Guajardo, Snyder, & Petersen, 2009; Gutermuth Anthony et al., 2005) and diminished response to treatment (Crum & Moreland, 2017; Rishel, Greeno, Marcus, & Anderson, 2006). Furthermore, parenting stress has also been linked to a greater potential of child abuse (Nair, Schuler, Black, Kettinger, & Harrington, 2003; Rodriguez, 2010;
Rodriguez & Richardson, 2007), of which the consequences can be severe and long lasting (Copeland, Keeler, Angold, & Costello, 2007; Dodge, Pettit, & Bates, 1997; Duke, Pettingell, McMorris, & Borowsky, 2010; Ruchkin, Henrich, Jones, Vermeiren, & Schwab-Stone, 2007). The many severe consequences of parenting stress show the importance of gaining knowledge on the causes of parenting stress as well as any possible differences between parents in
different situations.
While not much research has focused on differences in parenting stress for parents with different sexual orientations, the few studies available all show that gay and lesbian parents experience similar levels or less parenting stress than heterosexual parents. For example, gay and lesbian adoptive parents were found to report less stress than predicted by population norms (Farr, Forssell, & Patterson, 2010). Moreover, compared to heterosexual
adoptive parents, gay adoptive parents reported lower levels of parenting stress as well as lower levels of depression (Golombok et al., 2014). The parenting stress levels of lesbian parents were found to be comparable to those of heterosexual parents (Bos, Van Balen, & Van Den Boom, 2004). Furthermore, identity factors contributing to parenting stress were found to be comparable for heterosexual and gay adoptive parents. However, for gay adoptive parents the quality of their identity as a gay man and a higher sensitivity to stigma was found to result in more parenting stress (Tornello, Farr, & Patterson, 2011).
Besides parenting stress, there are many more domains in a parents’ life where one might experience stress, such as health- or work-related stress. Stress from different domains has shown to be role-specific (Creasey & Reese, 1996). For instance, an individual can experience high levels of work-related stress and low levels of parenting stress at the same time. However, even though stress from different domains qualitatively differs from each other, this does not mean that they are unrelated. For example, it is possible that parenting stress can cause a parent to be unable to focus at work, which in turn can lead to work-related stress. The literature suggests that stress and stressors from different domains may be
cumulative (Crnic, Gaze, & Hoffman, 2005; Jaffee, Caspi, Moffitt, Polo-Tomás, & Taylor, 2007). Moreover, the family stress theory proposes that while single stressors only directly affect an individual, the stressors experienced by an individual can indirectly have an impact on their entire family (Patterson, 1988).
Sexual minority stress is a unique type of stress, because it does not apply to all parents. Although most parents are heterosexual, there is a significant group of parents who have a non-heterosexual orientation, which makes them part of so called sexual minority groups. These parents’ sexual orientation puts them at risk of experiencing sexual minority stress. The sexual minority stress model explains that being part of a minority group, or even perceiving to be part of a sexual minority group, can lead to stress (Meyer, 2003). This
conceptual framework was developed to gain understanding as to why sexual minorities show a higher prevalence of mental disorders than heterosexuals (Meyer, 2003). According to this model stigma, prejudice and discrimination can create a hostile and stressful social
environment that in turn can cause mental health problems.
The sexual minority stress model explains that there are several stressors that may contribute to the sexual minority stress experienced by a person (Meyer, 2003). For instance, one of these stressors is the expectation of rejection. Amongst others, this may cause people to choose to keep their sexual orientation hidden. Another stressor described by this model is internalized homophobia (Meyer, 2003). This has been described as the gay person’s direction of negative social attitudes toward the self, leading to a devaluation of the self and resulting in internal conflicts and poor self-regard (Meyer & Dean, 1998). Internalized homophobia can be seen as a meaningful indicator for sexual minority stress (Lehavot & Simoni, 2011; Meyer, 2003). Empirically, internalized homophobia has been tied to loneliness (Szymanski &
Chung, 2001), lower self-esteem (Szymanski, Chung, & Balsam, 2001), and psychological distress (Meyer, 1995; Nicholson & Long, 1990).
While sexual minority stress has often been researched, it has rarely been linked to parents and its effect(s) on parenthood. For example, the relation between sexual minority stress and parenting stress has not been researched before. Since stress from different domains might interact, it is possible that the sexual minority stress experienced by parents is related to the parenting stress they experience. For instance, the process of spill over may take place here. Spill over is a term used to describe a process whereby states such as negative mood or physiological arousal are experienced and expressed in the family (i.e. parenting stress), even though the original precipitating conditions occurred outside of the family (i.e. sexual
relation between parenting stress and sexual minority stress, because this has not been studied yet and based on theory a relation seems likely.
Furthermore, while parenting stress is a popular research topic, only few studies have included gay and lesbian parents. Most of the previous studies that have included parents with different sexual orientations have focussed on adoptive parents. With so many new
conception methods available and adoption being only one of several options for gay men and lesbian women wanting children, it is important to widen the research on this topic. In
addition, unlike heterosexual people, it is only in the last few decades that people with a non-heterosexual orientation have been becoming parents more often (Mallon, 2014; Tasker & Patterson, 2008). Since lesbian couples started forming families before gay couples, lesbian parents are relatively overrepresented in the literature (Golombok et al., 2014). Moreover, the number of gay couples that choose to have children is currently unprecedented (Lev, 2006) and likely to keep rising (Mallon, 2014). Consequently, there is need for more information on how gay fathers and lesbian mothers experience parenthood and if, or how, their children are affected by having gay fathers and/or lesbian mothers. This study contributes to that need.
In addition, this study will contribute to the current knowledge by providing insight into parenting stress at a specific time: when the child is 12 months of age. At this time it is likely that parents will spend less time inside the house and more time in public with their children. Since the public environment differs a lot from the familiar home environment, it is possible that this change of environment can cause parenting stress (Williford, Calkins, & Keane, 2007). Moreover, the current study provides longitudinal information by building on the study of Van Rijn-van Gelderen et al. (2017), which investigated parenting stress for gay, lesbian and heterosexual parents with 4-month-old children.
The findings of this study can be used to support same-sex couples in their preparation for parenthood and same-sex parents with the upbringing of their children. With greater
knowledge about the specific struggles that same-sex parents experience with having and raising children and with more insight into the relation between parenting stress and sexual minority stress, preventive measures can be taken so the impact of the parenting stress and sexual minority stress experienced by parents with a non-heterosexual orientation can be brought to a minimum. Furthermore, the findings might trigger current policies and legislation to be evaluated or adjusted.
The Present Study
To gain more insight into the relation between sexual orientation and parenting stress, the current study came up with two main focus points. First of all, this study will focus on differences in parenting stress for parents with different sexual orientations. A comparison will be made between gay, lesbian and heterosexual parents on the parenting stress they experience when their child is 12 months of age. Of these three groups, gay parents are expected to experience the most parenting stress, because they are likely to experience sexual minority stress by being gay and by being a male primary caretaker (Berkowitz, 2007;
Golombok et al., 2014; Lev, 2006; Meyer, 2003). This forms an additional non-traditional feature, which may cause them to be exposed to greater prejudice and discrimination
(Golombok & Tasker, 2010). Although lesbian parents are part of a sexual minority group as well (Meyer, 2003), they are expected to show lower levels of parenting stress than gay parents because they are female and therefore generally more accepted as primary caretakers (Berkowitz, 2007; Golombok et al., 2014). For lesbian women the desire to have children was viewed as a biological instinct, whereas gay men desiring children were perceived as
paedophiles, deviant or as wishing to reproduce their homosexuality (Berkowitz, 2007). Heterosexual parents are not part of a sexual minority group and will not experience parenting stress due to these types of stressors. Furthermore, they resemble the ‘traditional family’
(Golombok, 2015) in the sense that there is both a mother and a father present to raise the child(ren). Therefore, they are expected to show the lowest levels of parenting stress.
Secondly, the relation between sexual minority stress and parenting stress will be investigated. By using internalized homophobia as an indicator of sexual minority stress (Lehavot & Simoni, 2011; Meyer, 2003), the correlation between internalized homophobia and parenting stress will provide insight into the connection between sexual minority stress and parenting stress for gay and lesbian parents. Based on the process of spill over, the sexual minority stress model (Meyer, 2003) and the concept of cumulative stress, a positive and strong correlation between internalized homophobia and parenting stress is expected, for gay and lesbian parents alike: parents with more sexual minority stress are expected to experience more parenting stress as well.
Method Participants
This cross-sectional study is part of an international research project. Participants were recruited in the U.K. (n = 66), France (n = 120), and the Netherlands (n = 94). This sample exists of 38 gay-father families, 61 lesbian-mother families and 41 heterosexual-parent families. Unfortunately, it was not permitted to include the French participants in this study. Therefore, the current study involves only the participants from the U.K. and the Netherlands, which led to a sample of 20 gay-father families, 38 lesbian-mother families and 22
heterosexual-parent families. Of all families, both parents participated in the study. This results in a total of 160 participants. For sociodemographic information by family type, see Table 1.
Participants were recruited through several sources, such as specialist lawyers with expertise in surrogacy (for the recruitment of gay fathers), lesbian and gay parenting support groups, fertility clinics (for the recruitment of lesbian and heterosexual parents), and/or online
forums and magazines (Van Rijn-van Gelderen et al., 2017). Inclusion criteria concerning methods of conception were: gay-father families had to have used surrogate carriers, lesbian-mother families had to have used sperm donors, and heterosexual-parent families had to have used IVF without sperm or egg donation.
Procedure
Prior to data acquisition, all participants were asked to provide detailed information about their personal data by filling out an online questionnaire (protected by a unique password for each parent) on their demographics (Van Rijn-van Gelderen et al., 2017). All participants gave written permission and were made aware that participation was completely voluntary and anonymous. The data acquisition for this study took place in two waves. Wave 1 took place when the babies were between 3.5 and 4.5 months old; wave 2 when the babies were approximately between 11.5 and 12.5 months old. The current study only made use of data acquired in wave 2.
At both the first and second wave, all parents filled out an online questionnaire. Amongst other subjects, these questionnaires included questions about the parenting stress that parents experience. At the second wave, gay and lesbian parents were also asked about their internalized homophobia. Furthermore, during both waves observations were carried out and interviews were conducted. However, the information gathered by these measurements is not relevant to the current study.
Measures
Parenting stress. The Parental Distress subscale of the short version of the Parenting
Stress Index (Abidin, 2012) was used to measure parenting stress. This subscale consists of twelve items with five response categories (1 = ‘strongly agree’ to 5 = ‘strongly disagree’). An example of an item is “I feel alone and without friends”. A higher score indicated greater
parenting stress. The scores ranged from 12 to 60. For this sample, the Cronbach’s alpha for this subscale was good (α = .83).
Internalized homophobia. The internalized homophobia (IHP) scale is a
questionnaire designed to measure negative attitudes and feelings against one’s own
homosexuality as well as against other lesbian women and gay men (Nungesser, 1983; Shidlo, 1994; Szymanski et al., 2001). The IHP consists of eleven items, with five response categories (1 = ‘extremely disagree’ to 5 = ‘extremely agree’). A higher score indicated greater
internalized homophobia. Scores ranged from 11 to 55. An example of the IHP is “Some homosexuals and lesbians ask to be discriminated against”. The Cronbach’s alpha for this scale was good (α = .81).
Data Analysis Plan
For this study, all analyses will be conducted using SPSS Statistics 25. First, descriptive statistics will be calculated and reported. Then a one-way repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) will be conducted to answer the first research question, which will compare gay, lesbian, and heterosexual parents on their mean scores on parenting stress. The independent variable is family type (i.e. gay, lesbian or heterosexual parents) and the dependent variable is parenting stress. The one-way repeated-measures ANOVA will show whether or not the parent-couples differ from each other on their levels of parenting stress. Moreover, it will answer the first research question by showing if there is a significant difference between the parent-groups with different sexual orientations. If the outcome of the one-way repeated-measures ANOVA shows to be significant, a post-hoc analysis will be conducted to find out which of the three groups differ from each other significantly.
Secondly, to measure whether internalized homophobia correlates with parenting stress, a bivariate (Pearson) correlation analysis will be conducted for both gay and lesbian parents separately and combined. Furthermore, to determine whether these two correlations
significantly differ from each other, they will be compared with the help of
http://comparingcorrelations.org/. The correlations for gay fathers and lesbian mothers are not expected to differ from each other.
Results
Before conducting the analyses the assumptions of normality, linearity and
homoscedasticity have been checked with the help of a histogram, normal probability plot and scatter dot respectively. The data met the required assumptions to conduct the tests. While the total sample consists of N = 160 participants, the final samples used to answer the research questions were smaller due to missing data. For the first research question the sample
consisted of N = 135 participants and the sample of the second research question consisted of N = 103 participants.
For parenting stress, the mean score of all parents was M = 22.54 (SD = 6.40). For gay fathers, lesbian mothers and heterosexual parents the mean scores on parenting stress were M = 21.64 (SD = 7.06), M = 22.49 (SD = 5.79) and M = 23.71 (SD = 6.89) respectively. The levels of internalized homophobia were only measured for gay fathers and lesbian mothers. The mean score of internalized homophobia for gay and lesbian parents together was M = 17.13 (SD = 5.77). For gay fathers and lesbian mothers, the mean scores were M = 19.23 (SD = 7.05) and M = 16.04 (SD = 4.69) respectively. The sample size, mean scores and standard deviations of parenting stress and internalized homophobia can be found in Table 2.
The one-way repeated-measures ANOVA determined whether gay, lesbian and heterosexual parents differed on the parenting stress they experience when their child was 12 months of age. No differences were observed between the individuals within all parent-couples, F(1, 60) = 1.74, p = .192. Furthermore, no differences were found between the parent-couples of the different family types, F(2, 60) = .16, p = .853. Moreover, levels of parenting stress did not differ between family types, F(2, 60) = .93, p = .399. This means that
the parenting stress levels of the heterosexual, gay and lesbian parents in this sample were comparable. Thus, no post hoc tests were conducted.
The bivariate (Pearson) correlation analysis investigated the relation between internalized homophobia and parenting stress for gay and lesbian parents combined and separately. For gay and lesbian parents combined a significant moderate and positive correlation was found, r = .31, p = .002. For gay fathers and lesbian mothers separately, the correlations were r = .38, p = .024 and r = .30, p = .014 respectively. These correlations are significant, moderate and positive as well. This indicated that when gay and lesbian parents experienced higher levels of parenting stress, they experienced more sexual minority stress as well.
With the help of http://comparingcorrelations.org/, the correlations between internalized homophobia and parenting stress of gay-father families and lesbian-mother families were compared. Data input was n1 = 35, n2 = 66, r1 = .38, r2 = .30, α = .05 (2-tailed). Output given was z = .41, p = .680, 95% CI = [-0.307; 0.426]. Since the p-value is higher than the alpha and the confidence interval contains the number zero, this output shows that the correlations between internalized homophobia and parenting stress for gay fathers and lesbian mothers do not differ from each other. This indicated that the relation between parenting stress and internalized homophobia is similar for gay fathers and lesbian mothers.
Discussion
The aim of this study was to investigate whether there is a relation between a parents’ sexual orientation (i.e. gay, lesbian or heterosexual) and the parenting stress they experience. The first research question looked at the differences in parenting stress for gay fathers, lesbian mothers and heterosexual parents. The possible sexual minority stress experienced by gay fathers and lesbian mothers was expected to cumulate with their parenting stress, which would lead to higher levels of parenting stress for gay fathers and lesbian mothers than for
heterosexual parents. The results showed no differences in levels of parenting stress between gay fathers, lesbian mothers and heterosexual parents. The second research question
investigated whether internalized homophobia (used as an indicator for sexual minority stress) and parenting stress were related for gay fathers and lesbian mothers. Parents experiencing more internalized homophobia were expected to experience more parenting stress as well. The results were in line with the expectations: for gay fathers and lesbian mothers separately and combined a moderate and positive relation was found between internalized homophobia and parenting stress. These findings suggest that gay and lesbian parents who experience more sexual minority stress experience more parenting stress as well.
In contrast with the expectations, a parents’ sexual orientation did not seem to make a difference when it comes to the parenting stress they experienced. These results are similar to those of Van Rijn-van Gelderen et al. (2017). This could be explained by the use of largely the same sample; the only differences being the age of the child and the exclusion of French participants in the current study. Furthermore, the average scores on parenting stress found by Van Rijn-van Gelderen et al. (2017) show great similarity with the average scores found in the current study, which suggests that the difference in age of the child (i.e. 4-months-old versus 12-months-old) does not affect parenting stress. In addition, these results are in line with previous research that showed heterosexual, gay and lesbian parents to experience similar levels of parenting stress (Bos et al., 2004). Even though the findings seem to contradict the expectation that parents with a non-heterosexual orientation experience more parenting stress, it is still possible for this relation to exist. There might be an unknown variable that buffers for the expected effect. For instance, in contrast to many heterosexual parents, same-sex couples have to overcome certain obstacles in order to conceive. This may motivate parents to better prepare for parenthood. Furthermore, having to overcome obstacles has been shown to lead to personal growth and relatively high levels of wellbeing
(Taubman-Ben-Ari & Spielman, 2014). In turn, this may form a buffer for parenting stress for same-sex parents. While the parenting stress levels of parents with a heterosexual and non-heterosexual orientation were found to be similar, it is possible that differences can be found in the
variables that are influencing parenting stress.
The positive relation found between parenting stress and internalized homophobia is in accordance with previous theoretical and empirical findings that suggest that stress from different domains is related (Crnic et al., 2005; Jaffee et al., 2007). While this study has showed a relation between these two types of stress, it cannot determine the nature of this relation. The lack of differences in parenting stress levels between parents with a heterosexual and non-heterosexual orientation suggests that this relation is not cumulative. That is, even though sexual minority stress seems to be related to parenting stress for parents with a non-heterosexual orientation, their levels of parenting stress are similar to those of parents with a heterosexual orientation. Therefore, it seems as if the two types of stress have not cumulated, because then the parenting stress levels for parents with a non-heterosexual orientation are likely to be higher than those of parents with a heterosexual orientation. However, it is possible that a cumulative effect exists, but this study was not able to detect it. Due to relatively low levels of sexual minority stress in this sample, the effects of sexual minority stress on parenting stress were very small at the most. Moreover, to detect a small effect a large sample size is needed, in contrast to the current relatively small sample size.
Furthermore, stress from other domains has not been taken into consideration in this study. Since other types of stress could interact with parenting stress and sexual minority stress as well, in ways still unclear, the current findings may paint an incomplete picture of the relation between these variables. To sum up, the correlation analyses show that a positive relation between parenting stress and sexual minority stress is plausible, but the expectation that
parenting stress cumulates with sexual minority stress cannot be confirmed or denied by this study.
Considering how research focusing on gay and lesbian parents is still scarce in
comparison to that focusing on heterosexual parents, this study is of importance. Moreover, it is important that research keeps up with the coming of new and more diverse family types so that we can be aware of and deal with the possible challenges that growing up in any new type of family might bring, for both parent and child. Although this study has great value, there are several limitations to the study worth mentioning. First of all, the relative small sample size of this study had a few consequences. For instance, the country of residence of the participants could not be taken into account. With regards to policy and social attitudes toward gay and lesbian individuals and same-sex parenting, the U.K and the Netherlands somewhat differ from each other (Takács et al., 2016). Therefore, taking country of residence into account might have made a difference (Van Rijn-van Gelderen et al., 2017). Secondly, most parents that have participated have a White ethnic identity, with a moderate to high socioeconomic status. Due to this relative privileged background of the participants, the findings cannot be generalized to a larger, less privileged population of parents. However, it is possible that this sample does resemble the current population of parents with a non-heterosexual orientation, because the use of alternative conception methods is relatively expensive and therefore not yet available for economically less privileged families (Gays with Kids, 2016). Since poorer family finances are related to lower parental wellbeing (Bøe et al., 2014), it is important to keep in mind that the accessibility to alternative conception methods is still fluid. In time it might become more accessible to less economically privileged families, which may lead to different outcomes. Lastly, this study has researched a very specific question. While based on solid theory and literature, the presence of possible confounding variables such as
Based on the current study, certain recommendations for future research can be made. For example, there seems to be a relation between sexual minority stress and parenting stress for gay and lesbian parents. How these two types of stress are related remains unclear. Future research should focus on this relation specifically and on how different types of stress work together in general. This can provide insight into the individual responses to and effects of stress for people in different situations. Moreover, while similar levels of parenting stress were found for all parents, differences might be found in factors affecting their parenting stress. Future research should therefore try to obtain a clearer view on common risk- and protective factors for parents with a heterosexual and non-heterosexual orientation that might influence parenting stress. Furthermore, seeing how the sample size of the current study was too small to distinguish between countries, this could be an area of interest for further
research as well. It would be interesting to have more knowledge about how policy and social attitudes in a certain society are related to sexual minority stress as well as parenting stress for parents with a different sexual orientation. Especially for policymakers this information can be essential in constructing or adjusting policy.
Besides recommendations for future research, some practical implications can be derived from the results of this study. Prejudices and incorrect assumptions are still being made about parents with a non-heterosexual orientation and its effects on their children (Ioverno et al., 2018). With many of the effects still unknown, the results of this and previous studies on this topic combined, can be used to educate, counsel and guide people. For
example, this information can be used to educate and support parents with a non-heterosexual orientation to improve their parental competence, when they are experiencing doubts about their capabilities as a parent due to their sexual orientation. Moreover, these findings can be used to encourage policymakers in the U.K and the Netherlands to create, adjust and update policies and legislation to increase the availability of and access to new methods of
conception to all types of parents and families. While parents with a non-heterosexual orientation have the same rights to children as heterosexual parents, their practical
opportunities to accomplish this are not equal. Information derived from studies like these can contribute in the strife for equal opportunities for all.
Much research on same-sex parenting and children with gay or lesbian parents has proven the overall functioning of these children to be similar or even better than that of children with heterosexual parents (e.g. Gartrell & Bos, 2010). Many common
misconceptions, such as that a child with gay parents will turn out to be gay as well, have been shown to be false (DiLapi, 1989; Lev, 2006). With the changing social attitudes surrounding same-sex parenting (Swift, 2014), research like this can help to accomplish changes in policies that can make it easier for non-heterosexually oriented individuals to become parents. After all, they have the same right to have children as heterosexually oriented individuals. Furthermore, by providing scientific evidence that children of same-sex couples are not negatively affected by the sexual orientation of their parents, changes in social attitudes might be further set into motion. In turn, this may lead to less sexual minority stress and parenting stress, which is not only positive for the parents, but for their children and families as well. Lastly, these findings hope to direct future research into possible areas of interest that can be used to further support parents in need.
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Table 1
Sociodemographic Information by Family Type
Family type Gay-father families (n = 20) Lesbian–mother families (n = 38) Heterosexual–parent families (n = 22) M SD M SD M SD F p Age of caretaker Aa 38.6 4.66 34.9 2.98 36.2 3.83 3.59 .036 Age of caretaker Bb 36.9 5.24 33.3 3.47 39.8 5.61 8.55 .001
Length of the relationship (in years)c
10.4 4.90 6.4 2.62 8.7 3.52 9.03 .000
Age of child (in months)d 9.0 5.15 11.3 0.47 11.6 0.53 4.24 .021
n % n % n % 2 p Child’s sex .57 .751 Female 9 45.0 21 55.3 11 50.0 Male 11 55.0 17 44.7 11 50.0 Caregiver A working status, full-timee 8 40.0 8 21.1 7 31.8 5.71 .057 (continued)
Family type Gay-father families (n = 20) Lesbian–mother families (n = 38) Heterosexual–parent families (n = 22) n % n % n % 2 p Caregiver B working status, full-timef 13 65.0 16 42.1 11 50.0 4.86 .088
Primary Caregiver A ethnic identity, White
19 95.0 37 97.4 21 95.5 5.59 .232
Caregiver B ethnic identity, White
18 90.0 35 92.1 21 95.5 5.88 .660
Marital status/civil partner registration (yes)g 11 55.0 31 81.6 11 50.0 8.88 .064 Residencyh 10.58 .032 Rural area 1 4.5 Small city 1 5.0 11 28.9 Medium city 8 40.0 16 42.1 7 31.8 Large city 9 45.0 (continued)
Family type Gay-father families (n = 20) Lesbian–mother families (n = 38) Heterosexual–parent families (n = 22) n % n % n % 2 p Family incomei 5.94 .204 Under 12706 dollar 1 4.5 12706-42356 dollar 2 5.3 2 9.1 Over 42356 dollar 18 90.0 33 86.8 13 59.1
an = 8, n = 28, n = 9 for gay, lesbian and heterosexual parents respectively. bn = 8, n = 28, n = 9 for gay, lesbian and heterosexual parents respectively. cMeasured at wave 1. dn
= 9, n = 26, n = 9 for gay, lesbian and heterosexual parents respectively. en = 13, n = 31, n = 14 for gay, lesbian and heterosexual parents respectively. fn = 17, n = 33, n = 15
for gay, lesbian and heterosexual parents respectively. gn = 18, n = 35, n = 16 for gay, lesbian and heterosexual parents respectively. hn = 9, n = 27, n = 8 for gay, lesbian and
heterosexual parents respectively. in = 18, n = 35, n = 16 for gay, lesbian and heterosexual parents respectively. Dollar amount converted from Euros and British pounds using
Table 2
Sample Size, Mean Scores and Standard Deviations of Parenting Stress and Internalized Homophobia by Family Type
Family Type
Parenting stressa Internalized homophobiab
N M (SD) N M (SD)
Gay fathers 36 21.64 (7.06) 35 19.23 (7.05) Lesbian mothers 68 22.49 (5.79) 68 16.04 (4.69) Heterosexual parents 31 23.71 (6.89)
Total 135 22.54 (6.40) 103 17.13 (5.77)
aHigher scores reflected more parenting stress. bHigher scores reflected more internalized homophobia.
