A Population‐Based Comparison of Female and Male Same‐Sex Parent and Different‐Sex Parent Households

• Author: Lisette Kuyper,Nanette K. Gartrell,Henny M. W. Bos
• Published date: 01 March 2018
• Date: 01 March 2018
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12278

A Population-Based Comparison of Female and

Male Same-Sex Parent and Different-Sex Parent

Households

HENNY M. W. BOS*

LISETTE KUYPER*

,†

NANETTE K. GARTRELL*

,‡

This investigation compared Dutch same-sex parent and different-sex pare nt house-

holds on children’s psychological well-being, parenting stress, and support in child rear-

ing. It was also assessed whether associations among children’s well-being, parenting

stress, and support in child rearing were different in the two household types. Data were

based on a nationally representative survey (N=25,250). Matching was used to enhance

similarity in background characteristics between both types of families. Parent al and

child characteristics were matched for 43 female same-sex parent, 52 male same-sex par-

ent, and 95 different-sex parent households with offspring between 5 and 18 years old. No

significant differences were found on children’s well-being, problems in the parent–child

relationship, being worried about the child, or the use of formal and informal support

between mothers in same-sex and different-sex parent households or for fathers in same-

sex and different-sex parent households. Regarding perceived confidence in child rearing,

fathers in same-sex parent households and mothers in different-sex parent households felt

less competent than their counterparts. Neither the associations between children’s wel l-

being and the predictors (parenting stress variables) nor those between support and the

predictors (parenting stress and children’s well-being) differed along household type. In

this population-based study, the similarity in child outcomes regardless of household type

confirms the results of prior investigations based on convenience samples. These findings

are pertinent to family therapists, practitioners, court officials, and policymakers who

seek information on parenting experiences and child outcomes in female and male same-

sex parent families.

Keywords: Same-Sex Parenting; Children’s Psychological Well-Being; Use of Support in

Child Rearing; Parenting Stress; Social Support

Fam Proc 57:148–164, 2018

Same-sex parent families are an integral part of the social structure of many countries

(Gates, 2014). Alongside the increased visibility of these families is a growing body of

research on the well-being of children reared by same-sex parents (for overviews, see Gold-

berg, 2010). Most of these studies relied on nonprobability sampling techniques (Meyer &

*Research Institute of Child Development and Education, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The

Netherlands.

†

Sociaal Cultureel Planbureau, The Hague, The Netherlands.

‡

Williams Institute, UCLA School of Law, Los Angeles, CA.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Henny Bos, Research Institute of Child

Development and Education, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 127, 1018 WS, Amsterdam,

The Netherlands, E-mail: H.M.W.Bos@uva.nl

148

Family Process, Vol. 57, No. 1, 2018 ©2017 Family Process Institute

doi: 10.1111/famp.12278

Wilson, 2009), which have been critiqued because the results may not be generaliz able.

The current study is designed to contribute to the knowledge on same-sex parenting using

a Dutch population sample to compare female same-sex, male same-sex, and different-sex

parent households containing children between 5 and 18 years old.

Planned Same-Sex Parent Family Studies Using Nonprobability Samples

Increased access to assisted reproductive technology and adoption led to a lesbian baby

boom that preceded the gay baby boom by nearly two decades. As a result, most of the

early nonprobability studies were conducted on female same-sex parent families (Russell

& Muraco, 2012). These studies showed that children born into such families had compa-

rable well-being to that of children born into different-sex parent households (for over-

view, see Goldberg, 2010). Some studies found that when compared to those reared in

different-sex parent families, adolescents raised since birth in female same-sex parent

households had higher levels of self-esteem and less externalizing problem behavior (Bos,

Van Gelderen, & Gartrell, 2014; Gartrell & Bos, 2010).

Recent studies on male same-sex parent families reported similar results as studies on

female same-sex parent families: There were no significant differences in children’s well-

being between those raised in male same-sex parent and different-sex parent families

(e.g., Baiocco et al., 2015; Farr & Patters on, 2013). One study on male same-sex adoptive

parents found that their adopted children showed lower levels of externalizing problems

than adopted children in different-sex parent families (Golombok et al., 2014).

Both the female and male same-sex parent families in the abovementioned studies were

recruited through nonprobability sampling techniques, such as lesbian/gay organizations,

adoption agencies (Farr & Patterson, 2013; for overview, see Bos, 2012), or hospital fertil-

ity departments, or through a combination of these methods (Bos, Van Balen, & Van den

Boom, 2007). Such recruiting techniques may limit generalizability, particularly if the

parents in either type of family sought to enhance their scores to demonstrate the greater

efficacy of same- or different sex parenting.

Same-Sex Parent Family Studies Based on Nationally Representative Samples

To minimize potential sampling bias, other researchers have focused on large nation-

ally representative samples in which same- and different-sex parent families can be iden-

tified (Russell & Muraco, 2012). The recognition that same-sex parent families are

legitimate family forms has prompted designers of large-scale surveys to include questions

which make it possible to distinguish same- and different-sex parent households with chil-

dren. Examples of such surveys are the US Census, the National Longitudinal Survey of

Adolescent Health (Add Health), the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), the US

Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS), and the 2011–2012 National Survey of Chil-

dren’s Health (NSCH; for overview, see Russell & Muraco, 2012). These surveys have all

been carried out in the United States.

Studies based on US nationally representative samples have found that children in

same-sex parent families showed comparable progress through school (Rosenfeld, 2010,

2013), did not differ in academic achievement (Potter, 2012), and demonstrated no differ-

ences in general health, well-being, coping behavior, learning behavior (Bos, Knox, Van

Rijn-Van Gelderen, & Gartrell, 2016), problem behavior, or peer relationships (e.g., Wain-

right & Patterson, 2006, 2008) when compared to those in different-sex parent families.

The one exception to the comparable outcomes for children in the two family types was a

report from Sullins (2015a, 2015b) that failed to consider family dissolution or transitions

and found higher rates of emotional problems in the children of same-sex parents (based

on aggregate 1997–2013 data drawn from the NHIS).

Fam. Proc., Vol. 57, March, 2018

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