Psychosocial Adjustment, School Outcomes, and Romantic Relationships of Adolescents With Same-Sex Parents

doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2004.00823.x

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Wiley InterScience

Child Development

Volume 75 Issue 6, Pages 1886 - 1898

Published Online: 22 Nov 2004

Published on behalf of the Society for Research in Child Development

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Psychosocial Adjustment, School Outcomes, and Romantic Relationships of Adolescents With Same-Sex Parents

Jennifer L. Wainright ¹ , Stephen T. Russell ² , and Charlotte J. Patterson ³

¹ Department of Psychology, University of Virginia
² Department of Family Studies and Human Development, University of Arizona
³ Department of Psychology, University of Virginia.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Charlotte J. Patterson, Department of Psychology, P.O. Box 400400, University of Virginia, Charlottesville VA 22904-0400. Electronic mail may be sent to cjp@virginia.edu.

This research uses data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), a program project designed by J. Richard Udry, Peter S. Bearman, and Kathleen Mullan Harris, and funded by Grant P01-HD31921 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, with cooperative funding from 17 other agencies. Special acknowledgment is due Ronald R. Rindfuss and Barbara Entwisle for assistance in the original design. Persons interested in obtaining data files from Add Health should contact Add Health, Carolina Population Center, 123 W. Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27516-2524 (http://www.cpc.unc.edu/addhealth/contract.html).

ABSTRACT

This study examined associations among family type (same-sex vs. opposite-sex parents); family and relationship variables; and the psychosocial adjustment, school outcomes, and romantic attractions and behaviors of adolescents. Participants included 44 12- to 18-year-old adolescents parented by same-sex couples and 44 same-aged adolescents parented by opposite-sex couples, matched on demographic characteristics and drawn from a national sample. Normative analyses indicated that, on measures of psychosocial adjustment and school outcomes, adolescents were functioning well, and their adjustment was not generally associated with family type. Assessments of romantic relationships and sexual behavior were not associated with family type. Regardless of family type, adolescents whose parents described closer relationships with them reported better school adjustment.

DIGITAL OBJECT IDENTIFIER (DOI)

10.1111/j.1467-8624.2004.00823.x About DOI

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