Behavioral Outcomes of Children with Same-Sex Parents in The Netherlands

Deni Mazrekaj, Mirjam M. Fischer, Henny M. W. Bos

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Same-sex parents face substantial stressors due to their sexual orientation, such as experiences of prejudice and prohibitive legal environments. This added stress is likely to lead to reduced physical and mental health in same-sex parents that, in turn, may translate into problematic behavioral outcomes in their children. To date, there are only a few nationally representative studies that investigate the well-being of children with same-sex parents. The current study takes a closer look at children’s behavioral outcomes, reported by a parent, using an adapted version of the emotional, conduct, hyperactivity, pro-social, and peer problems subscales of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). We take advantage of unique data from the Netherlands based on a probability sample from population registers, whereby findings can be inferred to same-sex and different-sex parent households with parents between the ages of 30 and 65, and with children between the ages of 6 and 16 years (62 children with same-sex, and 72 children with different-sex parents). The findings obtained by coarsened exact matching suggest no significant disadvantages for children with same-sex parents compared to different-sex parents. We contextualize these findings in their wider cultural context, and recommend a renewed focus in future research away from deficit-driven comparisons.

Original languageEnglish
Article number5922
Pages (from-to)1-12
JournalInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Volume19
Issue number10
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2 May 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Funding: Deni Mazrekaj acknowledges funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 681546 (FAMSIZEMATTERS). Mirjam Fischer received funding from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research [ref. 01UW2002] and the German Research Foundation [ref. FI 2490/1-1]. The data collection includes funds from the European Research Council (PI: Matthijs Kalmijn, ERC Grant Agreement 669334).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Keywords

  • behavioral outcomes
  • coarsened exact matching
  • family system theory
  • minority stress theory
  • probability sample
  • same-sex parents

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