A Meta-Analysis Examining the Relationship Between Parents' Sexual Orientation and Children's Developmental Outcomes

• In Event: Moscone Center North Roundtable Session 9
  In Roundtable Session: Critical Conversations on the Social Context of Educational Policy

Abstract

Despite the Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) Supreme Court decision allowing same-sex marriage, the current political climate has emboldened states in the U.S. to push for anti-LGBTQ adoption legislation, some citing that LGBTQ couples have a negative effect on children. This meta-analysis summarized data from 34 studies on 6 developmental outcomes (child gender role behavior, gender identity, sexual orientation, cognitive function, and psychological adjustment, or quality of parent-child relationship). The overall effect of having same-sex parents on the developmental outcomes of the children was not significantly different from heterosexual parents. Further, moderator analyses found that location, mean ages of same-sex parents, children of same-sex parents, and children of heterosexual parents were significant. Implications are presented for school practitioners and policy.

Authors

• Mario I Suarez, Utah

• Elizabeth Wood Stackhouse, Texas A&M University - College Station

• Jeffrey Keese, Mercer University

• Christopher G. Thompson, Texas A&M University - College Station