“It was kind of a non-issue”: Parent-child relationships and child adjustment in trans parent families

• In Event: 1-084 - Modern fathers and their children

Integrative Statement

Introduction
Within the trans population, 25-49% of individuals are estimated to be parents (Dierckx et al., 2016). Rates of societal and systemic transphobia remain high, and little is known about family functioning in this increasingly visible family form. Existing developmental research on trans parent families has focused on child gender development and parent-child relationship quality using parent-report or therapist-report data (Green, 1998; White & Ettner, 2004, 2007), and has found evidence of both family acceptance and family breakdown (Church et al., 2014). It has been suggested that in families where children experience a parent’s gender transition, child age at time of transition may be significant for child adjustment (e.g. Pyne, 2012). To date, no psychological studies have examined family functioning in trans parent families using children as informants. The current data form part of a larger exploratory study investigating children’s and parents’ experiences, relationships and psychological adjustment in families with a trans parent.

Hypotheses
Given the marginalised status of this family type, it was hypothesised that children would exhibit poorer psychological adjustment compared to population norms. Based on the existing literature it was also expected that, for children who had experienced a parent’s transition, better child outcomes would be associated with younger age at transition.

Study Population
Thirty-two trans parent families (34 trans parents, 40 children) in the UK were recruited through social media. Parents were aged 33-59 (M=44), children were aged 4-18 years (M=11). Twenty-four parents identified as trans women, four as trans men, and six as nonbinary. In 28 families, children were born before the parent’s transition.

Methods
Families were visited at home. Parents and children over eight were administered standardised questionnaires assessing child adjustment (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire; SDQ, Goodman, 1997) and parent-child relationship quality (Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire; PARQ, Rohner, 1976), and children completed a measure of self-esteem (Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale; RSES, Rosenberg, 1965). Parents and children over 12 completed a measure of family problems (Index of Family Relations; IFR, Hudson, 1982). Parent and child scores were examined in comparison to population norms or clinical cut-offs.
Parents and children were also administered a semi-structured interview, a section of which explored (where applicable) experiences of the parent’s transition. Interview data were analysed using qualitative content analysis (Krippendorf, 2013).

Results
Children’s scores on the SDQ and RSES were in line with UK normative data. No child-reported or parent-reported scores on the PARQ or IFR were above clinical cut-off, with scores indicating relationships characterised by more warmth than rejection, and the absence of clinically significant problems within the family. Child outcomes were not associated with the age of the child when the parent transitioned.

Analysis of the interview data revealed that the majority of children described neutral feelings about their parent’s transition. A minority of children continued to use the parent’s pre-transition parental designation (e.g. daddy) but had changed the pronoun they used for the parent.

The findings challenge commonly-held assumptions that living in a trans parent family is inherently problematic for children.

Authors

• Susan Imrie, Centre for Family Research, University of Cambridge
  Presenting Author

• Sophie Zadeh, Centre for Family Research, University of Cambridge
  Non-Presenting Author

• Susan Golombok, Centre for Family Research, University of Cambridge
  Non-Presenting Author