Abstract
Limited research exists about the unique experiences and possible marginalization of children with sexual minority parents. From a larger longitudinal project of diverse adoptive families, we examined cross-sectional data using mixed methods from interviews with 49 adopted children (Mage = 8 years; 47 % female) in 27 two-father and 22 two-mother families. Using thematic analysis, we coded themes of awareness of difference, microaggressions, and resilience (i.e., coping and positive family conceptualizations). Children experienced “feeling different” and microaggressions from peers, but generally at a low to medium intensity and with neutral (not negative) emotion. More instances of resilience and positive family conceptualizations were reported than microaggressions or feelings of difference, suggesting that children develop positive perceptions of their family and navigate experiences of difference with resilience. Filling important gaps in the literature, we discuss implications of our results for practice and policy.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 85-104 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| Journal | Journal of Youth and Adolescence |
| Volume | 45 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 1 2016 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2015, Springer Science+Business Media New York.
Funding
This research was supported by funding from the American Psychological Foundation’s Wayne F. Placek Grant awarded to Rachel H. Farr (Wave 2) and the Williams Institute at UCLA to Charlotte J. Patterson (Wave 1). During the preparation of this article, the authors were supported by funds from the Rudd Family Foundation Chair in Psychology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. We wish to thank the many undergraduate members of our research team for their transcribing and coding efforts, particularly Melissa Pennica and Olivia Goldman. We would also like to thank Yesel Yoon for her helpful comments on a previous version of this manuscript and Harold Grotevant for his support and encouragement with this project. Finally, we would like to appreciatively acknowledge the adoptive families who generously shared their experiences with us, making this research possible. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| UCLA School of Law's Williams Institute | |
| American Psychological Foundation | |
| University of Massachusetts Amherst |
Keywords
- Adoption
- Children
- Lesbian and gay parents
- Microaggressions
- Resilience
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Psychology
- Education
- Developmental and Educational Psychology
- Social Sciences (miscellaneous)