Children of same-sex couples are happier and healthier than peers, research show

[garbon]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/07/07/children-of-same-sex-couples-are-happier-and-healthier-than-peers-research-shows/?tid=hp_mm&hpid=z3

Children of same-sex couples fare better when it comes to physical health and social well-being than children in the general population, according to researchers at the University of Melbourne in Australia.

"It's often suggested that children with same-sex parents have poorer outcomes because they're missing a parent of a particular sex. But research my colleagues and I published in the journal BMC Public Health shows this isn't the case," lead researcher Simon Crouch wrote on the Conversation.

Crouch and his team surveyed 315 same-sex parents with a total of 500 children across Australia. About 80 percent of the kids had female parents and about 18 percent had male parents, the study states.

Children from same-sex families scored about 6 percent higher on general health and family cohesion, even when controlling for socio-demographic factors such as parents' education and household income, Crouch wrote. However, on most health measures, including emotional behavior and physical functioning, there was no difference compared with children from the general population.

Crouch suggested the greater social cohesion among same-sex families comes from an equal distribution of work. He said same-sex couples are likely to share responsibilities more equally than heterosexual ones.

"It is liberating for parents to take on roles that suit their skills rather than defaulting to gender stereotypes, where mum is the primary care giver and dad the primary breadwinner," he said.

But Benjamin Siegel, professor of pediatrics at the Boston University School of Medicine, said there are limits with such research. He told BU Today last year that none of the studies has been a randomized, controlled trial and that all studies on same-sex parenting are small since there aren't as many same-sex parents.

The University of Melbourne study also pointed out a problem facing same-sex families: stigma.

According to the study, about two-thirds of children with same-sex parents experienced some form of stigma because of their parents' sexual orientation. Despite these kids' higher marks in physical health and social well-being, the stigma associated with their family structure was linked to lower scores on a number of scales. Crouch said stigmas ranged from subtle issues such as sending letters home from school addressed to a "Mr." and "Mrs." to more harmful problems such as bullying at school. The greater the stigma a same-sex family faces, the greater the impact on a child's social and emotional well-being, Crouch said.

However, according to a report published by the American Academy of Pediatrics last year that analyzed three decades of data, children raised by gay and lesbian parents showed resilience "with regard to social, psychological and sexual health despite economic and legal disparities and social stigma."

"Many studies have demonstrated that children's well-being is affected much more by their relationships with their parents, their parents' sense of competence and security, and the presence of social and economic support for the family than by the gender or the sexual orientation of their parents," said Siegel, co-author of the American Academy of Pediatrics report.

Amid the last year's Supreme Court arguments over same-sex marriage, researchers found that the quality of parenting and families' economic well-being was more important than sexual orientation.

"I can tell you we're never going to get the perfect science, but what you have right now is good-enough science," Siegel said. "The data we have right now are good enough to know what's good for kids."

[The Brain]

OK?

[Berkut]

While I am skeptical of the particulars of such a study, I don't find the conclusion hard to believe. The general population includes a lot of terrible and indifferent parents. Same sex couples are going to select, I suspect, much more strongly for parents who are parents because they very much want to be as opposed to plenty of people who become parents by default.

[Valmy]

Crouch suggested the greater social cohesion among same-sex families comes from an equal distribution of work. He said same-sex couples are likely to share responsibilities more equally than heterosexual ones.

"It is liberating for parents to take on roles that suit their skills rather than defaulting to gender stereotypes, where mum is the primary care giver and dad the primary breadwinner," he said.

A suggestion based on....what exactly?  Is he making a guess?  If this is the conclusion than why did families from 100 years ago have greater social cohesion than present?  This is quite an assumption.

Anyway I hope this shows you your social responsibility to get married and raise children garbon.  This children are depending on you.

[Valmy]

While I am skeptical of the particulars of such a study, I don't find the conclusion hard to believe. The general population includes a lot of terrible and indifferent parents. Same sex couples are going to select, I suspect, much more strongly for parents who are parents because they very much want to be as opposed to plenty of people who become parents by default.

Yeah I would presume a same sex couple would be superior in almost all categories as a group.

[Malthus]

I wonder what "family cohesion" is, and how one can measure it such that a 6% difference in it is a cause for note.

This strikes me as pure wishful thinking, the researcher seeing what he wants to see:

Crouch suggested the greater social cohesion among same-sex families comes from an equal distribution of work. He said same-sex couples are likely to share responsibilities more equally than heterosexual ones.

"It is liberating for parents to take on roles that suit their skills rather than defaulting to gender stereotypes, where mum is the primary care giver and dad the primary breadwinner," he said.

You can be sure if they scored 6% lower in "family cohesion", he would not be praising the "family value" of following gender stereotypes - but rather, pointing out that the kids suffer the effects of bigotry from the surrounding population.

I tend to think that openly gay parents are, in fact, more likely to make good parents - on average - that hetero ones. Why? In our society, they are likely to be more motivated - it is more difficult for open gays to become parents, while social pressure pushes many hetero couples into parenthood who are not really suited for it.

But that's just a guess on my part, I don't have scientific measurements of "family cohesion" to back it up.

Edit: what Berkut and Valmy said.

[crazy canuck]

While I am skeptical of the particulars of such a study, I don't find the conclusion hard to believe. The general population includes a lot of terrible and indifferent parents. Same sex couples are going to select, I suspect, much more strongly for parents who are parents because they very much want to be as opposed to plenty of people who become parents by default.

Agreed.  Self selecting parents will, one would assume, always be better than the general population.

The interesting question is what the data would be comparing hetro parents who planned their pregnancy with same sex parents.  My guess is there would be no difference between the two groups.

But this study does help deal the the OMG gays/lesbians cant be good parents crowd.

[Queequeg]

While I am skeptical of the particulars of such a study, I don't find the conclusion hard to believe. The general population includes a lot of terrible and indifferent parents. Same sex couples are going to select, I suspect, much more strongly for parents who are parents because they very much want to be as opposed to plenty of people who become parents by default.

This is exactly what I was thinking.  Self-selection.  You're not going to get anyone accidentally pregnant in a relationship between two exclusive homosexuals. 

[Valmy]

But this study does help deal the the OMG gays/lesbians cant be good parents crowd.

They will point to lots of their own studies.

[crazy canuck]

But this study does help deal the the OMG gays/lesbians cant be good parents crowd.

They will point to lots of their own studies.

From the same "scientists" that say dinosaurs and humans co-existed.  That is why this study is important - despite its flaws.

[Malthus]

But this study does help deal the the OMG gays/lesbians cant be good parents crowd.

They will point to lots of their own studies.

Well, don't post those here. We don't want to discourage Garbon's evident desire to become a parent.

[Valmy]

But this study does help deal the the OMG gays/lesbians cant be good parents crowd.

They will point to lots of their own studies.

From the same "scientists" that say dinosaurs and humans co-existed.  That is why this study is important - despite its flaws.

There has been plenty of similar studies in the past.  But I was just saying that crowd is not so easily defeated as a few scientific studies.  Or even lots of scientific studies.  Or even widespread scientific consensus.

[Valmy]

Well, don't post those here. We don't want to discourage Garbon's evident desire to become a parent.

I would never stand in the way of Languish: The Next Generation

[frunk]

A better comparison for this type of thing would be to compare to hetero couples that adopt/use surrogacy, for all of the reasons everyone else pointed out.

[garbon]

A better comparison for this type of thing would be to compare to hetero couples that adopt/use surrogacy, for all of the reasons everyone else pointed out.

I'm not really sure why one would need that comparison. Despite the headline from the WP, I would think the point of the research would be to show, as CC noted, that gay parents are just as capable as the general population of straight parents.  I'm struggling to think of a benefit from research designed to show if motivated gay couples are better than motivated straight couples.