A purposive sample of 34 lesbian and 47 traditional mothers was located in the Denver-Fort Collins area. This pilot study was designed to determine if statistically significant differences existed between the two groups of mothers on measures of maternal attitude and self-concept. The Adult Response to Child Behavior, a set of slides of children's behaviors and set responses, provided an indicator of adult-, task-, and child-centered attitudes. Three personality aggregates, self-confidence, dominance, and nurturance, were computed from responses to the Adjective Checklist, a 300-item self-administered, self-evaluative instrument. Chi-square analyses confirmed that: there is no difference in response to children's behavior by lesbian and traditional mothers nor in self-concept of lesbian and traditional mothers. This conclusion can be generalized only to the subjects and instruments used in the present study. Further research is needed to provide a data base on interaction of lesbian mothers and children. It seems probable that lesbian and traditional mothers are more similar than different in maternal attitudes and self-concept.

The purpose of this study was to compare nuclear family characteristics of homosexual and heterosexual women. Data of two samples (34 homosexual and 31 heterosexual women) were analyzed for differences and similarities of the nuclear families. Statistically significant differences indicate that lesbians experience less positive nuclear family relationships. However, personal comments by the subjects may be of more interest to the reader than the statistical analysis. Findings are consistent with other research on this problem, pointing to the need for systematic analysis of family variables and how they relate to development of sexual identity.