General rightsIt is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulationsIf you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: http://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. The authors examined whether 13-to 15-year-old adolescents who experience feelings of same-sex attraction (SSA) differ from those without such feelings in the quality of relationships with parents, peers, and class mentors and in psychosocial functioning (health status and school performance). The authors also assessed whether differences in psychosocial functioning resulted from differences in the quality of social relationships. Data were collected from 866 Dutch high school students (mean age 13.61 years) by means of a computer-based questionnaire. Of the participants, 74 (8.5%) reported having feelings of SSA. The participants with SSA rated the quality of their relationships with their fathers and their peers lower than did those without SSA. Participants with SSA also had poorer mental health (higher levels of depression and lower levels of self-esteem) and lower school performance. A mediation analysis revealed that differences in psychosocial functioning resulted from differences in the quality of the same-sex attracted youths' social relationships, especially with fathers and peers.

The authors investigated whether the quality of three family relationships (i.e., marital, parent-child, sibling) in intact families are associated with each other and with children's psychosocial adjustment. Data were collected by means of maternal and child reports (N = 88) using standardized instruments (i.e., Marital Satisfaction Scale, Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire). The findings confirm associations between the marital and the parent-child relationship, and between the parent-child and the sibling relationship, Further, both father-child relationships and sibling relationships predict children's adjustment. Father-child conflicts contribute to children's problem behavior, while father-child acceptance and sibling affection contribute significantly to children's general self-esteem. However, contrary to previous studies no support was found for the association between marital relationship and sibling relationship, or for that between marital relationship quality and children's adjustment.

This study examined the differences and associations between divorced mothers' relationships with their ex-partners and with their children, and investigated whether this association is mediated by mothers' experience of parenting stress. A questionnaire was completed by 117 divorced single mothers and 64 remarried mothers. Results show that the single mothers and the remarried mothers did not differ on postdivorce family relationship quality or on their experience of parenting stress. Furthermore, divorced mothers' relationship with their ex-partners was found to be associated with the quality of the mother-child relationship, but not when controlling for mothers' experience of parenting stress. The results show that maternal parenting stress mediates the association between conflicts between ex-partners and the quality of the mother-child relationship.

The present study examined child adjustment, experience of parenthood, and child-rearing between two types of planned lesbian families (i.e., two-mother families in which the child had been born to the lesbian relationship), viz. those with a known donor (n = 42) and those with an as-yet unknown donor (n = 58) (both with children between 4 - 8 years old). Data were collected by means of parental reports and standardized instruments were used in the questionnaires (e.g., Child Behaviour Checklist; CBCL). No differences were found on internalizing, externalizing and total problem behaviour scales of the CBCL between children with a known and a currently unknown donor, nor were differences found on parental stress and child rearing. However, social problems were more frequently reported for the children with known donors, and boys with a known donor showed more attention problems. Furthermore, annoying questions from people in their social environment as well as gossip and feelings of being excluded, were more frequently reported by mothers with a (currently) unknown donor.

Divorced mothers and their school-aged children in 50 singlemother families and 37 stepfather families reported on mothers' expartner relationships, children's relationships with both parents, and children's well-being. A 2 (family structure) × 2 (gender) multivariate analysis of variance revealed a main effect of gender: Mothers with sons report higher levels of ex-partner relationship satisfaction. An interaction effect was also found: Boys in singlemother families report more acceptance and fewer conflicts than boys in stepfather families. Multiple regression analysis revealed that mother-ex-partner relationships are associated with children's problem behavior, whereas child-nonresidential father relationships are associated with positive aspects of children's well-being. The results indicate that family structure itself is not associated with child adjustment. What matters most is the quality of family relationships.