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This longitudinal study examined coparenting and child adjustment during early and middle childhood (Ms ϭ 3 and 8 years, respectively) among 106 lesbian, gay, and heterosexual parent adoptive families. When children were in middle childhood, no differences emerged as a function of parental sexual orientation in observations or self-reports of coparenting; in addition, parents and teachers described children as well-adjusted overall. After controlling covariates, including couple relationship adjustment, more supportive coparenting in early childhood predicted fewer parent-reported child internalizing and externalizing problems in middle childhood. Within middle childhood, stronger parenting alliance was associated with fewer parent-reported child externalizing problems. These findings indicate the value of considering family processes among diverse families in contributing to child outcomes over time.

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Feelings of difference (FOD) based on gender and/or sexuality (i.e., gender-sexuality FOD) can occur among all youth regardless of sexual or gender identity and can influence future identity development. This online questionnaire and open-ended response-based study examined retrospective experiences and the presence of gender-sexuality FOD among sexual minority and heterosexual emerging adults (N ϭ 879; M age ϭ 18.87 years, SD ϭ 1.75, range ϭ 18 -22). More than half of all participants reported gender-sexuality FOD (n ϭ 500; 57%), which often occurred by early adolescence regardless of sexual or gender identity. Participants were primarily White (n ϭ 685; 77.1%), female (n ϭ 666; 75.8%), and heterosexual (n ϭ 794; 90.3%), with a minority of sexual minority participants (n ϭ 85; 9.7%). Sexual minority individuals were significantly more likely to report gender-sexuality FOD than heterosexual individuals. Sexual minority women reported significantly greater felt impact (i.e., lasting effects) of gender-sexuality FOD than heterosexual men (no other significant group differences characterized this result). No significant group differences were found in age at which participants first experienced gender-sexuality FOD. Binary logistic regressions of codes generated through content analysis suggested that the first gender-sexuality FOD experiences of sexual minority individuals were more likely to involve fear of disclosure, shame and guilt, and acceptance of self, while those of heterosexual individuals were more likely to indicate acceptance of society. The coded accounts of women and men were not significantly different. Implications of these findings are discussed, particularly as they relate to future interventions for youth. Public Significance StatementMore than half of all emerging adults reported feelings of difference (FOD) based on gender or sexuality with significant differences in their likelihood (e.g., sexual minority groups and heterosexual women were more likely to report FOD than heterosexual men), felt impact (e.g., sexual minority women perceived greater impact than heterosexual men), and the content associated with FOD (e.g., fear of disclosure and feelings of shame and guilt were more likely among sexual minority vs. heterosexual participants). This work has implications for future research about meaning making among emerging adults related to retrospective narratives of difference based on gender and sexuality.