Mental health of children with gender and sexual minority parents: a review and future directions

Abstract

This article reviews the literature between 2015 and 2022 on mental health disparities between children with gender and sexual minority parents and children with different-sex parents. Although most studies indicate that children with gender and sexual minority parents do not experience more mental health problems than children with different-sex parents, the results are mixed and depend on the underlying sample. The review highlights important shortcomings that characterize this literature, including cross-sectional survey samples, correlational methods, lack of diversity by country, and a lack of research on children with transgender and bisexual parents. Therefore, substantial caution is warranted when attempting to arrive at an overall conclusion based on the current state of the literature. Suggestions are provided that can guide academic work when studying mental health outcomes of children with gender and sexual minority parents in the future.

The association between parenthood and health: A comparison of people in same-sex and different-sex relationships

“…Despite experiencing stigma and discrimination when raising children, same-sex parents may have unique protective factors that buffer against these negative effects of minority stressors. For instance, previous studies showed that same-sex parents may receive social support from the LGBTQ+ community during the transition to parenthood ( Leal et al, 2021 ) and their children generally do well on various outcomes, such as school, mental health, labor, and behavioral outcomes ( Mazrekaj et al, 2020 , 2022 ; Mazrekaj & Jin, 2023 ; Palmaccio et al, 2023 ). The additional support may help same-sex parents cope with those unique minority stressors.…”