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Lesbian and Gay Parenting

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Adolescence

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Overview

A growing body of research has begun to explore the experiences of adolescents with gay and lesbian parents. Gay and lesbian parenting has been a subject of media and political controversy as concerns about healthy family and child development are deliberated and debated. In the midst of such controversy, increasing research shows that children, and specifically adolescents, of gay and lesbian parents are as likely as their peers to show healthy psychological adjustment (e.g., rates of depression and anxiety are within the normal range for their age-group). Also, rates of bullying and peer-hostility appear to be no higher for adolescents of gay and lesbian parents compared to those for youth raised by heterosexual parents. A central controversy concerning children of gay and lesbian parents is whether being raised by gay and lesbian parents increases children’s likelihood of later identifying as gay or lesbian. Despite such controversies, most research suggests that...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Clark University, 950 Main Street, Worcester, MA, 01610, USA

    Abbie E. Goldberg, Jordan B. Downing & Hannah B. Richardson

Authors
  1. Abbie E. Goldberg
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  2. Jordan B. Downing
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  3. Hannah B. Richardson
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Correspondence to Abbie E. Goldberg .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Indiana University, 302 Sycamore Hall, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA

    Roger J. R. Levesque

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Goldberg, A.E., Downing, J.B., Richardson, H.B. (2011). Lesbian and Gay Parenting. In: Levesque, R.J.R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Adolescence. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1695-2_394

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1695-2_394

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-1694-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-1695-2

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