Fortunato Alexandro, Quintigliano Maria, Carone Nicola, De Simone Silvia, Lingiardi Vittorio, Speranza Anna Maria
Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology and Health Studies of the "Sapienza", University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy.
J Reprod Infant Psychol. 2023 Nov 28:1-17. doi: 10.1080/02646838.2023.2287678.
The present study examined the associations between family structure, parenting, and dyadic coping and children's emotion regulation in lesbian, gay, and heterosexual parent families through assisted reproduction. It also explored differences in parenting dimensions and dyadic coping, based on parents' sexual orientation.
Participants were 60 lesbian mothers through donor insemination, 50 gay fathers through surrogacy, and 42 heterosexual parents through gamete donation, all with a child aged 6-12 years ( = 8.67; SD = 2.16; 48.68% females) and residing in Italy. In each family, both parents reported parenting stress, parent - child relational self-efficacy, parental control, dyadic coping, and their perception of the child's emotion regulation.
Mixed models indicated no significant differences between family types in parenting stress and use of a controlling parenting style. However, lesbian mothers reported higher parent - child relational self-efficacy than heterosexual parents, and higher dyadic coping strategies than gay fathers. Also, children of gay fathers showed greater emotion regulation than children of heterosexual parents. Across family types, higher levels of parenting stress and dyadic coping, and lower levels of parent - child relational self-efficacy were associated with lower child emotion regulation.
Given that in middle childhood, across family types, better emotional regulation was associated with lower parenting stress and dyadic coping, and greater effectiveness in the parent - child relationship clinical work should focus on the parent's and couple's ability to cooperatively manage stressors while maintaining a balanced focus on their children's resources and autonomy.
本研究通过辅助生殖技术，探讨了女同性恋、男同性恋和异性恋父母家庭的家庭结构、养育方式、二元应对与儿童情绪调节之间的关联。同时，还基于父母的性取向，探究了养育维度和二元应对的差异。
研究对象包括60位通过供精人工授精的女同性恋母亲、50位通过代孕的男同性恋父亲以及42位通过配子捐赠的异性恋父母，他们均育有一名6至12岁的儿童（平均年龄=8.67岁；标准差=2.16岁；女性占48.68%），居住在意大利。在每个家庭中，父母双方均报告了养育压力、亲子关系自我效能感、父母控制、二元应对以及他们对孩子情绪调节的认知。
混合模型表明，不同家庭类型在养育压力和控制性养育方式的使用上没有显著差异。然而，女同性恋母亲报告的亲子关系自我效能感高于异性恋父母，二元应对策略也高于男同性恋父亲。此外，男同性恋父亲的孩子比异性恋父母的孩子表现出更强的情绪调节能力。在所有家庭类型中，较高水平的养育压力和二元应对，以及较低水平的亲子关系自我效能感与较低的儿童情绪调节能力相关。
鉴于在童年中期，所有家庭类型中，更好的情绪调节与较低的养育压力和二元应对相关，以及在亲子关系中更有效的临床工作应关注父母和夫妻合作管理压力源的能力，同时保持对孩子资源和自主性的平衡关注。
