Family diversity: single-parent and same-parent families

Do same-parent or single-parent families have a harmful psychological impact on children?

The best known distinction is between heteroparental, homoparental and single-parental family depending on the Biological sex of the parents.

In the heteroparental family, the parents are of different sexes, i.e. male and female.

In the homoparental family, the parents are a same-sex couple (either two women or two men) and have one or more children in common.

A single-parent family consists of a single parent with one or more children. Within this model, there are single mothers by choice, being relatively new and still quite unknown in our society this form of chosen maternity, that is to say, that in a voluntary, sought, decided and desired way a group of women choose this way of access to maternity.

What is the psychological impact of these forms of family diversity?

The case of single-parent families

A study, conducted by researchers at the University of Amsterdam, found that there were no significant differences in the well-being and behavior of children or parental stress between heteroparental and single-parent families.

The scholars looked at 69 single mothers who had deliberately chosen to raise their children alone, and 59 mothers in two-parent heterosexual families with a child between the ages of 18 months and six years.

Most of the women and single mothers by choice in the study were economically stable, had received a higher education, were financially secure, and had meaningful relationships with their partners in the past. Emotional balance and resilience.

"Children in both family models evolve and do well in terms of well-being," said researcher Mathilde Brewaeys in a press release from the study. "Single mothers by their own choice and their children benefit from a good network of social supportand this should be emphasized in counseling women who wish to have and raise a child without a partner."

Previously, some studies have found that single-parent households reflected lower results due to stressors and coping factors that affected children without a father figure, which could have an unfavorable impact on their behavior, in these cases there could be differences such as teenage pregnancies, unwanted pregnancies, low economic resources, lack of family support, among other factors.

Thus, this latest research, presented in Geneva, shows that children of single mothers are no more likely to show signs of behavioral disorders than their counterparts raised in single-parent families. than their counterparts raised in traditional families. Children in single-mother families by choice have the same outcome in all domains as those in two-parent heterosexual or homosexual families.

Brewaeys added that the incorrect assumption that growing up without a father is bad for children is simply based on research of divorced families who have experienced conflict with their children.. "Most likely, any negative influence on child development is more dependent on a troubled parent-child relationship and not the absence of a father," she said. "Single mothers by choice consciously make the decision to raise their children alone."

The case of same-parent families

A book by the American Academy of Pediatrics entitled Technical Report: Coparent or Second-Parent Adoption by Same-Sex Parents (Technical Report: Coparent or Second-Parent Adoption by Same-Sex Parents" points out that children who grow up with homosexual mothers or fathers are more likely to be adopted by same-sex parents, have the same emotional, cognitive, social and sexual balance as children of heterosexual parents..

There are those who point out that children of homosexual families have a higher risk of addiction and/or delinquency. In the research entitled Delinquency, victimization, and substance use among adolescents with female same-sex parents examined precisely this approach, and the results indicated that the adolescent offspring showed positive results in emotional and cognitive development. These factors were not related to family model.

Adolescents who exhibited a closer relationship with their fathers showed less delinquent behavior and low or no substance use, which indicates that the quality of adolescents' relationships with parents/parents/parents are the indicators that predict objective and accurate results in emotional development, and not the family model in which they live.

Conclusion

Although the methodological challenges are enormous in dealing with phenomena as complex and multifactorial as the long-term psychosocial developmental outcomes of children, the literature gathered from decades of research, taken together, offers strong guarantees of reliability and validity about the well-being of children raised by same-sex or single-parent parents.

Once again we find the scientific evidence, from the empirical results, allowing us to understand, approach and be able to unite with each other. to understand, to come closer and to be able to unite more from diversity.. As Newton said "unity is variety, and variety in unity is the supreme law of the universe".

I hope that this article allows us to be even more aware of this reality, today's society is characterized by the power of choice, bringing great richness, from the values and security that comes with knowing that a family is being created (without labels). from fair and sincere principles, from not stigmatizing or labeling, since the latter is based on a lack of knowledge of the family.since the latter is based on ignorance and prejudices. But to continue, from an understanding of the true meaning of family, to unite more, starting from the differences, from what we share, what makes us equal and different, unique and valuable, from the commitment and consensus for the emotional and cognitive development of the children, from the basic but simple principle of love, which is what unites and characterizes every family, regardless of the model or name that accompanies this term, and not from the conflict that separates it.

"There is no such thing as 'a broken family'. Family is family and is not determined by marriage certificates, divorce papers and adoption papers. Families are made in the heart"; C. JoyBell C.