Gay Parents Study

A doctoral candidate at Arizona State University is doing research that he hopes will be helpful to LGBT moms and dads.

By Richard Schultz

Josh Kellison

ASU researcher studying resource needs for LGBT parents

A doctoral candidate at Arizona State University hopes that his research on parenting strategies leads to identifying skills that can be shared with LGBT parents.

Joshua Kellison, who is working toward a degree in clinical psychology, is seeking gay and lesbian parents in the Phoenix, Tucson and Flagstaff areas who are interested in participating in his study.

The growing numbers of gay and lesbian parents makes Kellison's research timely. An estimated one-quarter of all same-sex households are raising children, according to U.S. Census 2010 data.

But Kellison said his research found no sources for training specifically for gay and lesbian parents.

Jennifer Chrisler, executive director of the Family Equality Council, said Kellison's research has the potential to fill a void "in terms of supporting our families and prospective LGBT parents, including those who may be required to attend parenting classes to become foster/adoptive parents."

Kellison said his mentor, Felipe Gonzalez Castro, of the University of Texas-El Paso and formerly of ASU, suggested that he conduct a survey asking the community what type of topics and format they would like in a parenting training.

"I believe that by examining a unique and specific problem impacting the lives of LGBT-parent families, such as anti-gay discrimination, I will be able to discern specific and relevant skills for LGBT parents," Kelson said.

Kellison said his research could be groundbreaking. "When LGBT parents are required to attend a parent training or other prescribed family intervention, these parents are forced to translate heterosexual-based information to their own lives. Many LGBT parents drop out of these programs or find them non-relevant," he said.

Kellison said the results will have value for adoption and foster-care licensing agencies in states that require potential parents to attend courses. He also wants to use the study to inform policy and challenge laws that make it difficult for LGBT people to be parents by providing lawmakers with information.

The ASU project is an extension of work Kellison did as an undergraduate at the University of California-San Diego, where he did research with college-aged participants raised by same-sex parents.

That study found there were no significant differences in gender roles. But he found that children raised by same-sex couples endorsed more sex equality attitudes — beliefs that men and women should be treated equal.

Kellison's study of social and behavioral science research on LGBT families took what he called a "sameness" approach, describing families headed by gay and lesbian parents "just the same" as families headed by heterosexual parents.

The research prepared Kellison for his own parenthood. He shares custody of a 7-year-old son with a lesbian friend who lives in San Diego. -E

GLBT Parent Study Logo

How to participate in the study

Researcher Joshua Kellison's goal is to interview 60 lesbian mothers and 60 gay dads who live in Arizona for the ASU Gay and Lesbian Parent Study. To be eligible, participants must:

Be of 21 years of age or older.
Be a parent (part-or-fulltime/adoptive, foster, non-legally recognized or biological) to at least one child who is 6 to 12 years old.
Have experienced an act of anti-gay discrimination/stigma that involved a parent and at least one school-aged child within the past year. This can be a physical or emotional event or anything from encountering protesters outside of a gay Pride event to dealing with a family member not fully accepting their family configuration.

Kellison utilizes a confidential 30 to 45 minute recorded interview and a questionnaire examining social and cultural stressors for lesbian, gay or bisexual self-identified parents. Parents will be paid $25 for their participation.

He will be interviewing parents through September 2012.

The study is partially funded by a National Institute of Mental Health-funded training program in Prevention Science in the Psychology Department of ASU, the Southwestern Interdisciplinary Research Center of ASU and the American Psychological Foundation.

For more information, contact Kellison by email at lgparentstudy@gmail.com or visit www.facebook.com/ASULGPS.