Parenting, dyadic coping, and child emotion regulation in lesbian, gay, and heterosexual parent families through assisted reproduction

Aims: The present study examined the associations between family structure, parenting, and dyadic coping and children’s emotion reg- ulation 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. Methods: Participants were 60 lesbian mothers through donor insemination, 50 gay fathers through surrogacy, and 42 heterosex- ual parents through gamete donation, all with a child aged 6–12 years (M = 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. Results: 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 hetero- sexual 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. Conclusion: 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 maintain- ing a balanced focus on their children’s resources and autonomy.