Children of Lesbian Families Happy and Healthy, Despite Homophobia
Filed by: Dana Rudolph
January 5, 2009 12:30 PM
http://www.bilerico.com/2009/01/children_of_lesbian_families_happy_and_h.phpThe National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study (NLLFS), the longest-running and largest investigation of its kind, published two new reports in December, in the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry and Journal of Lesbian Studies. I interviewed Dr. Nanette Gartrell, the lead investigator, in August, and she spoke about some of her new findings. I thought it was worth reposting it here now that the results are becoming more widely known.
(Originally published in Bay Windows, August 20, 2008.)
The 17-year-olds participating in the National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study (NLLFS) "demonstrate significantly higher social competence" and "significantly lower total problem behavior [than the standard population]. This is a very high indication of mental health," asserts Dr. Nanette Gartrell, principal investigator of the NLLFS and Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California-San Francisco. "They are performing much better than the enormous [overall] population of teens out there."