Parental Involvement Among Adoptive Gay Fathers: Associations With Resources, Time Constraints, Gender Role, And Child Adjustment

The present study investigated the contribution of various factors to parental involvement and children's psychosocial adjustment among adoptive families headed by two gay fathers. More specifically, we examined the associations between fathers' resources (income and education), number of hours devoted to paid work, gender role, sharing of parenting tasks, and parental involvement. The contribution of parental involvement, task sharing, and gender role to children's adjustment was also examined. A sample of 92 fathers and their 46 children aged 1 to 9 years participated in the study. Fathers completed a series of questionnaires: sociodemographic, Who Does What, Parental Engagement, Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI), and Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Adoptive gay fathers reported a rather egalitarian division of tasks and high levels of involvement in various areas of childcare although within couples one of the two fathers was usually more involved than the other. Income and gender role were the main predictors of overall involvement. Gay fathers also reported few behavior problems in their child. Dissatisfaction with the sharing of parenting tasks was found to predict child internalizing and externalizing symptoms.