ABSTRACT

Studies have compared sexual minority mothers (mostly lesbian) to heterosexual mothers on mental health, but little research has compared sexual minority women with and without children. This was the first study to compare sexual minority women who did or did not have children, using a population-based sample with three age cohorts. Unlike prior convenience studies, this study finds parents more likely to be bisexual, in a relationship with a man, and non-urban. Bisexual parents scored higher than lesbian parents on psychological distress and lower on life satisfaction and happiness; they also reported less connection to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. Among lesbians, the oldest non-parents reported more happiness and less psychological distress than the youngest non-parents. Parents with other identities perceived more social support from friends and reported lower levels of internalized homophobia than bisexual parents. The results will help professionals and policymakers understand how parenthood status affects women across sexual identities.

摘要

研究将性少数母亲（主要是女同性恋）与异性恋母亲的心理健康进行了比较，但很少有研究比较有孩子和没有孩子的性少数女性。这是第一项比较有或没有孩子的性少数女性的研究，使用基于人群的样本和三个年龄组。与之前的便利研究不同，这项研究发现父母更有可能是双性恋，与男性有关系，而且是非城市人。双性恋父母在心理困扰方面的得分高于女同性恋父母，而在生活满意度和幸福感方面的得分低于女同性恋父母；他们还报告说，与女同性恋、男同性恋、双性恋和跨性别 (LGBT) 社区的联系较少。在女同性恋中，最年长的非父母报告比最年轻的非父母报告更多的幸福和更少的心理困扰。与双性恋父母相比，具有其他身份的父母从朋友那里感受到了更多的社会支持，并且报告的内化同性恋恐惧症水平更低。结果将帮助专业人士和政策制定者了解生育状况如何影响不同性别身份的女性。