The parents responded to a set of questions about their parenting techniques, parenting stress, personal wellbeing, personal depressive symptoms and their children’s emotional and behavioral well-being. The questions came from standard surveys, including the Parenting Stress Index, the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support.
The researchers also assessed child wellbeing, asking the parents to report on their children’s internalizing behaviors, such as anxiety, depression and withdrawal, and externalizing behaviors, such as aggression, rule-breaking and impulsivity. The assessments came from the Child Behavior Checklist, a standardized measure used to assess typical and clinical levels of internalizing and externalizing behaviors.
“We found sub-clinical levels of both internalizing and externalizing behaviors, which indicates that these kids are having typical childhood experiences that don’t warrant clinical intervention, regardless of family structure,” said Tornello, who is also an affiliate faculty member with the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center.
While transgender and nonbinary parents reported higher levels of depressive symptoms — likely reflecting the impact of identity-based discrimination, Tornello said — their children showed no corresponding increase in behavioral difficulties. In families with cisgender parents, other researchers previously found that parental depression typically correlates with higher rates of child depression and behavioral challenges. The absence of this pattern suggests that transgender and nonbinary parents may be employing distinctive practices that buffer their children from discriminatory stress, according to the researchers.
“When we see parents depressed, we often see that their children have higher rates of depression. But transgender and nonbinary parents appear to be protecting their children from the stressors they experience,” Tornello said.
Study co-author Rachel Riskind, professor emerita of psychology at Guilford College, explained that transgender and nonbinary parents appear to parent differently than cisgender peers in important ways.
“We previously found that they take a more child-centered approach to gender development and demonstrate flexibility with traditional gender role expectations,” Riskind said. “This new finding suggests they may also be protecting their children from social stressors in ways that deserve systematic study. These practices might offer insights applicable to all families navigating external challenges.”
According to the researchers, these findings have widespread implications for policies on adoption, custody, health care access and family support systems.
“These findings demonstrate that children’s wellbeing connects to family processes and dynamics — such as managing stress and employing effective parenting techniques — not to parent gender identity,” Tornello said. “Professionals working with families, including health care providers, legal experts and educators can use these findings to ground decisions in evidence, rather than assumptions about transgender or nonbinary parents’ capabilities.”
Lizbeth Benson, research assistant professor at the University of Michigan’s Survey Research Center and Institute for Social Research, also co-authored this study. A full list of author affiliations and funding information is available in the paper.