Stigma, social context, and mental health: Lesbian and gay couples across the transition to adoptive parenthood.

This is the first study to examine change in depression and anxiety across the first year of adoptive parenthood in same-sex couples (90 couples: 52 lesbian, 38 gay male). Given that sexual minorities uniquely contend with sexual orientation-related stigma, this study examined how both internalized and enacted forms of stigma affect the mental health of lesbians and gay men during the transition to parenthood. In addition, the role of contextual support was examined. Higher perceived workplace support, family support, and relationship quality were related to lower depressive and anxious symptoms at the time of the adoption, and higher perceived friend support was related to lower anxiety symptoms. Lower internalized homophobia and higher perceived neighborhood gay-friendliness were related to lower depressive symptoms. Finally, individuals with high internalized homophobia who lived in states with unfavorable legal climates regarding gay adoption experienced the steepest increases in depressive and anxious symptoms. Findings have important implications for counselors working with sexual minorities, especially those experiencing the transition to parenthood

Field experiments and meta-analysis reveal wetland vegetation as a crucial element in the coastal protection paradigm

Increasing rates of sea-level rise and wave action threaten coastal populations. Defense of shorelines by protection and restoration of wetlands has been invoked as a win-win strategy for humans and nature, yet evidence from field experiments supporting the wetland protection function is uncommon, as is the understanding of its context dependency. Here we provide evidence from field manipulations showing that the loss of wetland vegetation, regardless of disturbance size, increases the rate of erosion on wave-stressed shorelines. Vegetation removal (simulated disturbance) along the edge of salt marshes reveals that loss of wetland plants elevates the rate of lateral erosion and that extensive root systems, rather than aboveground biomass, are primarily responsible for protection against edge erosion in marshes. Meta-analysis further shows that disturbances that generate plant dieoff on salt marsh edges generally hasten edge erosion in coastal marshes and that the erosion protection function of wetlands relates more to lateral than vertical edge-erosional processes and is positively correlated with the amount of below-ground plant biomass lost. Collectively, our findings substantiate a coastal protection paradigm that incorporates preservation of shoreline vegetation, illuminate key context dependencies in this theory, and highlight local disturbances (e.g., oil spills) that kill wetland plants as agents that can accelerate coastal erosion

Both Positive and Negative Selection Pressures Contribute to the Polymorphism Pattern of the Duplicated Human CYP21A2 Gene.

The human steroid 21-hydroxylase gene (CYP21A2) participates in cortisol and aldosterone biosynthesis, and resides together with its paralogous (duplicated) pseudogene in a multiallelic copy number variation (CNV), called RCCX CNV. Concerted evolution caused by non-allelic gene conversion has been described in great ape CYP21 genes, and the same conversion activity is responsible for a serious genetic disorder of CYP21A2, congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH). In the current study, 33 CYP21A2 haplotype variants encoding 6 protein variants were determined from a European population. CYP21A2 was shown to be one of the most diverse human genes (HHe=0.949), but the diversity of intron 2 was greater still. Contrary to previous findings, the evolution of intron 2 did not follow concerted evolution, although the remaining part of the gene did. Fixed sites (different fixed alleles of sites in human CYP21 paralogues) significantly accumulated in intron 2, indicating that the excess of fixed sites was connected to the lack of effective non-allelic conversion and concerted evolution. Furthermore, positive selection was presumably focused on intron 2, and possibly associated with the previous genetic features. However, the positive selection detected by several neutrality tests was discerned along the whole gene. In addition, the clear signature of negative selection was observed in the coding sequence. The maintenance of the CYP21 enzyme function is critical, and could lead to negative selection, whereas the presumed gene regulation altering steroid hormone levels via intron 2 might help fast adaptation, which broadly characterizes the genes of human CNVs responding to the environment

Perceptions of stigma and self-reported school engagement in same-sex couples with young children.

Little research has explored same-sex parents’ school engagement, although there is some evidence that same-sex parents’ perceptions of openness versus exclusion in the school setting –as well as other interrelated contexts – may have implications for their relationships with and perceptions of their children’s schools. The current cross-sectional study used multilevel modeling to examine the relationship between same-sex parents’ perceptions of stigma in various contexts and their self-reported school involvement, relationships with teachers, and school satisfaction, using a sample of 68 same-sex adoptive couples (132 parents) of kindergarten-age children. Parents who perceived their communities as more homophobic reported higher levels of school-based involvement. Parents who perceived lower levels of sexual orientation-related stigma at their children’s schools reported higher levels of school satisfaction. Parents who perceived lower levels of exclusion by other parents reported higher levels of school-based involvement and better relationships with teachers. However, perceived exclusion interacted with parents’ level of outness with other parents, such that parents who were very out and reported high levels of exclusion reported the lowest quality relationships with teachers. Our findings have implications for scholars who study same-sex parent families at various stages of the life cycle, as well as for teachers and other professionals who work with diverse families

Predicting non-African American lesbian and heterosexual preadoptive couples\u27 openness to adopting an African American child

Despite increases in transracial adoption, African American children remain the least likely to be adopted. No research has examined the factors that predict prospective adopters\u27 willingness to adopt an African American child. This study used multilevel modeling to examine predictors of willingness to adopt an African American child in a sample of 48 lesbian couples and 65 heterosexual couples. Individuals pursuing public adoption were more willing than those pursuing private domestic adoption, and heterosexuals pursuing international adoption were more willing than heterosexuals pursuing private domestic adoption. In addition, younger persons, White persons (rather than non-African American racial minorities), lesbians, and individuals who perceived their neighborhoods as more diverse were more likely to be willing to adopt an African American child. © 2009 by the National Council on Family Relations

J.Z.: Predictors of psychological adjustment in early placed adopted children with lesbian

Little research has focused on predictors of psychological adjustment among early placed adopted children. Additionally, the research on adopted children in lesbian or gay parent-families is sparse. The current study examined 40 female same-sex, 35 male same-sex, and 45 different-sex parent families with adopted children, all of whom were placed in their adoptive homes under the age of 18 months. We explored aspects of children's preadoptive and postadoptive contexts (measured at 3 months postplacement) in relation to children's externalizing and internalizing symptoms (measured at 2 years postplacement; M age ϭ 2.33 years). Findings revealed that lack of parental preparation for the adoption, and parental depressive symptoms, were associated with higher parent-reported levels of both externalizing and internalizing symptoms. Additionally, parents' relationship conflict was associated with higher levels of parent-and partner-reported internalizing symptoms. Children's adjustment outcomes did not differ by family type. Our findings point to the importance of considering the adoptive family context (including parent and couple subsystems) in predicting later adjustment in early placed adopted children, in diverse family contexts

Predictors of Psychological Adjustment in Early Placed Adopted Children With Lesbian, Gay, and Heterosexual Parents

This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers. This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly. Little research has focused on predictors of psychological adjustment among early placed adopted children. Additionally, the research on adopted children in lesbian or gay parent-families is sparse. The current study examined 40 female same-sex, 35 male same-sex, and 45 different-sex parent families with adopted children, all of whom were placed in their adoptive homes under the age of 18 months. We explored aspects of children’s preadoptive and postadoptive contexts (measured at 3 months postplacement) in relation to children’s externalizing and internalizing symptoms (measured at 2 years postplacement; M age � 2.33 years). Findings revealed that lack of parental preparation for the adoption, and parental depressive symptoms, were associated with higher parent-reported levels of both externalizing and internalizing symptoms. Additionally, parents ’ relationship conflict was associated with higher levels of parent- and partner-reported internalizing symptoms. Children’s adjustment outcomes did not differ by family type. Our findings point to the importance of considering the adoptive family context (including parent and couple subsystems) in predicting later adjustment in early placed adopted children, in diverse family contexts

Work conditions and mental health in lesbian and gay dual-earner parents

This is the first study to examine the relationship between work conditions and mental health in dual-earner lesbian/gay parents (N = 86). How time- and strain-based demands (work hours, job urgency) and supportive resources (supervisor support, lesbian, gay, bisexual [LGB]-friendly workplace climate) are examined, as well as outness at work and internalized homophobia, and how they relate to depressive and anxious symptoms. Supervisor support was negatively related to mental health problems, such that parents with greater support reported fewer depressive/anxious symptoms. The relationship between urgency and mental health depended on climate: working a high-urgency job was associated with more depressive symptoms for parents in very LGB-unfriendly workplaces, and with fewer anxious symptoms for parents in very LGB-friendly workplaces. The relationship between outness and mental health depended on internalized homophobia: being very out at work was associated with higher depressive/anxious symptoms for parents reporting high internalized homophobia. Gay men reported higher levels of symptoms than lesbians. © 2013 by the National Council on Family Relations

Stigma, Social Context, and Mental Health: Lesbian and Gay Couples Across the Transition to Adoptive Parenthood

This is the first study to examine change in depression and anxiety across the first year of adoptive parenthood in same-sex couples (90 couples: 52 lesbian, 38 gay male). Given that sexual minorities uniquely contend with sexual orientation-related stigma, this study examined how both internalized and enacted forms of stigma affect the mental health of lesbians and gay men during the transition to parenthood. In addition, the role of contextual support was examined. Higher perceived workplace support, family support, and relationship quality were related to lower depressive and anxious symptoms at the time of the adoption, and higher perceived friend support was related to lower anxiety symptoms. Lower internalized homophobia and higher perceived neighborhood gay-friendliness were related to lower depressive symptoms. Finally, individuals with high internalized homophobia who lived in states with unfavorable legal climates regarding gay adoption experienced the steepest increases in depressive and anxious symptoms. Findings have important implications for counselors working with sexual minorities, especially those experiencing the transition to parenthoo