Children’s Exploration of Their Surrogacy Origins in Gay Two-Father Families: Longitudinal Associations With Child Attachment Security and Parental Scaffolding During Discussions About Conception
Evidence is lacking about the factors that are pivotal in enhancing the exploration of surrogacy origins in children of gay fathers during middle childhood. The present study examined the separate and combined influences of child attachment security and parental scaffolding (i.e., fathers’ attempts...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2020-01-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00112/full |
| _version_ | 1828868287994265600 |
|---|---|
| author | Nicola Carone Lavinia Barone Demetria Manzi Roberto Baiocco Vittorio Lingiardi Kathryn Kerns |
| author_facet | Nicola Carone Lavinia Barone Demetria Manzi Roberto Baiocco Vittorio Lingiardi Kathryn Kerns |
| author_sort | Nicola Carone |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Evidence is lacking about the factors that are pivotal in enhancing the exploration of surrogacy origins in children of gay fathers during middle childhood. The present study examined the separate and combined influences of child attachment security and parental scaffolding (i.e., fathers’ attempts to accept, encourage, and emotionally support their children’s expression of thoughts and feelings) during discussions about conception on children’s exploration of their surrogacy origins in 30 Italian children born to gay fathers through gestational surrogacy. Within each family, both father–child dyads (n = 60) participated in a 5-minute videotaped conversation regarding an aspect of the child’s conception when children were mean aged 8.3 years (t1). At this time, children were also administered the Security Scale Questionnaire to evaluate their attachment security. Approximately 18 months later (t2; Mage = 9.9 years), children were interviewed about their surrogacy origins. Linear mixed models (LMMs) for longitudinal data indicated that, with higher levels of parental scaffolding, only children who perceived greater attachment security reported greater exploration of their surrogacy origins. The findings are the first to underscore the importance of conversations about surrogacy within the context of parent–child attachment relationships, as well as the importance of fathers sensitively supporting their children as they explore their origins during middle childhood. In doing so, it is expected that fathers will likely facilitate their children’s positive integration of their surrogacy conception into a coherent sense of identity during adolescence. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T05:29:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d5301b28bc524f43a41cf5a7a2f184bb |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T05:29:22Z |
| publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-d5301b28bc524f43a41cf5a7a2f184bb2022-12-21T23:58:07ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782020-01-011110.3389/fpsyg.2020.00112512702Children’s Exploration of Their Surrogacy Origins in Gay Two-Father Families: Longitudinal Associations With Child Attachment Security and Parental Scaffolding During Discussions About ConceptionNicola Carone0Lavinia Barone1Demetria Manzi2Roberto Baiocco3Vittorio Lingiardi4Kathryn Kerns5Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, Lab Attachment and Parenting-LAG, University of Pavia, Pavia, ItalyDepartment of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, Lab Attachment and Parenting-LAG, University of Pavia, Pavia, ItalyDepartment of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, Lab Attachment and Parenting-LAG, University of Pavia, Pavia, ItalyDepartment of Developmental and Social Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, ItalyDepartment of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, ItalyDepartment of Psychological Sciences, Kent State University, Kent, OH, United StatesEvidence is lacking about the factors that are pivotal in enhancing the exploration of surrogacy origins in children of gay fathers during middle childhood. The present study examined the separate and combined influences of child attachment security and parental scaffolding (i.e., fathers’ attempts to accept, encourage, and emotionally support their children’s expression of thoughts and feelings) during discussions about conception on children’s exploration of their surrogacy origins in 30 Italian children born to gay fathers through gestational surrogacy. Within each family, both father–child dyads (n = 60) participated in a 5-minute videotaped conversation regarding an aspect of the child’s conception when children were mean aged 8.3 years (t1). At this time, children were also administered the Security Scale Questionnaire to evaluate their attachment security. Approximately 18 months later (t2; Mage = 9.9 years), children were interviewed about their surrogacy origins. Linear mixed models (LMMs) for longitudinal data indicated that, with higher levels of parental scaffolding, only children who perceived greater attachment security reported greater exploration of their surrogacy origins. The findings are the first to underscore the importance of conversations about surrogacy within the context of parent–child attachment relationships, as well as the importance of fathers sensitively supporting their children as they explore their origins during middle childhood. In doing so, it is expected that fathers will likely facilitate their children’s positive integration of their surrogacy conception into a coherent sense of identity during adolescence.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00112/fullgay father familysurrogacy originsattachment securityparental scaffoldingmiddle childhood |
| spellingShingle | Nicola Carone Lavinia Barone Demetria Manzi Roberto Baiocco Vittorio Lingiardi Kathryn Kerns Children’s Exploration of Their Surrogacy Origins in Gay Two-Father Families: Longitudinal Associations With Child Attachment Security and Parental Scaffolding During Discussions About Conception Frontiers in Psychology gay father family surrogacy origins attachment security parental scaffolding middle childhood |
| title | Children’s Exploration of Their Surrogacy Origins in Gay Two-Father Families: Longitudinal Associations With Child Attachment Security and Parental Scaffolding During Discussions About Conception |
| title_full | Children’s Exploration of Their Surrogacy Origins in Gay Two-Father Families: Longitudinal Associations With Child Attachment Security and Parental Scaffolding During Discussions About Conception |
| title_fullStr | Children’s Exploration of Their Surrogacy Origins in Gay Two-Father Families: Longitudinal Associations With Child Attachment Security and Parental Scaffolding During Discussions About Conception |
| title_full_unstemmed | Children’s Exploration of Their Surrogacy Origins in Gay Two-Father Families: Longitudinal Associations With Child Attachment Security and Parental Scaffolding During Discussions About Conception |
| title_short | Children’s Exploration of Their Surrogacy Origins in Gay Two-Father Families: Longitudinal Associations With Child Attachment Security and Parental Scaffolding During Discussions About Conception |
| title_sort | children s exploration of their surrogacy origins in gay two father families longitudinal associations with child attachment security and parental scaffolding during discussions about conception |
| topic | gay father family surrogacy origins attachment security parental scaffolding middle childhood |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00112/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT nicolacarone childrensexplorationoftheirsurrogacyoriginsingaytwofatherfamilieslongitudinalassociationswithchildattachmentsecurityandparentalscaffoldingduringdiscussionsaboutconception AT laviniabarone childrensexplorationoftheirsurrogacyoriginsingaytwofatherfamilieslongitudinalassociationswithchildattachmentsecurityandparentalscaffoldingduringdiscussionsaboutconception AT demetriamanzi childrensexplorationoftheirsurrogacyoriginsingaytwofatherfamilieslongitudinalassociationswithchildattachmentsecurityandparentalscaffoldingduringdiscussionsaboutconception AT robertobaiocco childrensexplorationoftheirsurrogacyoriginsingaytwofatherfamilieslongitudinalassociationswithchildattachmentsecurityandparentalscaffoldingduringdiscussionsaboutconception AT vittoriolingiardi childrensexplorationoftheirsurrogacyoriginsingaytwofatherfamilieslongitudinalassociationswithchildattachmentsecurityandparentalscaffoldingduringdiscussionsaboutconception AT kathrynkerns childrensexplorationoftheirsurrogacyoriginsingaytwofatherfamilieslongitudinalassociationswithchildattachmentsecurityandparentalscaffoldingduringdiscussionsaboutconception |