CHILDREN RAISED IN FATHERLESS FAMILIES FROM INFANCY - FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AND THE SOCIOEMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN OF LESBIAN AND SINGLE HETEROSEXUAL MOTHERS

The aim of the study was to investigate family functioning and the psy chological development of children raised in fatherless families from their first year of life. Thirty lesbian mother families and 42 famili es headed by a single heterosexual mother were compared with 41 two-pa rent heterosexual families using standardised interview and questionna ire measures of the quality of parenting and the socioemotional develo pment of the child. The results show that children raised in fatherles s families from infancy experienced greater warmth and interaction wit h their mother, and were more securely attached to her, although they perceived themselves to be less cognitively and physically competent t han their peers from father-present families. No differences were iden tified between families headed by lesbian and single heterosexual moth ers, except for greater mother-child interaction in lesbian mother fam ilies.