The present study aims to investigate the impact of stigmatization on couple adjustment and the moderating role of attachment in families composed of gay men. The sample of this study consists of 44 gay fathers (22 couples) who conceived their children through surrogacy. All fathers were administered a standardized semi-structured interview (Adult Attachment Interview, AAI) to determine the parent's mental state by taking into account past attachment experiences. The distribution of attachment patterns of the sample of the present study was then compared with the distribution of Italian and international normative samples. Furthermore, two standardized questionnaires were administered: the Dyadic Coping Questionnaire (DCQ) to assess the partners' ability to cope with daily stressful events as a couple and the Stigmatization Questionnaire (SQ) to assess the perception and experience of stigmatization, which often manifests in the form of a microaggression, caused by the condition of being a homosexual parent. The results showed that the distribution of attachment patterns of gay fathers does not differ from that of the fathers of the normative samples. In addition, stigmatization was found to be negatively related to couple adjustment: as stigmatization increases, in fact, the couple adjustment decreases significantly. Furthermore, it emerged that the paternal mental state significantly moderates the relationship between stigmatization and couple adjustment. Specifically, if an individual has a secure attachment, as stigmatization increases, they will not experience negative repercussions on the couple's adjustment. Keywords: Same-sex parent families; Stigmatization; Microaggression; Attachment; Couple's adjustment; Surrogacy; Adult Attachment Interview; Dyadic Coping Questionnaire; Stigmatization Questonnaire.
Il presente studio è volto a indagare l’impatto dello stigma sull’adattamento di coppia nelle famiglie omogenitoriali costituite da uomini gay e il ruolo moderatore dell’attaccamento. Il campione preso in considerazione è costituito da 44 padri gay (22 coppie) che hanno concepito con gestazione per altri. A tutti i padri è stata somministrata un’intervista semi–strutturata standardizzata (Adult Attachment Interview, AAI) per determinare lo stato mentale del genitore rispetto a passate esperienze di attaccamento. La distribuzione dei pattern di attaccamento del campione del presente studio è stata poi confrontata con la distribuzione di campioni normativi italiani e internazionali. Inoltre, sono stati somministrati due questionari standardizzati: il Dyadic Coping Questionnaire (DCQ) per valutare la capacità dei partner di affrontare gli eventi stressanti quotidiani come coppia e lo Stigmatization Questionnaire (SQ) per valutare la percezione e l’esperienza di stigmatizzazione, che si presenta spesso sotto forma di microaggressione, causati dalla condizione di genitore omosessuale. Dai risultati è emerso che la distribuzione dei pattern di attaccamento dei padri gay non differisce da quella dei padri appartenenti ai campioni normativi. Inoltre, lo stigma è risultato negativamente correlato all’adattamento di coppia: all’aumentare dello stigma, infatti, l’adattamento di coppa diminuisce significativamente. È emerso, inoltre, che lo stato mentale paterno modera significativamente la relazione tra stigma e adattamento di coppia. Nello specifico, se un soggetto ha un attaccamento sicuro, all’aumentare dello stigma non sperimenterà ripercussioni negative sull’adattamento di coppia. Parole chiave: Famiglie omogenitoriali; Stigma; Microaggressione; Attaccamento; Adattamento di coppia; Surrogacy; Adult Attachment Interview; Dyadic Coping Questionnaire; Stigmatization Questonnaire.
Famiglie di padri gay che hanno concepito con gestazione per altri: l'impatto dello stigma sull'adattamento di coppia e il ruolo dell'attaccamento
FERATI, ANA
2022/2023
Abstract
The present study aims to investigate the impact of stigmatization on couple adjustment and the moderating role of attachment in families composed of gay men. The sample of this study consists of 44 gay fathers (22 couples) who conceived their children through surrogacy. All fathers were administered a standardized semi-structured interview (Adult Attachment Interview, AAI) to determine the parent's mental state by taking into account past attachment experiences. The distribution of attachment patterns of the sample of the present study was then compared with the distribution of Italian and international normative samples. Furthermore, two standardized questionnaires were administered: the Dyadic Coping Questionnaire (DCQ) to assess the partners' ability to cope with daily stressful events as a couple and the Stigmatization Questionnaire (SQ) to assess the perception and experience of stigmatization, which often manifests in the form of a microaggression, caused by the condition of being a homosexual parent. The results showed that the distribution of attachment patterns of gay fathers does not differ from that of the fathers of the normative samples. In addition, stigmatization was found to be negatively related to couple adjustment: as stigmatization increases, in fact, the couple adjustment decreases significantly. Furthermore, it emerged that the paternal mental state significantly moderates the relationship between stigmatization and couple adjustment. Specifically, if an individual has a secure attachment, as stigmatization increases, they will not experience negative repercussions on the couple's adjustment. Keywords: Same-sex parent families; Stigmatization; Microaggression; Attachment; Couple's adjustment; Surrogacy; Adult Attachment Interview; Dyadic Coping Questionnaire; Stigmatization Questonnaire.È consentito all'utente scaricare e condividere i documenti disponibili a testo pieno in UNITESI UNIPV nel rispetto della licenza Creative Commons del tipo CC BY NC ND.
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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14239/2941