Research and Psychoanalysis
Vol. 37 No. 1 (2026)
https://doi.org/10.4081/rp.2026.1176

What does research say about the psychological risks for children in same-sex parent families?

Updates for psychoanalysts and beyond, starting from Nicola Carone’s important work

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Published: 30 April 2026
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Authors

Laura Bonalume
laura.bonalume@gmail.com
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9347-949X
Department of Studies and Research, SIPRe, Milan; Department of Clinical Psychology, ASST Brianza, Italy.

In recent decades, empirical research on same-sex parenting has reached such a level of consistency and convergence that it is now possible to speak of a genuine scientific consensus: parents’ sexual orientation, in itself, does not constitute a risk factor for children’s psychological development. Within this framework, the work of Nicola Carone (University of Pavia, Italy) is particularly significant. He is one of the leading Italian researchers on same-sex parenting and has contributed to integrating rigorous empirical data with a clinical and relational understanding of family processes in same-sex parent families. His work is important because it combines quantitative empirical studies (psychological development, behavior, attachment) with clinical and relational perspectives (quality of parenting function). […]

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What does research say about the psychological risks for children in same-sex parent families? Updates for psychoanalysts and beyond, starting from Nicola Carone’s important work. (2026). Ricerca Psicoanalitica, 37(1). https://doi.org/10.4081/rp.2026.1176
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