Catholic News Agency misrepresents same sex parenting study UPDATED

I have come to expect CNA will twist the news to support its agenda, this article on same sex parenting is no exception.

In it, they quote research done by other groups which may lead one to believe that this study condones same sex parenting as a statistically significant factor in the adult problems faced by the children that are its products.

However, this is not the remit of the study at all, as its conclusion - which is not mentioned at all in the CNA article - makes very clear (slightly edited for ease of reading. high-lights my own).

The 2005 APA Brief, near its outset, claims that “even taking into account all the questions and/or limitations that may characterize research in this area, none of the published research suggests conclusions different from that which will be summarized”. The concluding summary later claims, “Indeed, the evidence to date suggests that home environments provided by lesbian and gay parents are as likely as those provided by heterosexual parents to support and enable children’s psychosocial growth”

We now return to the overarching question of this paper: Are we witnessing the emergence of a new family form that provides a context for children that is equivalent to the traditional marriage-based family? Even after an extensive reading of the same-sex parenting literature, the author cannot offer a high confidence, data-based “yes” or “no” response to this question. To restate, not one of the 59 studies referenced in the 2005 APA Brief compares a large, random, representative sample of lesbian or gay parents and their children with a large, random, representative sample of married parents and their children. The available data, which are drawn primarily from small convenience samples, are insufficient to support a strong generalizable claim either way. Such a statement would not be grounded in science. To make a generalizable claim, representative, large-sample studies are needed—many of them.

Some opponents of same-sex parenting have made “egregious overstatements” disparaging gay and lesbian parents. Conversely, some same-sex parenting researchers seem to have contended for an “exceptionally clear” verdict of “no difference” between same-sex and heterosexual parents since 1992. However, a closer examination leads to the conclusion that strong, generalized assertions, including those made by the APA Brief, were not empirically warranted. As noted by Shiller (2007) in American Psychologist, “the line between science and advocacy appears blurred”

The scientific conclusions in this domain will increase in validity as researchers: (a) move from small convenience samples to large representative samples; (b) increasingly examine critical societal and economic concerns that emerge during adolescence and adulthood; (c) include more diverse same-sex families (e.g., gay fathers, racial minorities, and those without middle-high socioeconomic status); (d) include intact, marriage-based heterosexual families as comparison groups; and (e) constructively respond to criticisms from methodological experts.100 Specifically, it is vital that critiques regarding sample size, sampling strategy, statistical power, and effect sizes not be disregarded. Taking these steps will help produce more methodologically rigorous and scientifically informed responses to significant questions affecting families and children.

Clearly, then, the Catholic News Agency has utterly misrepresented - not only the study's content - but the study's remit itself, in its attempt to subvert its conclusion to put an erroneous bad spin on same sex parenting.

!!! UPDATE !!!

The moderator has edited my comment to remove the link to the study. Admittedly, their comments policy does state that;

CNA will not publish comments with abusive language, insults or links to other pages

Still, I find it curious that they are so reluctant to have the source material for their article obfuscated in such a manner.

!!! UPDATE #2 !!!

I have had a reply to my original comment, but I fear I will be completely shut down for posting it. So for the purposes of openness and intellectual honesty, I present to you the thread so far;

Tris: This is a very misleading article. Perhaps an expert from the study in question is required for your readers to appreciate its conclusion. 

From the study's conclusion:

"The 2005 APA Brief, near its outset, claims that “even taking into account all the questions and/or limitations that may characterize research in this area, none of the published research suggests conclusions different from that which will be summarized” (p. 5). The concluding summary later claims, “Indeed, the evidence to date suggests that home environments provided by lesbian and gay parents are as likely as those provided by heterosexual parents to support and enable children’s psychosocial growth” (p. 15).96We now return to the overarching question of this paper: Are we witnessing the emergence of a new family form that provides a context for children that is equivalent to the traditional marriage-based family? Even after an extensive reading of the same-sex parenting literature, the author cannot offer a high confidence, data-based “yes” or “no” response to this question. To restate, not one of the 59 studies referenced in the 2005 APA Brief (pp. 23–45; see Table 1) compares a large, random, representative sample of lesbian or gay parents and their children with a large, random, representative sample of married parents and their children. The available data, which are drawn primarily from small convenience samples, are insufficient to support a strong generalizable claim either way. Such a statement would not be grounded in science. To make a generalizable claim, representative, large-sample studies are needed—many of them."

Far from making the claim that this article states, the conclusion is that the evidence is inconclusive.

(Edited by a moderator)

Peacebwu: You're leaving out the part of the conclusions, even those in the abstract, that are consistent with the content of this CNA article. Whose misleading who here?

Tris: (Not yet published) You'll notice my post has been 'moderated'. If you really want to discover who is misleading who, look no further than CNA itself who will not allow the publication of a link to the actual article. 

For the record, you can click on my name to link to an article where the full conclusion and a link to the study is permitted.

And just to make sure this comment isn't 'moderated' out of context like so many of my comments here, I shall be updating the relevant post on my site to reflect the actual content of my opinion.

JJK: Sorry Tris, but the APA has very little credibility as far as gay studies.  A former APA president came out and said that the APA failed to live up to its responsibilities of  doing objective studies on gay marriage and  reparative therapy because the organization has been hijacked by a small group of gay activists.

The following is the Washington Times summary of the APA's shoddy work in defending gay marriage:

After looking at the 59 studies that undergird this assertion, however, "The jury is still out," said Loren Marks, an associate professor at the School of Human Ecology at Louisiana State University. "The lack of high-quality data leaves the most significant questions [about gay parenting] unaddressed and unanswered."

Problems with the APA-cited studies were their small size; dependence on wealthy, white, well-educated lesbian mothers; and failure to examine common outcomes for children, such as their education, employment and risks forpoverty, criminality, early childbearing, substance abuse and suicide. Instead, the APA studies often looked at children's gender-role behaviors, emotional functioning and sexual identities.

The American Academy of Pediatricians* has come out against gay marriage:"Given the current body of evidence, the American College of Pediatricians believes it is inappropriate, potentially hazardous to children, and dangerously irresponsible to change the age-old prohibition on homosexual parenting, whether by adoption, foster care, or reproductive manipulation. This position is rooted in the best available science."

Tris: (Not yet published) I would respond, but the 'moderators' keep changing my posts. That is when they post them at all. 

*The American Academy of Pediatricians is a socially conservative splinter-group of the established American Academy of Pediatrics. It was formed in 2002 when the soon to be pediatricians group protested against the pediatrics group support for adoption by gay couples. Far from being a revered bastion of mainstream science, it has moved into a Judeo-Christian philosophy which is open to "pediatric medical professionals of all religions who hold true to the group's core beliefs: that life begins at conception; and that the traditional family unit, headed by a different-sex couple, poses far fewer risk factors in the adoption and raising of children." Science and evidence to the contrary be damned.

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