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Anna Malmquist

Senior Associate Professor

Families beyond heteronormativity

In family research, families are generally understood as changeable. Families develop as we live our daily life together as family members. However, the Family - with capital F - can also be understood as normative ideal, to which actual families relate. Norms concerning gender, heterosexuality, parenting and childhood are particularly central in forming our understanding of the Family. Gender theory, queer theory and childhood studies are central perspectives in family research - and not the least for my research on lesbian and gay families.

I am associate professor in social psychology, engaged in family research. I earned my PhD in 2015 and have subsequently been involved in several different research projects. My main research areas are lesbian and gay parenting, and fear of childbirth in gender and sexual minority people. I am also involved in research on minority stress, traumatic birth experiences, children’s emotion socialization, climate adaptation effects on vulnerable groups, internet-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy, and covid-19 lockdown effects on LGBTQ youths.

I mainly teach at the Psychologist programme and other courses in psychology and behavioural sciences. My teaching areas are mostly related to my research interests: gender psychology, lgbtq psychology and qualitative methods. I give lectures, lead seminars, assess exams and other student tasks and develop new courses and tasks.

Publications

2026

Anna Malmquist, Emma Rosberg, Olivia Gustafsson, Sofia Klittmark, Katri Nieminen, Hanna Grundström (2026) After Two Decades of Family Formation: What Struggles Remain for LGBTQ plus Parents in Swedish Pregnancy and Birth Care? LGBTQ FAMILY-AN INTERDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL (Article in journal) https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/27703371.2026.2667175
Marta Lasota, Nicola Carone, Anna Malmquist, Michalina Dzielinska, Kamil Janowicz, Jacopo Tracchegiani, Konrad Piotrowski (2026) Biological Essentialism in Parenting: Validating a Cross-Cultural Measure across Diverse Family Structures Marriage and Family Review (Article in journal) https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01494929.2026.2650712
Anna Malmquist, Greta Sten, Maria Nabatai, Emma Gustafsson, Katri Nieminen, Hanna Grundström (2026) Posttraumatic stress symptoms in sexual minority and majority women after difficult births: a cross-sectional study Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology (Article in journal) https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02646838.2026.2651851
Anna Malmquist, Ellen Norén, Katri Nieminen, Hanna Grundström (2026) LGBTQ plus Couples' Sexual Health Experiences During Pregnancy and Postpartum: A Qualitative Survey Study International Journal of Sexual Health (Article in journal) https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19317611.2026.2643656

2025

Sofia Klittmark, Hanna Grundström, Katri Nieminen, Josefine Lindén Åsell, Anna Malmquist (2025) Birthing in the context of minority stress, fear of childbirth, and birth trauma A Guide to Providing LGBTQ+ Inclusive Reproductive Health Care: Pride in Birth, p. 128-149 (Chapter in book) https://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781003305446-8

Research

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