At present, Patterson continues her work on the Charlottesville Longitudinal Study, focusing on issues related to risk and resilience among a large group of schoolchildren. She also serves as director of the Bay Area Families Study, a study of psychosocial development among children who were born to or adopted by lesbian mothers, and co-director of the Contemporary Families Study,which examines psychosocial adjustment among children born via donor insemination to lesbian and heterosexual parents.

In addition to her research, Patterson has co-edited a number of books, and has served as guest editor for a special issue of Developmental Psychology devoted to research on Sexual Orientation and Human Development, published in 1995. She has won numerous awards, including the Distinguished Scientific Contributions Award from Division 44 of the American Psychological Association, and the Outstanding Achievement Award from the American Psychological Association Committee on Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Concerns.