AMATO, Paul R. and Alan BOOTH, A GENERATION ATRISK: GROWING UP IN AN ERA OF FAMILY UPHEAVAL

Abstract

AMATO, Paul R. and Alan BOOTH, AGENERATIONAT RISK: GROWING UPINAN ERA OF FAMILY UPHEAVAL. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2000, 319 pp., $18.95 softcover. A Generation at Risk provides a thorough examination of how recent changes in American family experiences have influenced children's adult outcomes. As the authors document, family life has changed in numerous ways over the last few decades. Amato and Booth seek to understand how adult children's outcomes and characteristics are affected by some of these sociological changes. The authors research the effects of variables reflecting changes in the socioeconomic conditions, gender relations, and family structure and marital quality. The aim of their research is to document the significant associations between adult children's well-being and the characteristics of their family that reflect the recent social changes. To achieve this goal, Amato and Booth use data from the Study of Marital Instability Over the Life Course and linear and logistic regression techniques to model these associations. A contribution of the present research is their focus on adult children. Whereas most research on the effects of family background characteristics has focused on young children and teenagers, Amato and Booth look at the effects of the three categories of family change on adult children's characteristics. They research five categories of adult children's outcomes - their relationship with their parents, romantic relationships, their social integration, socioeconomic attainment, and psychological well-being. Theoretically, Amato and Booth draw upon the life course perspective to better understand how family characteristics affect youth as they transition to adulthood. With the life course perspective, the authors are sensitive to both the ages of the children when they experience various family behaviors and to the historical context of that experience. To better understand the processes by which family characteristics influence these adult outcomes, the authors turn to a mediation model. Parental support and parental control are tested as mediating factors for the family's socioeconomic, gender relations, family structure and marital happiness in influencing the children. The data source for this research is rich with information about the adult child's family of origin. Besides the standard information available in other data sets, this study also has rarely collected information on the gender division of housework and childcare, gender attitudes, marital happiness and interaction, marital conflict, and divorce proneness. …