Abstract
This study aimed to identify the prevalence and physical health consequences of family structure transitions among children in Ethiopia, India, Peru, and Vietnam. In many high-income countries, family structure transitions are common, and research suggests that they can lead to worse physical health for children. However, we know little about either the prevalence or consequences of family structure transitions for children in low-and middle-income countries, who make up the vast majority of the world’s children. First, we estimated the number of family structure transitions by age 12 using four rounds of Young Lives data from four low-and middle-income countries (N = 8062, Ethiopia, India, Peru, and Vietnam) and validated our prevalence estimates with another dataset from these same countries. The proportion of children experiencing a family structure transition by age 12 was: 14.8% in Ethiopia, 5.6% in India, 22.0% in Peru, and 7.7% in Vietnam. We put these estimates in context by comparing them to 17 high- and upper-middle-income countries. Second, using linear mixed models, we found that family structure transitions were not directly associated with worse physical health for children in Ethiopia, India, Peru, and Vietnam. Children in Peru experienced higher rates of family structure transitions relative to children in the other Young Lives countries, and similar rates to many of the 17 comparison countries, yet physical health was unaffected. It is possible that in low-and middle-income countries, the environment may overwhelm family stability as a determinant of physical health.
Highlights
Highlights ● The prevalence of children experiencing a family structure transition by age 12 in Ethiopia, India, Peru, and Vietnam was
This paper estimates the proportion of children experiencing a family structure transition by age 12 in four low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) (Ethiopia, India, Peru, and Vietnam)
We ran the models with the intercept centered at round one and round five (Singer & Willett, 2003). We tested this because many children only experienced a family structure transition at later rounds, and differences in general physical health resulting from these transitions may only be apparent towards the end of the study (Singer & Willett, 2003). This did not affect the pattern of results, so we present the findings with the intercept centered at round five, representing children’s general physical health status when they were 15 years old
Summary
Highlights ● The prevalence of children experiencing a family structure transition by age 12 in Ethiopia, India, Peru, and Vietnam was. This paper estimates the proportion of children experiencing a family structure transition by age 12 in four low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) (Ethiopia, India, Peru, and Vietnam). In many high-income countries, the familial landscape has changed dramatically in recent decades: 56% of children in the United States and 32% of children in the United Kingdom born to married parents experience at least one family structure transition by age 12 (Brown et al, 2016; DeRose, Lyons-Amos, et al, 2017; Santesteban-Echarri et al, 2016; Smock & Schwartz, 2020). Children in Belgium, Spain, and Poland born to married parents are much less likely to experience a family structure transition by age 12 (8%, 5%, and 6%, respectively) (DeRose, Lyons-Amos, et al, 2017)
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