The impact of family structure on Taiwanese adolescents' academic performance and deviant behavior

Abstract

Using data from four waves of the junior cohort of the Taiwan Educational Panel Survey (TEPS), this study employs the Latent Growth Model (LGM) to examine whether family structure impacts Taiwanese adolescents’ academic performance and deviant behavior, focusing primarily on the effects of co-residence with grandparents. Empirical evidence shows that in terms of academic performance, students benefit moderately from co-residence with grandparents. On average, students with co-resident grandparents achieve a higher level of academic performance on entry into junior high school. However, continuing to live with grandparents or experiencing transition into co-residence with grandparents in later stages do not affect the growth rate of later academic performance. On the other hand, there is little evidence to suggest that co-resident grandparents have any meaningful impact in reducing their grandchildren’s deviant behavior. Keywords: latent growth model, academic performance, deviant behavior, family structure, co-resident grandparents