Single Mother Status Research Articles

Law and the Brontës by Ian Ward (review)

Reviewed by: Law and the Brontës by Ian Ward Kellie Holzer (bio) Law and the Brontës by Ian Ward; pp. 195. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. $76.50 cloth. Novels by the Brontë sisters are not typically considered standard texts in the forty-year-old interdisciplinary field of law and literature. Ian Ward’s new book corrects this oversight. Jurisprudence, he argues, can be discerned “below the surface” of much of the Brontë oeuvre (4). Even though they do not explicitly engage with law, novels by the Brontës function as important supplements to the project of feminist jurisprudence committed to recovering female voices silenced by the patriarchal legal system. [End Page 237] More specifically, Ward observes, the Brontës’ novels provide an opportunity to examine relations between gender and the law, inviting readers to exercise judgment on matters of concern to mid-Victorian women, such as spousal abuse, child custody and the status of single mothers, divorce and matrimonial property law, illegitimacy, the incarceration of certified lunatics, and even the regulation of pornography. In the Brontës’ novels, formal law is ever elusive, and that is another reason these texts are so valuable for feminist legal history and theory. Law remains subterranean in these novels because it is virtually absent from the lives of people marginalized in, or excluded from, Victorian society: the insane, the simple-minded, the illegitimate, criminals, foreigners, and women. According to Ward, law is an “ordinary failure” for these people (140). Ward’s background as a legal scholar contributes considerably to one of the book’s central claims: that Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall testify to the ways in which law facilitated patriarchal dominance in the mid-Victorian era. For instance, when discussing Helen Huntingdon’s circumstances in The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Ward cites precedent-setting legal cases to illustrate the ways that English law consistently failed women. English law did not protect wives from marital cruelty (Evans v. Evans, 1790; Dysart v. Dysart, 1847), nor did it assist such women in leaving abusive spouses (even after the Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857, as Ward points out). And finally, with regard to child custody, the law showed marked preference for fathers (Eyre v. Countess of Shaftesbury, 1722; De Manneville v. De Manneville, 1804; and several others). Like The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Wuthering Heights is concerned with the limits of law and justice. Ward notes that Emily’s novel revolves around the question of Heathcliff’s origins and “the brutal marginalization of a category of persons, which was constructed by social prejudice and confirmed by legal prescription” (52). This chapter surveys legal provisions for bastardy, revisiting the Poor Laws of 1733, 1834, and 1844 to substantiate its claim that it is his legal dispossession due to illegitimacy that prompts Heathcliff’s violent revenge. Following a complex explanation of how Heathcliff gains control over the Linton and Earnshaw estates, Ward concludes that English property law, “written to help men like Heathcliff consolidate estates,” abets his criminal behaviour (61). In his discussion of Jane Eyre, Ward focuses on the law’s failure to adequately address non-criminal lunacy as it is displayed in Rochester’s extra-legal solution to incarcerate his mad spouse in the attic. The inefficacy of the law vis-à-vis the insane has recently been covered in Christine Krueger’s Reading for the Law (2010) in an argument about the gendering of legal agency in the development of equal treatment procedures. Ward’s emphasis differs, in that he sees the catastrophic consequences of Bertha’s incarceration as Charlotte’s intervention into ongoing debates about the efficacy of home-confinement of insane relatives. Neither common law nor civil jurisdiction rescues Bertha; courts were historically reluctant to intervene in cases of asylum brutality and wrongful [End Page 238] confinement, and they refused to intervene in cases of domestic abuse of wives certified insane. In the final two chapters, Ward takes up Shirley and Villette, respectively. Shirley, he argues, is imbued with a Burkean sense of the proper governance of a familial national polity through paternalistic charity, and an indictment of failed magistracies—those of the local landed elite...

P-599 - Early motor developmental milestones and level of neuroticism in young adulthood. A 23-year follow-up study of the copenhagen perinatal cohort

Background Studies investigating early developmental factors in relation to psychopathology have mainly focused on schizophrenia. The personality dimension of neuroticism seems to be a general risk factor for psychopathology, but evidence on associations between early developmental precursors and personality traits is almost nonexistent. This study is therefore the first to investigate associations between early motor developmental milestones and neuroticism in adulthood. Methods Mothers of 9125 children in the Copenhagen Perinatal Cohort recorded 10 developmental milestones during the child's first life. A sub-sample of the cohort comprising 1182 individuals participated in a follow-up when they were 20–34 years old and were administered the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ). Associations between motor developmental milestones and level of neuroticism, extraversion and psychoticism were analysed by multiple linear regression adjusting for for sex, single-mother status, parity, mother's age, father's age, parental social status, birthweight, and adult intelligence. Results Among the 1182 participants, information on individual milestones was available for 447–1045 individuals. Infants who developed high levels of neuroticism as adults tended to crawl, stand with- and without support and walk with- and without support significantly later than individuals with a low level of neuroticism. The results remained significant after adjustment for included covariates. Neither extraversion nor psychoticism was associated with age of attainment of developmental milestones. Conclusion The findings are the first of its kind and suggest that delays in early motor development may not only characterize psychopathological disorders such as schizophrenia, but may also be associated with the personality dimension of neuroticism in adulthood.

Wpływ sytuacji socjoekonomicznej rodziny na urodzeniową długość i masę ciała dziewcząt z Krakowa

IntroductionModifiers (socioeconomic status, ecosystem conditions) beside genetic factors are one of the regulators in ontogenesis process. AimThe aim of the study was to examine whether, in the age of economical and cultural changes in Poland, maternal education level as a measure of socioeconomic status, still exerts a differentiating impact on foetal growth and development. Material and methodsThe questionnaire data from mothers of 269 girls, aged 3–9, domiciled in Krakow, Poland, who took part in the anthropological research between 2007 and 2009, were used as a research material. The study used the data concerning the infant's and parental body size, the course of pregnancy and labour and parental socioeconomic status. ResultsThe research group did not show differences in neonatal parameters in infants, whose mothers declared different educational level, despite the fact that among the mothers with low educational level the higher frequency of cigarette smoking and the status of single mothers were observed. ConclusionsNo relationship between newborns’ body length or body mass, and theirs mothers education was found. The factors which influence on disappearance of differences in newborns’ outcomes are still unknown.

Early developmental milestones and risk of schizophrenia: A 45-year follow-up of the Copenhagen Perinatal Cohort

The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between age of neuromotor milestone attainment and risk of adult schizophrenia. 5765 mothers of the Copenhagen Perinatal Cohort recorded 12 developmental milestones during the child's first year of life. Cohort members were followed until they were 46–48years old through record linkage with the Danish Psychiatric Central Research Register. The age at which milestones were met in the 92 individuals who later developed schizophrenia was compared with milestone attainment in the 691 individuals who developed other psychiatric disorders and in the 4982 cohort controls who were never admitted to a psychiatric department. Group comparisons were adjusted for gender, mother's age, father's age, parental social status, breadwinner's education, single mother status and parity. Individuals who developed schizophrenia reached all developmental milestones later than controls and differed significantly from the controls with respect to the mean age of reaching the 12 milestones. Five developmental milestones in particular (smiling, lifting head, sitting, crawling, and walking) differed significantly. Individuals who later developed psychiatric disorders other than schizophrenia reached most developmental milestones earlier than those who developed schizophrenia, but later than the controls. The two psychiatric groups only differed significantly with respect to age of walking without support. The findings corroborate and methodologically extend previous research from prospective longitudinal cohort studies suggesting developmental delays observable as early as within the first year of life. These early developmental delays may not only characterize schizophrenia, but may be associated with a range of psychiatric disorders.

Risks of pregnancy and birth in obese primiparous women: an analysis of German perinatal statistics

PurposeTo compare risks of pregnancy and birth in obese (body mass index, BMI ≥ 30) and normal weight women (BMI 18.5–24.99) giving birth to their first child.MethodsWe analysed data of 243,571 pregnancies in primiparous women from the German perinatal statistics of 1998–2000. We calculated odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for selected pregnancy and birth risks. ORs were adjusted for the confounding factors age, smoking status, single mother status, and maternal education.ResultsObesity during pregnancy is common in primiparous women (n = 19,130; 7.9% of all cases) and it is significantly associated with a number of risks of pregnancy and birth, including diabetes [OR 3.71 (95% CI 2.93; 4.71); p < 0.001], hypertension [OR 8.44 (7.91; 9.00); p < 0.001], preecalmpsia/eclampsia [OR 6.72 (6.30; 7.17); p < 0.001], intraamniotic infection [OR 2.33 (2.05; 2.64); p < 0.001], birth weight ≥4,000 g [OR 2.16 (2.05; 2.28); p < 0.001], and an increased rate of Caesarean section [OR 2.23 (2.15; 2.30); p < 0.001]. Some risks were less frequent in the obese such as cervical incompetence [OR 0.55 (0.48; 0.63); p < 0.001] and preterm labour [OR 0.47 (0.43; 0.51); p < 0.001].ConclusionsObesity during pregnancy is an important clinical problem in primiparous women because it is common and it is associated with a number of risks of pregnancy and birth. Because of these increased risks, obese women need special attention clinically during the course of their first pregnancy. Weight reduction before the first pregnancy is generally indicated in obese women to prevent the above-mentioned complications of pregnancy and birth.

Investigation of the association of Apgar score with maternal socio-economic and biological factors: an analysis of German perinatal statistics

PurposeTo examine the relationship of 5-min Apgar score with maternal socio-economic and biological factors.MethodsWe analyzed data from 465,964 singleton pregnancies (37–41 weeks’ gestation) from the German perinatal statistics of 1998–2000. Using a logistic regression model we analyzed the incidence of low (0–6) 5-min Apgar scores in relation to these maternal factors: body mass index (BMI), age, previous live births, country of origin, occupation, single mother status, working during pregnancy, and smoking.ResultsA low Apgar score was more common in overweight [adjusted odds ratio (OR) 1.24; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.10–1.40; P < 0.001] and obese [OR 1.92 (95% CI 1.67–2.20); P < 0.001] compared to normal weight women. A low Apgar score was also more common for women aged >35 years compared to those aged 20–35 years [OR 1.35 (95% CI 1.16–1.58); P < 0.001]. Furthermore, odds of a low Apgar score were higher for women with no previous live births compared to those with one or more previous live births [OR 1.52 (95% CI 1.37–1.70); P < 0.001]. Socio-economic factors did not convincingly influence Apgar scores.ConclusionsThere was an influence of the biological maternal factors age, BMI, and parity on the 5-min Apgar score. There was no convincing effect of socio-economic factors on Apgar score in our study population. Possible reasons for this are discussed.

The mental health benefits of work: do they apply to poor single mothers?

The relationship between employment and improved mental health is well documented. However, no research has examined whether this relationship applies to poor single mothers. Given recent changes in the labor market where poor women are disproportionately employed in unstable jobs, the competing demands of work and childcare may operate to prevent poor women from reaping the mental health benefits of employment. Understanding these connections has become more salient not just for mental health epidemiology but for policies targeting employment and poverty. This study draws on four waves of data from the Welfare Client Longitudinal Study. Generalized estimating equations are utilized to assess the role of current employment and employment continuity on the depression status of poor single mothers over time. Through a comparison of results drawn from a dichotomous categorization of current employment with results drawn from measures of employment continuity, this study is also able to assess whether it is employment per se or the characteristics of employment that matter. Overall, the results from this study suggest that current employment improves the mental health of many poor single mothers. However, the circumstances most likely to improve their mental health are full-time or stable, longer term employment. The results from this study are of concern given that the lack of employment continuity is a growing trend in the U.S. labor market and poor women are disproportionately employed in these types of unstable jobs. These findings, thus, have wide-reaching implications for welfare policy as they provide an important and timely perspective in our understanding of the impact of the changing face of employment on poor women.

Single Motherhood Versus Poor Partner Relationship: Outcomes for Antenatal Mental Health

In the transition to parenthood, lack of social support significantly impacts on maternal mood. This paper compares the influence of single-mother status and level of partner support in a partnered relationship, on antenatal emotional health. Antenatal demographic, psychosocial and mental health data, as determined by Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) score, were collected from 1578 women. The association between these variables, and marital status, was investigated using logistic regression. Sixty-two women (3.9%) were identified as single/unpartnered. Elevated EPDS scores (>12) were found in 15.2% (240/1578) of the total cohort and 25.8% (16/62) of the single/unpartnered women. EPDS scores were significantly lower for single/unpartnered women than for women with unsupportive partners (8.9+/-5.3 vs 11.9+/-6.5, p<0.001). Compared to the partnered cohort, single/unpartnered women were more likely to have experienced >or=2 weeks of depression before the current pregnancy (p<0.05), a previous psychopathology (p<0.001), emotional problems during the current pregnancy (p<0.01) and major life events in the last year (p<0.01). Binary logistic regression modelling to predict antenatal EPDS scores suggests that this is mediated by previous psychiatric history (p<0.001) and emotional problems during pregnancy (p=0.02). Women in a partnered-relationship with poor partner-derived support were at an increased risk of elevated antenatal EPDS scores compared to single/unpartnered women. A previous history of depression and current emotional problems, rather than single mother status, were significant risk factors for elevated EPDS scores. The present study reiterates the contribution of psychosocial risk factors as important mediators of antenatal emotional health.

Mental health problems among single and partnered mothers

Research has shown elevated levels of common mental disorders among single mothers compared with partnered mothers. The objectives of this analysis were to examine the prevalence of mental health problems among single and partnered mothers and the extent to which this relationship is mediated by socio-demographic, financial and social support variables. Using cross-sectional data from a large, nationally representative longitudinal Australian household survey--the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey--the prevalence of moderate to severe mental disability (as measured by the SF-36) was assessed among 354 single mothers and 1,689 partnered mothers. A series of univariate and simultaneous logistic regression analyses assessed the association between parenting status, the other explanatory variables and mental disability. Mediational analyses were conducted using the 'explained fraction' approach. The prevalence of moderate to severe mental disability was significantly more pronounced among single mothers (28.7%) compared with partnered mothers (15.7%). Including all explanatory factors--socio-demographic, household income, financial hardship and social support--accounted for 94% of the association between single mother status and poor mental health. Financial hardship and social support were the strongest predictors, accounting for most of the predictive power of the other variables. Single mothers are more likely to experience poor mental health than partnered mothers, and the primary factors associated with this are the presence of financial hardship in particular, as well as perceived lack of social support. Future research should examine the extent to which changes in financial hardship among different family types relate to changes in mental health over time, as well as continue to examine variables that may moderate the relationship between social disadvantage and poor mental health.

Conflict Between Mothersand Adolescents in Single-Mother, Blended, and Two-Biological-Parent Families

Objective. This investigation was designed to shed light on household structure differences in mother - adolescent conflict. Design. A total of 453 early, mid, and late adolescents from 3 ethnic groups completed questionnaires describing the rate and affective intensity of daily conflicts with mothers and fathers in single-mother (divorced or never married), 2-biological-parent, and blended (remarried) families. Results. Compared to sons, daughters reported more disagreements with mothers and more negative affect in disagreements with mothers and fathers. Adolescents reported more total disagreements and more angry disagreements with single mothers than with mothers in 2-biological-parent families; adolescents in blended families fell in between. Reports of conflict with fathers did not differ across 2-biological-parent families and blended families. There were no household structure differences in conflict with parents (mothers and residential fathers combined), indicating that levels of conflict with single mothers are elevated by approximately the same number of disagreements that otherwise fall to fathers in 2-parent households. Potential moderators (adolescent age, ethnicity, and gender, maternal employment, prior marital status of single-mothers, socioeconomic status, and levels of social interaction) did not alter the results. Conclusions. For adolescents, single parenthood restricts the number of partners available for disagreement but has little bearing on the number or affective tenor of daily disagreements with mothers. In contrast, single parenthood is associated with elevated levels of family discord for mothers.

Breastfeeding and risk of schizophrenia in the Copenhagen Perinatal Cohort

The aim was to study whether early weaning from breastfeeding may be associated with increased risk of schizophrenia. The current sample comprises 6841 individuals from the Copenhagen Perinatal Cohort of whom 1671 (24%) had been breastfed for 2 weeks or less (early weaning) and 5170 (76%) had been breastfed longer. Maternal schizophrenia, parental social status, single mother status and gender were included as covariates in a multiple regression analysis of the effect of early weaning on the risk of hospitalization with schizophrenia. The sample comprised 93 cases of schizophrenia (1.4%). Maternal schizophrenia was the strongest risk factor and a significant association between single mother status and elevated offspring risk of schizophrenia was also observed. Early weaning was significantly related to later schizophrenia in both unadjusted and adjusted analyses (adjusted odds ratio 1.73 with 95% CI: 1.13-2.67). No or <2 weeks of breastfeeding was associated with elevated risk of schizophrenia. The hypothesis of some protective effect of breastfeeding against the risk of later schizophrenia is supported by our data.

A dose‐response relationship between maternal smoking during late pregnancy and adult intelligence in male offspring

An association between maternal smoking during pregnancy and cognitive and behavioural development has been observed in several studies, but potential effects of maternal smoking on offspring adult intelligence have not been investigated. The objective of the present study was to investigate a potential association between maternal smoking during pregnancy and offspring intelligence in young adulthood. Adult intelligence was assessed at the mean age of 18.7 years by a military draft board intelligence test (Borge Priens Prove) for 3044 singleton males from the Copenhagen Perinatal Cohort with information regarding maternal smoking during the third trimester coded into five categories (about 50% of the mothers were smokers). The following potential confounders were included as covariates in multivariable analyses: parental social status and education, single mother status, mother's height and age, number of pregnancies, and gestational age. In separate analyses, birthweight and length were also included as covariates. Maternal cigarette smoking during the third trimester, adjusted for the seven covariates, showed a negative association with offspring adult intelligence (P=0.0001). The mean difference between the no-smoking and the heaviest smoking category amounted to 0.41 standard deviation, corresponding to an IQ difference of 6.2 points [95% confidence interval 0.14, 0.68]. The association remained significant when further adjusted for birthweight and length (P=0.007). Both unadjusted and adjusted means suggested a dose-response relationship between maternal smoking during pregnancy and offspring adult intelligence. When subjects with missing data were excluded, essentially the same results were obtained in the reduced sample (n=1829). These results suggest that smoking during pregnancy may have long-term negative consequences on offspring adult intelligence.

Policy Changes, Employment, and Single Parenthood in Finland

The labor supply of mothers is in? uenced by womens preferences and labor market conditions, as well as by family policy packages which enable families to reconcile work and family life. This article deepens the understanding about why Finnish single mothers are facing higher unemployment risks than mothers in two-parent families. The main question is how the changes in the Finnish family policy system have affected the economic and labor market status of single mothers in the last part of the 1990s. Have the changes in family policy affected their entry / re-entry into the labor market? Or can these changes in employment rate be explained by mothers personal decisions. Single parents were more vulnerable compared to partnered mothers in parental leave reforms and in the Family reform package in 1994. Changes in the labor market have had an impact on the situation of mothers with small children. One group of mothers can enjoy the full provision of leaves, bene? ts and job security, but an increased share of mothers have become dependent on only basic bene? ts. In this respect, the inequality among mothers has increased.

The difference between single and married mothers in the 12-month prevalence of major depressive syndrome, associated factors and mental health service utilization.

Previous studies suggest that single mothers are at a higher risk of major depression and more likely to use mental health services than are married mothers. The objectives of this analysis were to provide estimates of the prevalence of major depressive syndrome among single and married mothers, to investigate the factors which may affect the difference in the prevalence of major depressive syndrome among single and married mothers and to estimate the health care service utilization by single and married mothers. This was a cross-sectional study using the data from the 1996-97 Canadian National Population Health Survey (NPHS). Major depressive syndrome was evaluated using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview-Short Form for major depression. The prevalence of major depressive syndrome was calculated among 3030 single and 10195 married mothers. The effects of demographic, socioeconomic and biological variables on the association between single-mother status and major depressive syndrome were evaluated by stratified analyses. In the NPHS, the difference between single and married mothers in the prevalence of major depressive syndrome was found among women who were between the ages of 25 and 50. The association in this age group depended on race and on whether they had one or more jobs. Education,problem drinking, daily smoking, having one or more long-term medical illnesses, financial hardship and social support did not affect the association between single-mother status and major depressive syndrome. Single mothers were more likely to visit health professionals for mental problems than were married mothers. The difference between single and married mothers in the prevalence of major depression is age-specific. Single mothers who reported having had one or more jobs and who are non-white had an increased risk of having major depressive syndrome, compared to married mothers. Future studies need to replicate the findings of this analysis and investigate why single mothers with ethnic minority backgrounds and those who are working are at high risk of having depressive disorders.

Psychosocial distress and symptoms of single mothers and their children in a large community sample

As in other western countries the proportion of single parent families in Germany is growing. International studies showed lower socioeconomic status and elevated psychic distress in single mothers as well as increased problem behavior in their children. This study was performed to make up for the lack of epidemiologic investigations on this issue in Germany. The family status of a complete cohort of school beginners in Duesseldorf was screened (recruitment rate 97.5%, N = 5,048). Single mothers and their children were compared to a control group of married mothers (N = 278) with respect to social variables and psychic distress (SCL-90-R, CBCL). 907 (18.0%) of all children lived in single parent families. Socioeconomic status (income, education, receiving welfare) of single mothers (total N = 891) who fulfilled the inclusion criteria (N = 531) was lower, while psychic distress was significantly elevated (GSI 0.45 vs. 0.28). Single mothers without additional personal support for their child, younger as well as poor single mothers showed higher values of GSI. Statistically significant increased behavior problems were found only in boys of single mothers. Single mothers are socially disadvantaged. They show an elevated mean psychic distress compared to married mothers. Psychosocial support for higher impaired subgroups of single mothers should be developed.

Psychological distress and socioeconomic status in single mothers and their children in a German city

The proportion of single mothers in western countries is continuously growing. In contrast to other western countries, support programs in Germany especially for single mothers are rare. This study identifies for the first time in Germany within a large epidemiological sample different subgroups of higher distressed single mothers as important potential target groups for psychosocial support interventions. Facing limited resources, data about these subgroups are helpful to develop and establish specific support programs. In a cross-section study, family status of a complete cohort of school beginners in Duesseldorf (N = 5178 children, aged 5-7 years) was screened within the school eligibility test (recruitment rate 97.5 %, N = 5048). Out of a total of 891 single mothers, 531 fulfilling inclusion criteria (speaking fluent German, not married, living together with the tested child, informed consent) were compared to a control group of married mothers out of the same sample (N = 278). Socioeconomic status, social network and psychological distress of mothers (SCL-90-R) and children (CBCL) were investigated. Socioeconomic status (income, education) of single mothers was lower while psychological distress (SCL-90-R) was elevated compared to the control group. Single mothers without additional personal support for their child, younger, as well as poor single mothers showed higher values of psychological distress. In sons of single mothers, increased behavior problems were found (CBCL). Of all children screened, 907 (18 %) lived in single-parent families. An increased psychological distress of single mothers and their sons could be shown for the first time in Germany within a large epidemiologic sample. This has implications for the planning of preventive interventions and evaluation of associations, e. g., between social variables and distress of single mothers and their children within longitudinal study designs.

The association between duration of breastfeeding and adult intelligence.

A number of studies suggest a positive association between breastfeeding and cognitive development in early and middle childhood. However, the only previous study that investigated the relationship between breastfeeding and intelligence in adults had several methodological shortcomings. To determine the association between duration of infant breastfeeding and intelligence in young adulthood. Prospective longitudinal birth cohort study conducted in a sample of 973 men and women and a sample of 2280 men, all of whom were born in Copenhagen, Denmark, between October 1959 and December 1961. The samples were divided into 5 categories based on duration of breastfeeding, as assessed by physician interview with mothers at a 1-year examination. Intelligence, assessed using the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) at a mean age of 27.2 years in the mixed-sex sample and the Børge Priens Prøve (BPP) test at a mean age of 18.7 years in the all-male sample. Thirteen potential confounders were included as covariates: parental social status and education; single mother status; mother's height, age, and weight gain during pregnancy and cigarette consumption during the third trimester; number of pregnancies; estimated gestational age; birth weight; birth length; and indexes of pregnancy and delivery complications. Duration of breastfeeding was associated with significantly higher scores on the Verbal, Performance, and Full Scale WAIS IQs. With regression adjustment for potential confounding factors, the mean Full Scale WAIS IQs were 99.4, 101.7, 102.3, 106.0, and 104.0 for breastfeeding durations of less than 1 month, 2 to 3 months, 4 to 6 months, 7 to 9 months, and more than 9 months, respectively (P =.003 for overall F test). The corresponding mean scores on the BPP were 38.0, 39.2, 39.9, 40.1, and 40.1 (P =.01 for overall F test). Independent of a wide range of possible confounding factors, a significant positive association between duration of breastfeeding and intelligence was observed in 2 independent samples of young adults, assessed with 2 different intelligence tests.

The Health, Earnings Capacity, and Poverty of Single-Mother Families

Approximately 1.4 million single mothers have substantial health problems. Even if they were to work full time, they would be unlikely to earn enough to adequately provide for themselves and their children. Many of these women are not likely to find employment that offers health insurance coverage for themselves or their children. Employment is thus not an option that would provide sufficient resources--in terms of income or insurance--for them to live at or above the poverty line. Those single mothers who have a disabled child are at additional disadvantage. These children may require increased time from an adult and are likely to have considerable medical care needs and expenditures. For these families, employment of the mother may not provide adequate resources in terms of either time available to meet the disabled child's special needs, income, or adequate health insurance. We explore these issues, first examining the health status of single mothers compared to other women. We next estimate their earnings capacity--the amount they would earn were they to join the work force on a full-time basis, taking into account their health status and that of their children. We then investigate the percentage of single mothers and their children who would be poor if they had to rely on the earnings capacity of the women (working 40 hours per week, adjusting for health). Finally, we explore the policy implications of our findings, which seem particularly timely in the face of the new work requirements of the 1988 Family Support Act. The act requires most single mothers currently receiving or applying for Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) to enroll in training or register to work.

Avenues and Barriers to Residential Mobility among Single Mothers

ScOTt J. SouTH State University of New York at Albany KYLE D. CROWDER Western Washington University* Longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics are combined with local census data to examine single mothers' patterns and determinants of residential mobility between poor and nonpoor neighborhoods in the United States. Moving from a poor to a nonpoor neighborhood is facilitated by marrying and by obtaining employment and is impeded by age and home ownership. Even net of numerous controls, African American single mothers are substantially less likely to escape poor neighborhoods and significantly more likely to move into them than their non-Black counterparts. Neither receipt of Aid to Families with Dependent Children nor adult coresidence significantly reduces the likelihood that single mothers will move from a poor to a nonpoor neighborhood. Key Words: marriage, migration, moving, neighborhoods, single mothers. Prior research shows that, relative to two-parent families, families headed by unmarried mothers are spatially concentrated in high-poverty neighborhoods (McLanahan & Garfinkel, 1989) and that residence in these economically disadvantaged areas has adverse consequences for unwed mothers and their children (Brooks-Gunn, Duncan, Klebanov, & Sealand, 1993; Crane,1991; Duncan, 1994; Elliott et al., 1996; Hogan & Kitagawa, 1985; Klebanov, Brooks-Gunn, & Duncan, 1994; Massey & Shibuya, 1995; McLanahan & Booth, 1989; Wilson, 1996). Research also suggests that low-income, female-headed families who move from inner-city, underclass neighborhoods to more prosperous suburban communities improve their socioeconomic standing and social integration (Katz, Kling, & Liebman, 1997; Rosenbaum & Popkin, 1991; Rosenbaum, Popkin, Kaufman, & Rusin, 1991). Yet, we know little about the characteristics of mother-only families that facilitate or constrain residential mobility from poor neighborhoods to more prosperous areas or that enhance or retard the risk of moving from wealthier to poorer neighborhoods. Single mothers and their children move more frequently than two-parent families (Long, 1992; McLanahan, 1983), especially in the years immediately following a divorce (Speare & Goldscheider, 1987), but little is known about the socioeconomic characteristics of the neighborhoods that mobile, mother-only families vacate or enter. And, although patterns of residential mobility between poor and nonpoor neighborhoods have been described for the general population (Massey, Gross, & Shibuya, 1994; Nelson & Edwards, 1993; South & Crowder, 1997), motheronly families are likely to face a unique constellation of avenues and barriers to residential mobility and thus are worthy of special examination (Mulroy, 1995). We examine the patterns and determinants of residential mobility among unmarried mothers. We merge individual-level data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) with census data describing the poverty status of single mothers' neighborhoods to identify the characteristics of families and their contexts that enhance or diminish opportunities to leave economically disadvantaged neighborhoods for better environments. We also explore the influence of individual and familial factors on the likelihood that single mothers initially residing in nonpoor neighborhoods will move to poor areas. Particular attention is focused on the relative impact of marriage, human capital endowments, welfare receipt, and household structure as avenues or barriers to escaping-or averting moving to-poor neighborhoods. THEORY AND HYPOTHESES Beginning with Rossi's (1955) pioneering analysis, conventional models of residential mobility emphasize life-cycle and demographic factors as key determinants of the decision to move. Age, marital status, and the presence of children all have been shown to play important roles in mobility (Long, 1988). For single mothers, marriage is likely to be a particularly salient event. …

Employment Status, Psychological Well-Being, Social Support, and Physical Discipline Practices of Single Black Mothers

We investigated the effects of depressive symptomatology, parental stress, and instrumental support on maternal spanking. Although we found no associations between employment status, per se, and the frequency of spanking, our results show that employment seems to matter for its moderating effects on the relationship between mothers' psychological functioning and their decisions to use spanking. Significant interaction effects of employment x depression and employment x parental stress indicate that employment reduced the frequency of spanking by mothers with more symptoms of depression and parental stress. The availability of instrumental support increased the frequency of spanking. This may reflect the possibility that mothers in this study found the help they receive psychologically costly. Socialization theorists and researchers have found that harsh parental discipline is associated with problem behaviors in children, especially hostility and aggression (Baumrind, 1993; Maccoby & Martin, 1983; Straus, Sugarman, & Giles-Sims, 1997). However, most of the research on physical discipline (e.g., spanking, hitting) either has focused on middle-class White families (Parke, 1992) or has compared Black families with White, mostly middle-class families. (See, for example, Deater-Deckard, Dodge, Bates, & Pettit, 1996; Gunnoe & Mariner, 1997; Smith & Brooks-Gunn, 1997; Strassberg, Dodge, Pettit, & Bates, 1994.) Little is known about within-group differences in discipline practices among single Black women raising young children in poverty (Harrison, Wilson, Pine, Chan, & Buriel, 1990; McLoyd, 1990; Wilson, 1986). Poverty can diminish the quality of parenting due to persistent daily stressors and parental psychological distress (Conger et al., 1992; McLoyd, 1990). Given the 1996 overhaul of the welfare system, which substitutes time-limited cash assistance and work programs for what was an entitlement, it is important to understand the contexts in which single mothers parent their preschool children, specifically mothers who work in low-wage jobs and those who receive welfare benefits. Some researchers argue that a theoretical perspective of risk and resilience should guide the study of poor and near-poor Black families (McLoyd, 1990; Spencer, 1990). Rather than regarding such families as uniformly at risk in difficult social contexts, this perspective highlights the differential and interactive influences of individual, family, and environmental variables in efforts to better understand which individuals are at risk for negative outcomes. Similar to Bronfenbrenner's (1988) person-process-context model, McLoyd and her colleagues (1990; McLoyd & Wilson, 1992) posit that an accumulation of risks is associated with poverty and economic hardship (e.g., female headship, limited access to social support, diminished capacity for responsive and supportive parenting). These risks may have different effects on family processes, depending on the presence of protective factors (key among them, maternal psychological well-being). For example, it is hypothesized that parental depressed mood is a central mechanism through which economic circumstances influence parenting behavior and, thereby, child outcomes. (See Conger et al., 1992.) Indeed, research has consistently shown that parents who experience economic stress display less nurturance and more harshness in their responses to their children (Lempers, Clark-Lempers, & Simons, 1989; McLoyd & Wilson, 1992). Studies also have reported that mothers who score higher in depressive symptoms are more likely than their less-depressed counterparts to experience parenting as arduous and disappointing and to rely on aversive, coercive disciplinary techniques (Conger, McCarty, Yang, Lahey, & Kroop, 1984; Crnic & Greenberg, 1987; McLoyd, 1990; Patterson, 1986). Our investigation examines the issue of physical discipline and uses data obtained for the first wave of a larger ongoing study of single Black mothers who received welfare benefits and former welfare recipients who were employed in low-wage jobs in New York City. …