Two-parent Biological Families Research Articles

Childhood Trajectories of Paternal and Maternal Psychological Distress and Decision-making in Early Adolescence

AbstractDecision-making is important for adolescent wellbeing, and predictive of several other outcomes. While past research demonstrates the role of maternal psychological distress in adolescent decision-making, the role of paternal psychological distress remains relatively unexplored. This study examined the association between trajectories of paternal and maternal psychological distress, jointly modelled, in childhood and child decision-making in early adolescence. Using data from 9846 families of the Millennium Cohort Study, we identified paternal and maternal psychological distress trajectories across child ages 3–11 using joint group-based trajectory modelling and explored their associations with offspring decision-making at age 11 with multiple linear regression models. Paternal and maternal psychological distress was measured with the Kessler-6 scale, while adolescent decision-making was assessed using the Cambridge Gambling Task. We identified 2 trajectories for fathers (‘low distress’ and ‘moderate-increasing distress’) and 4 for mothers (‘minimal distress’, ‘low distress’, ‘moderate-increasing distress’ and ‘severe distress’). When jointly modelled, paternal and maternal trajectories predicted decision-making in fully adjusted models. Compared to the ‘low distress’ paternal trajectory, the ‘moderate-increasing distress’ paternal trajectory was associated with less delay aversion, although this effect disappeared when examining only two-parent biological families. Compared to the ‘minimal distress’ maternal trajectory, the ‘moderate-increasing distress’ trajectory predicted slower deliberation time, whereas the ‘severe distress’ trajectory predicted greater risk-taking. There were no gender differences in these paths. Consistently moderate and high levels of maternal distress during childhood are associated with increased decision latency and greater risk-taking, respectively, in early adolescence.

Family structure in relation to body mass index and metabolic score in European children and adolescents.

Living in single parent and blended families or as an only child-compared to living in two-parent biological families or with siblings, respectively-is associated with a higher body mass index (BMI) in cross-sectional studies. However, longitudinal research addressing the children's BMI in this context is scarce. Further, little is known about the association between family structure and metabolic health. This study aimed at investigating the association between both aspects of family structure with BMI and a metabolic score (MetS). Cross-sectional data from 7804 children participating in the European multi-center I.Family study (2013/2014) and longitudinal data from 5621 children who also participated previously in the IDEFICS study (2007-2010) were used. Family structure was assessed by a detailed interview. BMI z-score and the MetS were based on measured anthropometry, blood pressure, high-density lipoprotein, blood glucose, and triglycerides. Linear regressions were performed to model associations between family structure with BMI and MetS. Children from single-parent families had higher BMI z-scores in the cross-sectional (β=0.09, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.001 to 0.18) and longitudinal analyses compared to those from two-parent families. Cross-sectionally, the number of siblings was associated with lower BMI z-scores (β=-0.07, 95% CI: -0.10 to -0.03) and lower MetS (β=-0.14, 95% CI: -0.26 to -0.01). Longitudinally, only children between baseline and follow-up had higher BMI z-scores at follow-up (β=0.07, 95% CI: 0.01 to 0.14) compared to stable siblings. Obesity prevention measures should focus on single-parent households and families with an only child.

A cross-sectional study of obesogenic behaviours and family rules according to family structure in European children

BackgroundThere has been an increase in children growing up in non-traditional families, such as single-parent and blended families. Children from such families have a higher prevalence of obesity and poorer health outcomes, but research on the relationship with obesogenic behaviours is limited.ObjectivesTherefore, the aim of this study was to investigate whether there are associations between family structures and obesogenic behaviours and related family rules in European children and adolescents.MethodsThe sample included 7664 children (mean age ± SD: 10.9 ± 2.9) from 4923 families who were participants of the multi-centre I.Family study (2013/2014) conducted in 8 European countries. Family structure was assessed by a detailed interview on kinship and household. Obesogenic behaviours (screen time, sleep duration, consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs)) and family rules (rules for computer and television, bedtime routine, availability of SSBs during meals) were determined by standardized questionnaires. Multilevel mixed-effects linear and logistic regression models were used to model the associations of family structure with obesogenic behaviours and family rules. Sex, age, parental education level, number of children and adults in the household and BMI z-score were covariates in the models. Two-parent biological families were set as the reference category.ResultsChildren from single-parent families were less likely to have family rules regarding screen time (OR: 0.62, 95% CI: 0.40–0.94, p = 0.026) with higher reported hours of screen time per week (β = 2.70 h/week, 95% CI: 1.39–4.00, p < 0.001). The frequency of weekly SSB consumption differed by family structure in a sex-specific manner: girls from single-parent (β = 3.19 frequency/week, 95% CI: 0.91–5.47, p = 0.006) and boys from blended/adoptive families (β = 3.01 frequency/week, 95% CI: 0.99–5.03, p = 0.004) consumed more SSBs. Sleep duration, bedtime routines and availability of SSBs during meals did not differ between children from these family structures. Parental education did not modify any of these associations.ConclusionsParents in non-traditional family structures appear to experience more difficulties in restricting screen time and the intake of SSBs in their children than parents in traditional two-parent family structures. Our findings therefore suggest that additional support and effective strategies for parents in non-traditional families may help to reduce obesogenic behaviours in children from such family types.

Mothers' Time and Relationship with Their Adolescent Children: The Intersecting Influence of Family Structure and Maternal Labor Force Participation.

We investigate whether the anticipated risks of increasing maternal work hours for mother-adolescent relationships differ across family structures: Do intensive mothering norms exacerbate these risks particularly for mothers in two-parent biological families or does their partners' greater involvement significantly mitigate these risks? We predict mothers' accessible time, engaged time, and the quality of their relationship with their adolescent children using the National Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. Although the association between mothers' labor force participation and mothers' accessible time is significantly weaker in stepfather families relative to two-parent biological families, family structure does not moderate the associations between mothers' labor force participation and mother's engaged time or the quality of her relationship with her adolescent. We conclude that mothers face strong normative pressure to privilege their relationship with their child even in the face of long work hours and weaker family support.

Family Predictors of Child Mental Health Conditions

Research suggests that minority children with one mental health condition are more likely than White children to have a secondary mental health condition. However, there are no current studies that test the interaction between race and family resources to examine this apparent racial difference in mental health conditions in children. Yet research suggests that family resources vary by race/ethnicity. This study examines the interaction between family structure and socioeconomic status by race and ethnicity to understand how it predicts the number of mental health conditions among children. Our findings are consistent with the existing literature that children in resource-poor families (single parent, step-parent families, and lower income families) have higher counts of mental health conditions. Yet we also found that children in resource-rich families (two-parent biological families with higher levels of income) in some cases also had higher counts of mental health conditions and this varied by race/ethnicity.

The Comparison and Interdependence of Maternal and Paternal Influences on Young Children's Behavior and Resilience

We investigated how mothers’ and fathers’ depressed mood and father–child and mother–child relationship predicted preschool children's problem behavior. The sample was 11,286 continuously intact, two-parent biological families of the United Kingdom's Millennium Cohort Study. We found that mother–child relationship and maternal depressed mood had larger effects on children's problem behavior than father–child relationship and paternal depressed mood. The effect of paternal depressed mood was completely mediated by quality of father–child relationship. There were significant moderator effects but only on internalizing problems. There was little evidence to suggest that, among children of this developmental stage, quality of father–child relationship buffers the effect of contextual risk (i.e., promotes resilience). Quality of mother–child relationship, in contrast, buffered the effect of socioeconomic disadvantage but only on emotional symptoms.

Family Structure and the Intergenerational Transmission of Gender Ideology

Using data from the National Survey of Families and Households, this study explores how single-parent, stepparent, and two-parent biological family structures may affect the transmission of gender ideology from parents to their adult children. Results indicate that biological parents’ ideologies are strong predictors of their children’s ideologies. Stepparents’ ideologies are predictive of their stepchildren’s only when they have high-quality relationships. Parent—child gender heterogeneity, performance of traditional parenting roles, and relationship quality are related to high similarity scores. The authors find evidence of converging ideologies between mothers and sons and diverging ideologies for fathers and daughters—especially in stepfamilies. Finally, their results suggest that high-quality relations with a stepparent enhance transmission between same-sex biological parent—child dyads but high-quality relations with a spouse in two-parent biological families produce a competing role-model dynamic.

Adolescent Outcome Measures in the NLSY97 Family Process Data Set: Variation by Race and Socioeconomic Conditions

This study uses nationally representative data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth 1997 to analyze adolescent outcome indexes (delinquency, substance use, and emotional and behavior problems) by gender, race, household income, and family structure. Results from analysis of variance show that family structure is correlated with better adolescent outcomes, even after controlling for gender, race, and household income. For example, adolescents from two-parent biological homes consistently reported significantly less delinquency and use of illegal substances such as alcohol, tobacco, or marijuana than adolescents from single-mother or stepfamily households. All adolescents and their parents in two-parent biological families reported significantly lower incidences of behavioral and emotional problems than adolescents and their parents in single-mother or stepfamilies. Other findings with respect to gender, race, and income, as well as some interaction effects, were also indicated by the analysis.

Grandparenting and adolescent adjustment in two-parent biological, lone-parent, and step-families.

There is limited research on the links between grandparenting and adolescents' well-being, especially from the perspective of the adolescents. The study examined whether grandparent involvement varied in two-parent biological, lone-parent, and step-families and whether this had a different contribution to the emotional and behavioral adjustment of adolescents across different family structures. The study is based on a sample of 1,515 secondary school students (ages 11-16 years) from England and Wales who completed a structured questionnaire. Findings of hierarchical regression analyses showed that among the whole sample, greater grandparent involvement was associated with fewer emotional problems (p < .01) and with more prosocial behavior (p < .001). In addition, while there were no differences in the level of grandparent involvement across the different family structures, grandparent involvement was more strongly associated with reduced adjustment difficulties among adolescents from lone-parent and step-families than those from two-parent biological families. A possible implication is that the positive role of grandparent involvement in lone-parent and step- families should be more emphasized in family psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved).

Comparing Adolescents in Diverging Family Structures

ABSTRACT This paper investigates whether adoptees are more prone to problems than their nonadopted peers. To illuminate this question another known higher problem risk-group was included: children living with one biological parent. Based on data collected from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, adoptees living in two-parent families (N = 369) were contrasted with children living in two-parent biologic families (N = 9,676) and with children living with one biological parent in step- or single-parent families (N = 7,457). As expected, adolescents living in step- and single-parent families showed far more adjustment difficulties than the other two subgroups. Adoptees showed behavior patterns much like those raised in two-parent biological families, except for three differences: they were more likely to run away from home, to get counseling help and to show less desire to attend college. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Contagion in Family Affection: Mothers, Fathers, and Young Adult Children

Data on matched triads of 428 biological mothers, their husbands, and a young adult child interviewed in the second wave of the National Survey of Families and Households are used to examine affective relationships from the perspective of both parent and child. The analysis examines the ways each dyadic relationship depends on relationships with the third member of the triad and whether these processes operate differently for mothers and fathers, for fathers and stepfathers, for daughters and sons. Results show that parents' affect is related significantly to marital quality and the partner's relationship with the child. Children's affect for mothers and for fathers is related to their feelings toward the other parent but not to their parents' marital quality. An important exception is that the child's warmth toward the father is related to the mother's marital warmth. Overall, gender effects are minor, and mothers and fathers are embedded similarly in the family affective system. Stepfathers and stepchildren report significantly lower levels of warmth toward one another than biological fatherchild dyads, but these relationships are not more dependent on the mother than in biological families. The mother's relationship with the child is, however, more independent of her partner when that partner is not the child's biological father Key Words: affect, fathers, marriage quality, mothers, parentchild relationships. Any dyadic relationship in the family can be understood fully only if we understand the family system in which it takes place. For the most part, however, we have lacked the data, the conceptual tools, and the statistical sophistication to implement this insight (Emery & Tuer, 1993; Sabatelli & Bartle, 1995). Too much of our research about families is really about dyads, and, despite important improvements, too much of our research about parents is really about mothers or is based on mothers' reports (Marsiglio, 1993). As a result, our understanding of the interdependencies among mothers, fathers, and children is still rudimentary. Yet, such an understanding is central to many of the questions that drive current research and policy concerns. Are fathers peripheral to the family? Are they dependent, even in married biological families, on their children's mothers to mediate between them and their children? How does marital quality affect mothers' and fathers' relationships with children? Are children's relationships with fathers, even in two-parent biological families, more contingent than their relationships with mothers? Answers to these questions would not only help us understand general family dynamics but would establish an essential baseline against which to assess postdivorce and noncustodial relationships between parents and children. I develop a framework for thinking about the interdependence of family affective relationships and assess it using independent reports on relationship quality from 428 matched triads of mothers, fathers, and a randomly selected young adult child. In addition to establishing gender and generational differences in the family system, the analysis explores whether relationships in stepfamilies are more or less independent than in biological families. BACKGROUND Conceptual Framework The general framework for this study of family relationships is provided by systems theory. This perspective conceives of the family as an interacting set of subsystems (dyads, triads, and so forth), each affecting and being affected by the other subsystems, as well as by systemwide properties (e.g., world views). Although relationships among all subsystems are interdependent and reciprocal, a central assumption of the theory is that subsystems are arranged in a hierarchy of power and influence (Whitchurch & Constantine, 1993). In healthy families, the marital subsystem is assumed to have greater impact on parent-child systems than the parent-child system has on the marriage (Emery, 1988). …

The Effects of Childhood Family Structure on Leaving and Returning Home

This study concludes that in the US the timing of children leaving home to establish households of their own in the transition to adulthood and the leave-taking pathways are linked to parental investment in their children. Findings suggest that children living in households with more resources and fewer siblings are equipped better to make the transition to adult and separate living arrangements. More resources in households means a college education is affordable. Youths may stay at home until they are ready to obtain secure career options marriage or independent living. Youths experiencing family disruptions particularly in adolescence leave home at an earlier age and leave for independence military duty or employment reasons. Youths from disrupted backgrounds tend to move into less supportive and less stable settings. Although the probability of returning home is similar for children of varied socioeconomic backgrounds the chances of returning home to a nontraditional family structure are reduced. However if youths left from nontraditional homes for college the likelihood of returning home was similar as for youths from two-parent biological families. Youths from stepparent homes were less likely to return home than those from single-parent families. Youths experiencing multiple changes or residences in nonparental families were less likely to return home. Youth from a stable single-parent family were the only nontraditional family form that did not have the strong effects on leaving home for cohabitation or single parenthood or other nontraditional family forms. The effects of growing up in nontraditional families mimics the effects of growing up in families with lower socioeconomic status. The route out of the parental home impacts on the chances of returning home. Those who leave to get married are least likely to return home. Those leaving home to cohabit are more likely to return than those who married when they left. The chances of returning home were highest among those who left for the military. Data were obtained from the 1987-88 US National Survey of Families and Households.

Remarriage, Stepchildren, and Marital Conflict: Challenges to the Incomplete Institutionalization Hypothesis

According to Cherlin (1978), the degree to which the family is varies across family types in the United States. Families are institutionalized to the extent that well-established norms and rituals structure interaction between family members. Cherlin's (1978) hypothesis posits that stepfamilies are relatively lacking in the kinds of norms that guide more traditional (i.e., two-parent biological) families in dealing with particularly complex family relations. Consequently, stepfamilies, in comparison with biological families, are expected to experience greater levels of conflict over such issues. This could explain the higher divorce rate for stepparent, as opposed to biological-parent, families found by White and Booth (1985). Cherlin (1978) pointed out, however, that a lack of institutional guidelines is problematic only for remarriages with stepchildren. While remarriages without stepchildren may be complex, he argued that, generally, they are guided by the social norms of first marriages, and consequently experience the same levels of conflict. This study examines Cherlin's hypothesis using data from the National Survey of Families and Households 1987-88 (NSFH). In particular, we assess differences in perceived marital conflict for three types of households with children under the age of 18: those that include children from the present marriage but none from any previous marriage or relationship, those in which there is at least one stepchild along with at least one child from the present marriage, and those in which there is at least one stepchild but no children from the present marriage. Additionally, we explore differences in conflict for three types of marriages: those that are first marriages for both partners, those that are remarriages for only one of the partners (single remarriages), and those that are remarriages for both partners (double remarriages). Assuming that Cherlin's thesis is correct, we expect to find (a) higher conflict in stepchild families, compared with biological families, (b) greater conflict in remarriages, compared with first marriages, overall, and (c) an interaction between marital configuration and type of children, such that remarriages are more conflicted than first marriages only when stepchildren are present. (In that this interaction is ordinal, we would e expect that, overall, remarriages have higher levels of conflict than first marriages.) THE INCOMPLETE INSTITUTIONALIZATION HYPOTHESIS Cherlin (1978) argued that institutionalized solutions directly affect family unity by narrowing the choices family members may make in responding to problems. Because there are fewer decisions to be made, there are fewer grounds for dissension. When institutionalized solutions do not exist, however, families must begin to create their own solutions. Insofar as there is greater leeway to make choices, there is more potential for conflict. Net of other influences, an increase in conflict would be expected to increase the likelihood of marital disruption. Although Cherlin (1978) could not convincingly demonstrate a link between incomplete institutionalization and the higher divorce rate for remarriages, his analysis described ways in which the lack of institutional support may disrupt family harmony. New social roles are created as spouses become stepparents or noncustodial parents, and as children become stepchildren and stepsiblings. In addition, family space may be expanded to include more than one household. Family life thus can become quite complex, and without guidelines for dealing with this complexity, stepfamilies are likely to experience frequent internal conflicts. There are many areas in which the structural complexity of the stepfamily may create an atmosphere of uncertainty. Especially problematic for stepfamilies is the language pertaining to stepfamily relationships (Cherlin, 1978). The terms stepparent, and stepfather or stepmother, are unambiguous. …

Family Structure and Stressors in a Child Guidance Clinic Population

Differences and similarities in family and child functioning by family structure were studied in a child guidance clinic population. Single-parent families showed more social–environmental stress, and remarried families showed the highest number of within-family problems. Two-parent biological families reported the fewest problems and stressors. Although some similarities among families were found, the differences shown have important implications for practice.