Two-parent Households Research Articles

Disharmonische Partnerbeziehung der Eltern und kindliche Entwicklung im Säuglings- und Kleinkindalter

As part of a prospective study currently being conducted in the Mannheim-Heidelberg region of Germany on the neuropsychiatric development of 362 children born at varying degrees of organic and psychosocial risk, the effect of marital discord on the cognitive and social-emotional development of 315 children born into two-parent households was investigated. Both the children and the quality of the parental relationship were evaluated when the children were 3 months and two-years of age. Assessment of the children included performance on the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, observed and reported temperament characteristics and measures of infant and child psychopathology. Evaluation of the relationship was based on pertinent information provided by the parents about their marriage within a standardized interviews as well as on the basis of a questionnaire. Results show that marital discord at 3 months does not effect child performance at 3 months, nor at 24 months. Marital discord at 2 years does affect the emotional well-being of the two-year-old i.e. is accompanied by a significant rise in psychopathological symptoms. When the effect of the stability of marital strife from the first assessment to the second was studied a significant increase in behavior problems and decrease in Bayley performance was found in the group of children whose parents' marital situation had deteriorated and failed in the meantime but surprisingly not in the group with chronic discordant relationships. Conversely, poor child performance and emotional adjustment improved with a positive change in the parental relationships. An increase, although not significant, was also found among the children whose parents' marriage had deteriorated but had not lead to separation.

Children without Health Insurance

Children without Health Insurance

One-Parent Households and Achievement: Economic and Behavioral Explanations of a Small Effect

Results from analyses of High School and Beyond show that students from one-parent households have significantly lower grades and test scores than do those from two-parent households. Students from one-parent households have test scores that are about .30 standard deviations lower, but this finding seems to be explained by differences in race-ethnicity and the educational level of parents. Both mother absence and father absence reduce students' grades, by .17 and .27 standard deviations, respectively. Controls on race-ethnicity and parental education reduce the effect of father absence to .13 standard deviations and mother absence to .12. These effects cannot be explained by the depressed income of one-parent households. They can, however, be reduced to zero by controlling for the behavior of one-parent children, especially for school lateness/absences, not doing homework, not having contact with parents, and frequent dating.

Explaining Racial/Ethnic Differences in Adolescent Drug Use: The Impact of Background and Lifestyle

Past research has shown large racial/ethnic differences in adolescent drug use, with use highest among Native American youth, somewhat lower among white and Hispanic youth, and lowest among black and Asian youth. The present study uses large nationally representative samples of high school seniors to explore whether the often large racial/ethnic differences in cigarette, alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine use may be attributable to racial/ethnic differences in background and/or in important lifestyle factors. The results indicate that controlling for background alone does not account for most racial/ethnic differences in drug use. In fact, if black youth were as likely as white youth to live in two-parent households and have highly educated parents, their drug use might be even lower than reported. Controlling for background alone does reduce Native American's relatively high drug use, suggesting that their level of use may be linked to their disadvantaged socioeconomic status. When both background and lifestyle factors are controlled, many of the racial/ethnic differences in drug use are considerably reduced or eliminated. Several lifestyle factors—including educational values and behaviors, religious commitment, and time spent in peer-oriented activities—strongly relate to drug use and help to explain the subgroup differences. The authors conclude by discussing theoretical and policy implications of this research, along with directions for future efforts.

One parent or two? The intertwining of American marriage and fertility patterns

Marriage and fertility in the United States have become less firmly entwined as more women bear children without marrying and more couples with children divorce. Today a sizeable number of children are expected to spend a portion of their childhood in one-parent households. Despite the trends in illegitimacy and divorce, the actual effect of out-of-wedlock childbearing on the living arrangements of children has not been fully explicated. Using the National Survey of Family Growth Cycle III, this paper estimates the probability that children aged 0–13 in 1982 are living in two-parent households, controlling for their mothers' marital statuses at their births. We find that marital status at birth is an important predictor of household structure at later ages for both white and black populations; however, the childhood environment is actually quite elastic as women marry, divorce, remarry, and redivorce.

Coping, Satisfaction, and the Life Cycle in Families with Mentally Retarded Persons

The study focused on the variables influencing the functioning of 62 families with MR (mentally retarded) persons, living at home, in various stages of the life cycle. Results demonstrated the importance of some father characteristics to maternal coping skills in two-parent households. Although mean maternal coping scores were not statistically different between two-parent and single-parent households, single mothers' coping skills showed strong negative associations with both the number of children in the household and the age of the mother. This was not true of mothers in two-parent households. Single-parent mothers also appeared to be considerably more dissatisfied with family functioning than mothers in two-parent households. The supportive role of older fathers in mothers' coping in two-parent households also was apparent. Clinical implications of the study point to the need for greater support for mothers of young children with MR, mothers who are sole caregivers, and parents with many children. Differential support to mothers and fathers of an MR person may be required over the life cycle.

Legal Custody Arrangements and Children's Economic Welfare

This article investigates the effects of legal custody arrangements on the amount of child support fathers pay after divorce, contrasting the experiences of families in which parents share authority over children through jont legal custody and those in which mothers have sole legal custody. It argues that join legal custody encourages similarities between the way divorced fathers and fathers in two-parent households invest in their children. The analysis used data from a representative sample of recent divorces, in which children live with their mothers, to explore the relationship between legal custody and legal child-support obligations (awards) and to investigate the effects of the type of custody on child-support payments. Joint legal custody is associated with higher support awards, but the association is explained by the higher incomes of fathers with joint custody. Legal custody arrangements do not affect levels of child-support payments when family characteristics and the amont of child support awarded at divorce are taken into account. Legal custody does,however, alter the process governing fathers' contributions to child support. Parents' incomes have a larger effect, and child-supprt awards a smaller one, on payments among families with joint legal custody, suggesting that joint legal custody may allow fathers greater discretion about contributions to child support. By stengthening ties between divorced fathers and children, join legal custody may increase the correspondence between parents' and children's socioeconomic status and result in greater inequality among children of divorce.

Parent-adolescent congruence for adolescent substance use

Parental reports of adolescent substance use were compared to the adolescents' self-reports using identical scales. Congruence was defined as exact agreement on whether adolescents were current users, ex-users, or never-users. Both parents were found to be less accurate in predicting their adolescents' alcohol use compared to cigarette or marijuana use. Single mothers were significantly less likely to be congruent than were mothers from two-parent households. Mother and father congruence on all substances was unrelated to the adolescent's sex, race, or after school employment. For both parents, congruence for adolescent marijuana use was significantly related to the age and GPA of the adolescent. Congruence may also reflect important properties of family functioning, as significant relations were found between both adolescent and parent ratings of family cohesion and parent-adolescent congruence on perceptions of marijuana use.

Pregnancy resolution and family formation. Understanding gender differences in adolescents' preferences and beliefs.

This article examines gender differences in adolescents' personal views about pregnancy resolution and family formation as they relate to a vignette describing their involvement in an unplanned pregnancy within the context of an ongoing, stable relationship. We use a sample of 577 White and Black high school students from a metropolitan, midwestern city to contrast males' and females' preferences and beliefs about pregnancy resolution and family formation. Although similar percentages of males and females preferred abortion and adoption as strategies for handling their own pregnancy, females were more likely than males to select arrangements that involved living with their children, and they were more likely than males to choose single custodial parenting as their first preference. For those young people choosing some form of parental rearing, observed gender differences in the preference for forming a two-parent household were explained by adolescents' beliefs about their parents' and friends' expectations and their personal concerns about having their educational career adversely affected.

Time allocation of one- and two-parent mothers

Using data from one- and two-parent households with two children in rural and urban areas of California, this study analyzes time allocation decisions in market work, household work, and leisure activities among single and married mothers. Results of the seemingly unrelated regression procedures indicate that family structure affects time in household work but not market work or leisure activities. Of the socio-demographic variables, only day of the week explains time allocation to household work, market work, and leisure activities among single and married mothers.

Children's relationships with nonparental adults: Sex-specific connections to early school success

This report asks, Do the social networks of six-year-old girls and boys differ? It then extends previously reported findings by asking, Do different groups of nonparental adults affect the early school success of boys vs girls? Data were collected from the mothers of 162 six-year-olds, using a standard procedure. The networks of boys and girls in one-parent and two-parent households are contrasted throughout the presentation of results. The composition of networks was quite similar for boys and girls, except that each group had more same-sex than opposite-sex peers. In analyses predicting early school success, the number of adult male relatives who took the child on outings away from home was positively related to the child's report card score. This effect, however, was restricted to the subgroup of one-parent (mother-only) boys. This had been predicted, based on knowledge that single-parent boys are the most at-risk subgroup in the sample, the effect of social network resources are known to be accentuated by environmental press, and male adults represent the most salient models for young boys.

Families with Children Have Fared Worst

Income disparities have changed as well in the same brief period. The gap between wealthy and poor families with children has widened steadily, and the trend shows no sign of reversal. While the income disparity between black and white families has narrowed somewhat, that between two-parent and female-headed households has widened sharply. We address the following questions: •How did real mean incomes for families with chil-

Family Structure and Children??s Use of Ambulatory Physician Services

The purpose of this article is to examine children's use of ambulatory physician services in relation to three dimensions of family life: maternal employment, single-parent versus two-parent households, and the presence of a nuclear or extended family. Data from the National Medical Care Expenditure Survey show that maternal employment has no relationship to children's experience of disability days, and although children of mothers employed full-time are less likely to have a physician contact than are other children, this is attributable to a lower probability of seeing a doctor for children in good health (i.e., no disability days). Multivariate analysis confirms that although maternal employment decreases the likelihood of an ambulatory physician visit (among children with no disability days), it does not affect the total number of ambulatory physician visits or the likelihood of a telephone consultation with the child's physician. Children in single-parent families are more likely to see a physician when they have no disability days, than are children in families with two parents present. Children in nuclear rather than extended families do not differ in patterns of use, even when the mother works. Aside from other characteristics that might be expected to affect use (e.g., age, health status, insurance coverage, a usual source of care), there is a clear relationship between likelihood and volume of use by mothers and children.

Marriage, divorce, and living arrangements: prospective changes.

An analysis of current marriage patterns in the United States is presented based on official data. "The population base for first marriages reached a peak in 1982, and the corresponding peak for divorces will be reached in about 1990. Both first marriage and remarriage rates have been declining among those in critical age groups and may be expected to continue to do so, barring unforeseen developments. About one-half of the first marriages of young adults today are likely to end in divorce. For second marriages, the projected level is closer to 60%. The divorce rate is highest for those with an incomplete college education and is especially low for those with four years of college." It is noted that "about three-fourths of young divorced persons are likely eventually to remarry. The number of unmarried couples tripled during the 1970s and may double again during the 1980s. One-parent households are expected to continue increasing rapidly while two-parent households actually decrease. But even if the recent trends continue at a moderated rate, the vast majority of Americans in 1990 will probably still be living in homes of married couples with or without children or in homes of lone parents and their young children."

Child abuse: A test of some predictions from evolutionary theory

Data on twenty-four two-parent households in which there was at least one known victim of child abuse are analyzed with respect to a number of predictions from an evolutionary model of social behavior. As expected (1) stepparents and their stepchildren are much more at risk to child abuse than are parents and offspring, (2) parents are much more likely to abuse their stepchildren than their own children, (3) males are more likely than females to be abusers, (4) handicapped children are more likely than nonhandicapped children to be abused, and (5) the youngest child is less likely to be abused than any other child within the family. Although the results of the present and previous studies of child abuse are consistent with sociobiologic theory, such findings do not, as yet, represent a strong test of evolutionary models of social behavior.

The Two-Parent Household: Black Family Structure in Late Nineteenth-Century Boston

The Two-Parent Household: Black Family Structure in Late Nineteenth-Century Boston