Family Structure Experiences and Child Socioemotional Development During the First Nine Years of Life: Examining Heterogeneity by Family Structure at Birth.

A vast amount of literature has documented negative associations between family instability and child development, with the largest associations being in the socioemotional (behavioral) domain. Yet, prior work has paid limited attention to differentiating the role of the number, types, and sequencing of family transitions that children experience, as well as to understanding potential heterogeneity in these associations by family structure at birth. We use data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study and hierarchical linear models to examine associations of family structure states and transitions with children's socioemotional development during the first nine years of life. We pay close attention to the type and number of family structure transitions experienced and examine whether associations differ depending on family structure at birth. For children born to cohabiting or noncoresident parents, we find little evidence that subsequent family structure experiences are associated with socioemotional development. For children born to married parents, we find associations between family instability and poorer socioemotional development. However, this largely reflects the influence of parental breakup; we find little evidence that socioemotional trajectories differ for children with various family structure experiences subsequent to their parents' breakup.

Young Adults' Roles as Partners and Parents in a Context of Family Complexity.

This article uses data from the 1979 and 1997 cohorts of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to estimate the proportions of young men and women who will take on a variety of partner and parent roles by age 30, as well as to describe how these estimates have changed across cohorts. It then draws from identity theory and related theoretical work to consider how the multiple family roles which young adults are likely to occupy-both over their life course and at a single point in time-may influence inter- and intra-family (unit) relationships in light of current trends in family complexity. This discussion highlights four key implications of identity theory as it relates to family complexity, and proposes several hypotheses for future empirical research to explore, such as the greater likelihood of role conflict in families with greater complexity and limited resources. Implications for public policy are also discussed.

Mothers' Repartnering after a Nonmarital Birth.

This paper examines the prevalence, predictors and outcomes of unmarried mothers' repartnering patterns following a nonmarital birth. Results indicate that, within five years after a birth, approximately two-thirds of unmarried mothers ended their relationship with the focal child's biological father, and over half of these mothers entered new partnerships. Among those who repartnered, 60 percent of mothers formed unions with men with higher economic capabilities than their former partners, 20 percent formed unions with men with similar capabilities, and 20 percent formed unions with men with lower capabilities. This pattern holds for both nonresidential and coresidential unions. Our findings are consistent with marriage market, learning, and evolutionary biology theories about union formation, and they provide support for qualitative evidence that unmarried mothers have high standards for new partners. While many mothers are able to successfully find new partners with better economic capabilities, many other mothers remain unpartnered, likely due (at least in part) to the limited pool of potential partners with relatively high levels of economic capabilities.

Familial instability and young children's physical health.

This paper uses recent longitudinal data about a cohort of young children born in the United States to mostly unmarried parents to examine the association between increasingly-complex patterns of family instability and physical health in early childhood. The analyses assess whether, and how, the association between family instability and child health varies across a number of family types. We consider several measures of children's health at age five (overweight/obesity, asthma diagnosis and overall health) and examine to what extent the association between family instability and child health varies across outcomes and depends on the number and timing of any familial transitions. We also explore a number of potential mechanisms through which family instability may affect child health. The results suggest that familial instability is related to worse child health, particularly among children born to coresident (married or cohabiting) biological parents and for children who experience high levels of residential instability.

Parenting Practices of Resident Fathers: The Role of Marital and Biological Ties.

This paper uses data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 2,098) to examine differences in the parenting practices of four types of resident fathers, defined by their biological relationship to a focal child and their marital status with regard to the focal child's mother. Regression results suggest that biological and social (i.e., stepfathers or mothers' cohabiting partners) fathers differ significantly, and in some unexpected ways, on most measures of parenting. However, a considerable portion of these differences can be explained by variation in the background characteristics of the individuals and families in each group. Additionally, difference-in-difference analyses reveal a stronger link between marriage and higher quality parenting practices among social fathers than among biological fathers.