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ABSTRACT: Prior research has unearthed a link between early education and care (EEC) experiences and worse behavioral functioning for children, yet the research has not clearly delineated whether this link is due to early entry into care (timing), extensive hours of care (extent), or use of center-based care (type). Using a nationally representative sample of children followed from infancy through kindergarten (N ≈ 6,000), we assessed links between EEC timing, extent, and type, and children's kindergarten functioning. Both center-based and full-time preschool predicted heightened behavior problems and more limited learning behaviors in kindergarten, with care type and extent functioning additively. EEC during infancy and toddlerhood showed limited independent links with children's later functioning, but it exacerbated negative associations between preschool and children's kindergarten behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).
Developmental Psychology 12/2012; · 3.21 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: This study used a family systems perspective in modeling predictors of marital separation within married-parent families with adolescents. Specifically, we examined whether mother-adolescent closeness and negativity, father-adolescent closeness and negativity, and couple relationship quality (mothers' and fathers' positive marital behaviors) prospectively predicted the likelihood of marital separation, operationalized as the father moving out of the household. Data were derived from the first 4 waves of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1997 (n = 1649), assessing both biological and stepfather families. Results from complementary log-log analyses revealed that marital separations were related to complex family relationships. Specifically, greater mother-adolescent closeness predicted a higher likelihood of marital separation, whereas greater father-child closeness predicted a lower likelihood. In addition, mothers' more positive marital behaviors toward fathers predicted a lower likelihood of marital separation. Patterns were largely similar between biological and stepfather families, with the exception that mothers' positive marital behaviors toward fathers were more influential within biological father families.
Journal of Family Psychology 06/2012; 26(4):499-508. · 1.66 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The present study investigated the association of family structure and maternal partnership instability patterns with adolescents' behavioral and emotional well-being among urban low-income families. Analyses employed data from the Three-City Study to track maternal partnerships over the youth's life span, linking longitudinal family structure and transition patterns to adolescent well-being (N = 2305). Families were classified into nine mutually exclusive longitudinal partnership groups based on current status at wave 3 (single, married, or cohabiting) and the longevity of that status: always (since adolescent's birth with no transitions), stable (lasting two years or more, preceded by transitions), or new (transpiring in the past 2 years). Adolescents in the always married group displayed less delinquency and externalizing problems, according to both youth and mother reports, than peers in always single-parent or newly married households. In contrast, youth in always cohabiting households had higher maternal ratings of internalizing problems and youth with newly cohabiting mothers reported higher psychological distress than peers in similar stability groups with single or married mothers. Overall, several potential explanatory processes for the family structure and stability patterns surfaced: married parent families reported less economic hardship, more family routines and father involvement, and less maternal psychological distress and parenting stress than their single and cohabiting counterparts. Policy implications of these findings are discussed.
Journal of Family Psychology 02/2012; 26(2):263-73. · 1.66 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The present study investigated associations between maternal relationship instability patterns and children's behavioral and emotional functioning in middle childhood in a representative sample of low-income urban families (N = 891). Data from the Three-City Study tracked maternal partnerships through the child's life, assessing total marital and cohabiting relationship transitions and delineating transitions by developmental timing, and by directionality (i.e., entrances into versus exits from partnerships). Analyses linking instability to child behaviors at age 8 found that a greater total number of maternal relationship transitions predicted higher anxious, somatic, and conduct problems, with recent transitions (in the prior 2 years) driving these results. Consideration of partnership formations versus dissolutions indicated that recent entrances into new partnerships, and entrances into cohabitations, were most consistently associated with problematic functioning across numerous aspects of children's emotional and behavioral functioning. Policy implications of these findings are discussed.
Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 07/2011; 39(8):1149-61. · 3.09 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: We draw upon the 3-wave longitudinal dataset called Welfare Children and Families: A Three-City Study to examine the long-term implications for adolescents and young adults (N=783) of mothers' welfare receipt and labor force participation from 1999 to 2005. In general, changes in mothers' work and welfare patterns were not associated with deterioration or improvement in youth development (ages 16 to 20 years at wave 3). The few significant associations suggested that youth whose mothers increased employment (net of welfare participation) were more likely to show declines in serious behavior problems and delinquency compared to youth whose mothers were unemployed or employed part-time during the study period. Welfare roll exits (controlling for employment experiences) were unrelated to adolescent and young adult outcomes. Mothers' employment transitions were linked to improvements in household income and mothers' self esteem in addition to reductions in financial strain and their own illegal activities. However, these associations did not explain the relation between maternal employment and youths' improved behavior. These results do not support the predictions of either the supporters or the opponents of welfare reform, an outcome we discuss.
Children and Youth Services Review 05/2011; 33(5):678-688. · 1.27 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Building upon previous evidence for the intergenerational transmission of antisocial behaviors, this research assessed and compared three models seeking to explain links between fathers' antisocial behaviors and children's behavior problems. A representative sample of children from low-income families (N=261) was followed from age 3 through age 9. Lagged OLS regression models assessed both short-term (1½ years) and longer-term (5½ years) prospective links between fathers' antisocial behaviors and children's behavior problems. Results supported a direct effects model: fathers' antisocial behaviors predicted growth in children's externalizing and internalizing behavior problems, with links stronger among resident-father families. Limited evidence of indirect effects emerged, with links between fathers' antisocial behaviors and children's behavior problems only slightly attenuated controlling for related risk factors and for parenting quality, showing limited evidence of mediation. A new interactive model was proposed and supported, with high levels of harsh discipline exacerbating negative links between fathers' antisocial behaviors and children's internalizing problems. Results suggest caution in policies and programs which seek to universally increase marriage or father involvement without attention to fathers' behaviors.
Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 03/2011; 39(6):791-804. · 3.09 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The present study investigated the association of mothers' marriage and changes in young adolescents' cognitive and socioemotional development and changes in family processes. Analyses employed longitudinal data from the Three-City Study to track maternal partnerships for 860 lowincome adolescents (10-14 years-old in Wave 1) across a 16 month period. No short-term benefits or risks emerged for youth when mothers entered marriage, with few changes in family or maternal functioning linked with marriage formation as well. In contrast, adolescents in stably married families experienced improved academic, behavioral, and psychological well-being compared to youth in stable cohabiting or single-parent families. Stable marriage was similarly linked to improvements across multiple domains of home and mothers' functioning. These patterns were not moderated by the male partner's identity (biological father or stepfather). Results support the benefits of stable marriage on youth development, but suggest that policies supporting movements into new marriages may not result in improved adolescent or family functioning, at least in the short term.
Applied Developmental Science 01/2009; 13(4):153-171. · 0.63 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: To estimate effects of positive and involved parenting during mid-adolescence on sexual risk behaviors (frequency of intercourse, unprotected intercourse, and number of sexual partners) during late adolescence. Substantial literature suggests that supportive family contexts and parenting behaviors may discourage adolescents from engaging in early and risky sexual activities; yet methodological limitations hamper the conclusions regarding causality and directionality that can be drawn from much existing research. To address such limitations, the current study used a variety of increasingly conservative statistical modeling techniques to help control for unobserved heterogeneity and potential bias and hence to progress toward identifying causal relationships.
Drawing from a nationally representative longitudinal survey of adolescents (NLSY97; N = 4980), this study used ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models, lagged regression models, and family fixed-effects models to assess whether parental knowledge, parent negativity, and family activities during midadolescence predicted differences in late adolescent sexual risk behaviors.
Even after controlling for unobserved heterogeneity across individuals and across families, parenting processes significantly predicted later adolescent sexual risk behaviors. Specifically, more regular family activities and less negative and hostile parenting during mid-adolescence predicted lower sexual risk behaviors during late adolescence.
Results concerning the buffering effects of parenting on adolescent risk behaviors help to inform prevention and intervention efforts. Through the use of more rigorous statistical methodology and large representative samples of youth, this research provides an exemplar of how survey research can seek to move closer to understanding causal processes in the exceedingly complex systems of human development.
Journal of Adolescent Health 08/2008; 43(2):133-40. · 3.33 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Drawing on transactional theories of child development, we assessed bidirectional links between trajectories of adolescent substance use and parenting processes from early through mid adolescence. Hierarchical generalized models estimated trajectories for 3,317 adolescents from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, exploring both between- and within-individual effects. Between individuals, adolescents reporting more regular family activities and greater father and mother knowledge of friends and teachers experienced lower levels of substance use through mid adolescence. Similarly, adolescents with more frequent substance use reported lower family activities, father knowledge, and mother knowledge, though these differences dissipated over time. More conservative within-individual differences indicated a prospective protective effect of family activities, with increases in adolescent participation in family activities predicting later declines in substance use. Results support the central importance of engagement in regular family activities, and suggest the need for further exploration of transactional processes between parents and children in the development of risk behaviors.
Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 06/2008; 36(4):613-25. · 3.09 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Numerous studies have assessed families' employment and financial stability following welfare reform. Yet little research has addressed whether welfare and work transitions are linked with other changes in family functioning. Using a representative sample of approximately 2000 low-income urban families from the Three-City Study, analyses assessed whether mothers' welfare and employment experiences over a two-year period following welfare reform were related to changes in family well-being. Lagged regression models controlling for family characteristics and earlier levels of functioning found that moving into employment and stable employment (of 30 h or more per week) were linked to substantial increases in income and improvements in mothers' psychological well-being. Movements into employment also were associated with declines in financial strain and food insecurity. Sustained or initiated welfare receipt was related to relative declines in income, physical health, and psychological well-being, but also to improved access to medical care. In contrast, mothers' welfare and work experiences showed very limited relations to changes in the quality of parenting or of children's home environments. These patterns were similar for families with young children and those with adolescent children. Results suggest that parenting behaviors are more resistant to change than are maternal emotional and economic functioning.
Children and Youth Services Review 07/2007; 29(6):721-741. · 1.27 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Using a representative sample of over 900 low-income urban families from the Three-City Study, analyses assessed whether maternal human capital characteristics moderate relationships between mothers' welfare and employment experiences and young adolescents' well-being. Results indicate synergistic effects whereby greater maternal education and literacy skills enhanced positive links between mothers' new or sustained employment and improvements in adolescent cognitive and psychosocial functioning. Greater human capital also enhanced the negative links between loss of maternal employment and adolescent functioning. Mothers' entrances onto welfare appeared protective for adolescents of mothers with little education but predicted decreased psychosocial functioning among teens of more educated mothers. Results suggest that maternal human capital characteristics may alter the payback of welfare and work experiences for low-income families.
Children and Youth Services Review 03/2007; 29(2):193-215. · 1.27 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Using a representative sample of over 900 low-income urban families from the Three-City Study, analyses assessed whether maternal human capital characteristics moderate relationships between mothers' welfare and employment experiences and young adolescents' well-being. Results indicate synergistic effects whereby greater maternal education and literacy skills enhanced positive links between mothers' new or sustained employment and improvements in adolescent cognitive and psychosocial functioning. Greater human capital also enhanced the negative links between loss of maternal employment and adolescent functioning. Mothers' entrances onto welfare appeared protective for adolescents of mothers with little education but predicted decreased psychosocial functioning among teens of more educated mothers. Results suggest that maternal human capital characteristics may alter the payback of welfare and work experiences for low-income families.
Children and Youth Services Review 02/2007; · 1.27 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: In a sample of low-income families (N = 239), structural equation models assessed predictors of fathers' involvement with preschool-aged children in instrumental, behavioral, and emotional realms. Results suggest that parental conflict has a strong negative relation with father involvement. Fathers' human capital characteristics, healthy psychosocial functioning, and past stability in family relationships all predicted greater father involvement directly and/or indirectly through parental conflict. Numerous differences emerged in the predictive models between resident and nonresident fathers, although few differences were statistically significant. Results suggest that policy efforts aimed at enhancing fathers' responsible parenting should focus both on increasing fathers' human and social capital and on supporting positive family processes.
Developmental Psychology 12/2006; 42(6):1041-56. · 3.21 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Welfare reform brought large numbers of low-income mothers into the labor force, yet little research has examined how low-income mothers manage the multiple demands of parenthood and employment. Using Hobfoll's conservation of resources (COR) theory (Hobfoll, 1989, 2001) to guide hypotheses, the authors examined correlates of role strain in a racially diverse sample of low-income mothers (N = 276) combining work/school with family responsibilities. Results from regression analyses indicate that characteristics that deplete resources, particularly family factors (e.g., more young children, having a child with a disability) and work characteristics (e.g., long work hours, work transitions), related to higher maternal role strain, whereas greater work flexibility predicted lower role strain. Findings suggest that interventions directed toward increasing women's resources may help reduce role strain.
Journal of Family Psychology 10/2004; 18(3):424-32. · 1.66 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Results from a longitudinal study of 2402 low-income families during the recent unprecedented era of welfare reform suggest that mothers' transitions off welfare and into employment are not associated with negative outcomes for preschoolers (ages 2 to 4 years) or young adolescents (ages 10 to 14 years). Indeed, no significant associations with mothers' welfare and employment transitions were found for preschoolers, and the dominant pattern was also of few statistically significant associations for adolescents. The associations that did occur provided slight evidence that mothers' entry into the labor force was related to improvements in adolescents' mental health, whereas exits from employment were linked with teenagers' increased behavior problems.
Science 04/2003; 299(5612):1548-52. · 31.20 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Currently available data and concerns about the validity of reports by mothers significantly truncate the ability of researchers to address a myriad of research questions concerning the involvement of fathers in families. This study aimed to inform this concern by examining predictors of father involvement and father-mother discrepancies in reports of involvement within a low-income, predominantly minority sample of families with both resident and nonresident fathers (n= 228). Paired hierarchical linear models were used to control for the interrelation between pairs of reporters. The results indicate that although fathers' and mothers' reports are similar, mothers consistently report lower levels of involvement than do fathers. Parental conflict, fathers' nonresidence, and fathers' age, as well as mothers' education and employment, predicted larger discrepancies between fathers' and mothers' reports.
Journal of Marriage and Family 10/2002; 64(4):982 - 997. · 2.03 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: This study examines the role and influence of fathers and father figures in the lives of African American adolescent girls (N=302) from a representative sample of poor and low-income families. Sixty five percent of the adolescents identified a primary father, of whom two-thirds were biological fathers and one-third were father figures. Adolescent girls reported more contentious and less close relationships with biological fathers than with father figures. Multivariate regression analyses indicated that fathers' emotional disengagement predicted greater depressive symptomatology and behavioral problems for adolescents, while fathers' level of positive engagement was not predictive of youth outcomes. Moreover, fathers' emotional and physical disengagement had an additive detrimental link with adolescent functioning, with the most problematic emotional and behavioral functioning apparent in girls whose fathers were both emotionally alienated and physically absent from their lives. Father-Daughter Relationships 3 The Sting of Disappointment: Father-Daughter Relationships in Low-Income African American Families
03/2001;
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ABSTRACT: Currently available data and concerns over the validity of mother reports significantly truncate the ability of researchers to address a myriad of research questions concerning father involvement. This study aims to inform this concern by examining predictors of father involvement and father-mother discrepancies in reports of involvement within a low-income, predominantly minority sample of families with both residential and nonresidential fathers (N = 228). Paired HLM models are used to control for the interrelation between pairs of reporters. Results indicate that although father and mother reports are similar, mothers consistently report lower levels of involvement than do fathers. Parental conflict, fathers- nonresidence, father age, as well as mother education and employment predicted greater discrepancy across father and mother reports. Implications for future research and policy are addressed.
Northwestern University/University of Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research, JCPR Working Papers. 01/2001;
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ABSTRACT: Examines the diversity of experiences within multigenerational African American families formed around a young mother and her child, emphasizing both coping and difficulty. The authors describe and develop each of these aspects with illustrations from the Baltimore Multigenerational Family Study, in which age, socioeconomic, and residential arrangement contexts were recorded. Ss were mothers 13–25 yrs old at first birth, child development was tracked until age 3, and the presence and role of grandmothers was observed. Interpersonal contacts and exchange between family members, including fathers, was tracked. The mother–grandmother–child triadic family system was observed in terms of the parenting style and quality including interpersonal relations between all members of the triad. The effects of the constructs of context (poverty or household structure), exchange (grandparent–grandchild, or parent–child interaction), and processes upon the developmental functioning of children are detailed beyond demographics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
10/1999;
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ABSTRACT: Using a representative sample of African American adolescent girls in impoverished urban neighborhoods in Chicago, we consider income-related predictors (poverty, financial strain, welfare receipt, and welfare exposure) of adolescents' job preparation and nonmarital childbearing risk. The most consistent predictor is maternal financial strain, linked to poor adjustment in all arenas of adolescent functioning. Maternal welfare receipt predicts higher school grades in youth, but welfare exposure is related to lower grades and greater pregnancy experience. We discuss implications for families as federal welfare reforms alter the income sources and financial situations of many poor families.
09/1999;
