Family structure and family processes in Mexican-American families

Despite increases in single-parent families among Mexican Americans, few studies have examined the association of family structure and family adjustment. Utilizing a diverse sample of 738 Mexican-American families (21.7% single parent), the current study examined differences across family structure on early adolescent outcomes, family functioning, and parent-child relationship variables. Results revealed that early adolescents in single-parent families reported greater school misconduct, conduct disorder/oppositional deviant disorder, and major depressive disorder symptoms, and greater parent-child conflict than their counterparts in 2-parent families. Single-parent mothers reported greater economic hardship, depression, and family stress. Family stress and parent-child conflict emerged as significant mediators of the association between family structure and early adolescent outcomes, suggesting important processes linking Mexican-American single-parent families and adolescent adjustment.     

The effects of different forms of two- and single-parent families on the well-being of their children in Dutch secondary education

The aim of this article is to compare the well-being of Dutch children living in different forms of single-parent families and different forms of two-parent families. We found that living in a mother-headed family caused by divorce has a negative influence on children's well-being. However, the effects we found were very small compared to the much larger effects of some other control variables, like parental education. Living in single-parent families or step-families caused by death have less negative effects on children than living in single-parent families or step-families caused by divorce. Our results give some support to the weak social position of the mother as an explanation for the negative effect of single parenthood, while the negative effects of living in a mother-headed family caused by death are larger than those of living in a father-headed family caused by death. Living in a single-parent family does not harm the well-being of boys more or less than that of girls living in the same family form. The negative effects of living in a single-mother family are not strengthened by the low educational level of the mother, nor are they neutralized by the high educational level of the mother. The effects we found in this continental European study are substantially smaller than those found in studies in the U.S.A.     

Explaining the impact of family structure during adolescence on adult educational attainment: A longitudinal study

We estimated a structural equation model that specifies the intervening processes accounting for the modest but statistically significant relationship between family structure (intact family) and educational attainment. Using data from a panel (N = 3,322) tested in the seventh grade, when the subjects were in their twenties, and when the subjects were in their mid-thirties, we observed the mediating processes in the relationship between intact family and educational attainment. Growing up in intact families was associated with a better financial situation in the parental home and a more positive early school experience, which led to a later entry into adult roles of labor force participation and marriage/cohabitation, and to continuation of post-secondary education. These intervening processes together accounted for the effects of intact family on higher educational attainment in middle adulthood.     

A research project on successful single-parent families

Abstract

This study was undertaken in order to learn more about the variables associated with successful single-parent families. Twenty-five single parents volunteered to share their positive family experiences. Information was sought on the following topics: 1) ages of family members and length of single-parent family status; 2) education level and income; 3) relations with absent parent; 4) relations with children; 5) use of social networks; and 6) personal outlook and management. The author ends with a hypothesis regarding single-parent family success and suggests counseling implications.     

Developmental Transitions in Youth Behavioral Opposition and Maternal Beliefs in Social Ecological Context

We investigated age-based changes in mothers’ complaints about offspring behavioral opposition, and offspring reports of opposition in a prospective longitudinal design (N = 821). Maternal complaints declined from pre-adolescence to early adulthood, but more slowly in low socioeconomic status (SES) and single-parent families. Mothers complained more about first- than later-born children, but showed no average differences for offspring gender, race, SES, or single parent status. Complaints covaried with youth-reported opposition, but effects involving SES, single-parent status, and birth order remained significant after opposition was controlled; this finding is interpreted to reflect social contextual differences in maternal beliefs. Youth opposition was stable to age 16, then decreased; higher levels were associated with earlier birth order and low SES among European-Americans. Our results have implications for parenting interventions, indicating that parents may benefit from education about the normative, gradual increase in concordance between their own expectations and their child’s behavior from early to late adolescence. Further, parenting interventions may be strengthened by actively attending to social contextual factors that shape parental belief systems and values.     

Hospital-Treated Psychiatric Disorders in Adults with a Single-Parent and Two-Parent Family Background: A 28-Year Follow-up of the 1966 Northern Finland Birth Cohort

This study investigates the relationship between the family type (two-parent and 4 different single-parent types, mainly divorced) during childhood up to 14 years of age and adult hospital-treated psychiatric disorders in a sample from the unselected, general population Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort (N = 11,017). Up to the end of 1994, a total of 387 individuals (3.5%) had a hospital-treated psychiatric disorder, with 3.1% in two-parent families and 5.4% in single-parent families (p < .001). The single-parent family was not associated with the child's schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders. The adjusted odds ratios (OR) for personality disorders were highest among individuals without a father before the age of 14 years (OR 4.8), or at birth only (OR 4.0), or with a history of parental divorce (OR 2.8). Parental divorce was also associated with alcoholism (OR 3.7) and parental death with depressive disorders (OR 3.4). In conclusion, we found an elevated risk of hospital-treated nonpsychotic disorder among individuals from a single-parent family background. It is likely that a combination of the single-parent family and psychosocial and/or genetic risk may influence the development of these disorders.     

School dropouts: Characteristics and prevention

Our nation's secondary school dropout rate of 17–25% is at a historic low. Nevertheless, considerable concern exists about the enormous losses to individuals, families, and society associated with not completing high school. School, race, gender, and economic and family qualities associated with dropouts are reviewed briefly. General prevention principals are proposed together with more specific strategies involving youth, schools, family, and community. The goals are two pronged: (a) to provide systems that enable adequate achievement and achievement motivation, passing grades, feelings of affiliation with school and peers, and a stable support systems from peers, family, and the community; and (b) to be free of impediments that diminish suitable educational outcomes, including unsuitable school qualities, premature entrance into adulthood, and qualities that adversely affect students' physical and mental health.     

Cognitive ability,parenting and instruction in Vietnam and Germany

In a sample of N = 105 fifth graders from Vietnam and Germany, cognitive abilities (CogAT-Nonverbal, i.e. fluid figural, CogAT-Quantitative, i.e. crystallized mathematics), family attributes, parenting styles, leisure time activities, and attributes of school and instruction were compared. In spite of large cultural and economic differences, the general cognitive ability levels were similar (M_Vnm = 99.43 vs. M_Deu = 99.13 IQ points in current UK norms). This result is in contradiction to usual outcomes in developing countries. However, regarding family, parenting, school and instruction, differences were observed: German families had more books. German parents were less frequently married and German families less frequently consisted of both mother and father. Vietnamese parents had more children. Vietnamese parents showed higher levels of authoritarian and neglecting parenting. German children read more books. The Vietnamese did not attend kindergarten, had larger classes, more homework, and more private tuition. In a path analysis, parental educational level, number of books, burgher family, low birth order rank, amount of teaching, parental income, Confucian educational orientation and Vietnamese background all revealed a positive impact on children's intelligence.     

The influence of family context on life,educational and occupational ideal among middle school students in China

This study examined the relationship between family context of middle school students on their educational and occupational ideals. Middle school students (N = 2000) responded to questions assessing family location, family structure, parental educational level and family economic status, as well as to the Middle School Students' Ideals Questionnaire. Multivariate analysis of variance indicated that life, educational and occupational ideals of female students and students in lower grades were higher than that of male students and students in higher grades. Regression analysis indicated that paternal education level have a positive association with educational and occupational ideals, but not life ideals, and family economic status have a positive relation to life ideals, but not educational and occupational ideals. Moreover, the interaction between family economic status and family location has a negative association with students' life, educational and occupational ideals. These results suggest that different factors predicted different ideals of adolescents, and that family economic status had a negative moderating effect on the relationship between family location and ideals of students.     

Educational Attainment and Cohort Change Among Conservative Protestants, 1972–2004

A growing literature examines how conservative Protestants have made status gains relative to mainline Protestants over the past three decades. The results of these studies are inconclusive: by some measures conservative Protestants have achieved socioeconomic parity, in other accounts significant discrepancies remain. This article examines the relationship between religion of origin and educational attainment, highlighting the significance of both religious background (rather than adult affiliations) and cohort change in understanding religious stratification. The findings are somewhat mixed: while conservative Protestants born since 1960 are no less likely to finish high school than their mainline counterparts, the negative effect of a conservative Protestant background on college completion remains virtually unchanged for cohorts born before 1940, between 1940 and 1959, and between 1960 and 1972, even when controlling for family background. Conservative Protestants are keeping pace with the educational gains made by mainline Protestants in the postwar era, but other factors associated with a conservative Protestant background still exert a negative influence on educational attainment.     

Adolescents’ Life Satisfaction During the Transition to Post-Comprehensive Education: Antecedents and Consequences

The present four-wave longitudinal study, conducted in Finland, investigated the extent to which life satisfaction changed among adolescents during the transition from comprehensive school to an academic or a vocational track. The participants were 15-year-old adolescents (Time 1: N = 687, Time 2: N = 642, Time 3: N = 818, Time 4: N = 749) who filled in the Diener et al. (J Pers Assess 49: 71–75, 1985). Satisfaction With Life Scale twice during their final term of comprehensive school and twice after the transition either to upper secondary or vocational education. At comprehensive school they reported their academic achievement, expected educational track, educational aspirations, self-esteem, and background information, while at the last measurement point they reported their school engagement and attained educational track. Latent Growth Modeling showed, first, that life satisfaction increased during the educational transition. Second, the higher the adolescents’ academic achievement and self-esteem, the higher the level of their life satisfaction during the transition. Third, among girls, the lower their self-esteem, the more their life satisfaction increased during the educational transition. Fourth, among both boys and girls, a high level of life satisfaction during the transition predicted academic track and school engagement at the last measurement point. Finally, among girls, an increase in life satisfaction during the transition predicted school engagement and an academic track. The results support the stage-environment fit theory according to which the nature of the educational environment is more important than the transition per se for changes in adolescents’ life satisfaction (see Eccles and Midgley in Research on motivation in education. Academic Press, New York, pp. 139–186, 1989).     

Investigating Religion and Inequality through Women's Work-Family Pathways

This project investigates the relationship between religious involvement and women's work and family pathways in the United States. I identify five work-family configurations using National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1979 (NLSY79) data and latent class analysis. These configurations incorporate cohabitation histories, timing of family formation, and maternal employment. Then, I analyze how adolescent religiosity and personal and family characteristics are associated with subsequent work-family pathways. Affiliation with an evangelical Protestant tradition is associated with women who form families early, while Catholic affiliation is tied to later family formation. Importantly, family background characteristics such as living with both biological parents and higher parental education, as well as race/ethnicity and the respondent's educational attainment, are the most consistent variables associated with work-family configurations. These results suggest that religious involvement, when considered alongside family background, contributes to women's unequal work-family pathways in adulthood. The close links between religion, family, and stratification are evident in the study of women's work-family experiences.     

Family obligation and the transition to young adulthood

Changes in a sense of obligation to assist, support, and respect the family were examined among an ethnically diverse group of 745 American individuals as they began to move from secondary school into young adulthood. A sense of family obligation increased for all young adults, with slight variations according to ethnic and financial backgrounds. Young adults from Filipino and Latin American families reported the strongest sense of familial duty during young adulthood, which partially explained their tendency to live with and contribute financially to their families. The implications of family obligation for employment and educational persistence depended on age and academic performance in high school. Finally, a sense of family obligation was associated with more positive emotional well-being.     

Subjective Well-Being of Brazilian Children from Different Family Settings

Subjective well-being concerns an evaluation of one’s life, considering cognitive and affective aspects. Contextual factors, such as family, may influence this process. One of the main development contexts of children is family and aspects of these relationships, such as different settings, might contribute to children’s subjective well-being. The aim of this study was to compare the well-being of children from different family settings (intact, single-parent, stepfamilies, multigenerational). Participants were 2,135 boys and girls, from 9 to 13 years old (M = 10.97, SD = 0.99), students of public and private schools from a Brazilian southern State. Children answered a questionnaire with sociodemographic variables and three well-being scales (PWI-SC, BMSLSS, GDSI). Children were divided in four groups according to whom they live with (intact, single-parent, stepfamilies, multigenerational families). To evaluate differences between groups a Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) were performed, considering well-being scales as dependent variables and family setting as independent variable. Results indicated significant differences in the well-being of children in relation to their family setting and age. Children from intact families showed significant positive differences on the well-being from children of other settings (the lowest means were from the children of stepfamilies). It is argued that transitions and instability that children are being subjected to may affect their well-being.

     

Stuttering severity and educational attainment

Purpose

This study investigated the relationship between self-reported stuttering severity ratings and educational attainment.

Method

Participants were 147 adults seeking treatment for stuttering. At pretreatment assessment, each participant reported the highest educational level they had attained and rated their typical and worst stuttering severity on a 9-point scale for a range of speaking situations. These included: (1) talking with a family member, (2) talking with a familiar person, not a family member, (3) talking in a group of people, (4) talking with a stranger, (5) talking with an authority figure such as a work manager or teacher, (6) talking on the telephone, (7) ordering food or drink, and (8) giving their name and address.

Results

There was a significant negative relationship between highest educational achievement and mean self-reported stuttering severity rating for the eight situations.

Conclusions

Future research is needed to investigate how this result should be addressed in educational institutions.Educational objectives: The reader will be able to: (1) describe the negative effects of stuttering through childhood to adulthood; (2) identify some of the negative consequences associated with stuttering on peer and teacher relationships, and academic performance at school; and (3) summarise the relationship between stuttering severity and educational attainment.     

Perspectives of Homeschoolers Motivated by Religious and Moral Reasons

This study sought to highlight the association between motivation to homeschool and public school enrollment. Homeschooling parents (n?=?1052) across the United States responded to questions from a survey administered online. Logistic regression analysis and the chi-square test showed that homeschooling parents who chose the religious/moral answer option on the survey as the reason to homeschool, were less likely to choose to enroll into a public school program. Qualitatively, the narrative data of religious/moral homeschoolers and their reasons not to enroll in public education provided a number of themes, including quality of the environment (n?=?22) and reasons based on religion and faith (n?=?18). These findings may prove useful for public school officials who desire to know more about how some families make educational decisions.     

Substitution with Interrupted Tasks of Differing Valence

The study was designed (a) to develop a form of the Home Life Scale for university men, an instrument which provides a measure of perceptions of their home life in their families of orientation; and (b) to examine the perceptions of university men in relation to selected background characteristics and to their attitudes concerning father-son relationships. No significant relationships were observed between (a) home life perceptions and (6) age, marital status, father's occupation and education, source of family income, and socioeconomic status of parents; nor were any significant relationships observed between (a) attitudes concerning father-son relationships and (b) age, marital status, father's occupation and education, source of family income, and socioeconomic status of parents. How-ever, a significant relationship (p = .05) was observed between home life perceptions and attitudes concerning father-son relationships, indicating that those Ss who hold negative perceptions concerning their families of orientation reflected the most permissive attitudes concerning father-son relationships. Such a finding suggests that men who view their own families of orientation unfavorably may wish to create in their families of procreation a warmer, less restrictive atmosphere.     

Gender-role socialization and discipline processes in one- and two-parent families

Parental discipline and gender-role socialization are two interrelated normative processes that may be affected by family structure, parent gender, and child gender. To investigate these family processes and how they may differ depending on family composition, three groups of families (approximately 90% Caucasian) with 5-year-old children were studied: 67 two-parent families, 32 single-mother families, and 13 single-father families. In the two-parent families, mothers were focused on in 33 of the families and fathers were focused on in 34 of the families. Overall, gender-role socialization processes were affected by family structure and parent gender: Single-parent families and mothers had less traditional gender-role socialization than two-parent families and fathers. Family discipline processes were also affected by family structure, as single-parent families reported more positive behavior from their children and reported using more problem-solving strategies. Regardless of family structure, parents used different discipline strategies depending on the gender of parent and child. No evidence was found to suggest that gender-role socialization mediated the discipline process. Research for this article was sponsored by grants HD 19739 from the Center for Research for Mothers and Children, NICHD, U.S. PHS and MH 37911 from the Behavioral Sciences Research Branch, Family Processes Division, NIMH, U.S. PHS to the second author. Reporting of this research was partially supported by grant MH 46690, Prevention Research Branch, NIMH, U.S. PHS to Dr. John B. Reid. The authors would like to express their sincere appreciation to several reviewers for comments on previous drafts of this article. Additionally, the authors are grateful to Margaret McKean for her editorial assistance. Actual items for any of the constructs used are available upon request.     

One Roof,Three Generations: Grandparental Co-residence and Child Outcomes in China

This study examined the association between grandparental co-residence and child academic and behavioral outcomes using a sample from Shanghai, China (n = 1,763), and was built on two theoretical perspectives: intergenerational solidarity theory and the contextual model of family stress. These models integrate the impact of residential and relational proximity to grandparents on child well-being and underscore the importance of family context. This study also explored the moderating effects of family resources using proxies that prior theoretical and empirical studies have found to be important to such associations: family income, parental education, hukou status, and subjective social status. Results indicated that among families without co-residing grandparents, rural and low-income parents reported their children to have more externalizing behavioral issues than their respective urban and non-low-income counterparts. In addition, children who resided in poorly resourced families (i.e., low family income, low parental education, low subjective social status, or rural hukou status) tended to benefit from living with grandparents compared to their well-resourced counterparts in terms of lower externalizing and internalizing behaviors reported by teachers. These results do not negate the potential beneficial effects of living with grandparents for children in well-resourced environments. Implications for practice and policy, as well as future research directions, are discussed.     

The role of peer groups in adolescents' educational trajectories

The present study investigated whether the members of adolescents' peer groups show similar educational trajectories from comprehensive school to either senior secondary or vocational education, and to what extent their educational expectations, academic achievement, family structure, and parents' SES predict these trajectories. Five hundred thirty adolescents filled in a questionnaire focusing on their educational expectations, academic achievement and family background variables before the transition to post-comprehensive education. They were also asked to nominate three peers with whom they most liked to spend their time. After the transition, they reported the school form they were in. The results showed that adolescents who belonged to the same peer group at the end of comprehensive school shared similar educational trajectories later on. Moreover, family background factors shared by peer-group members predicted the academic trajectories typical of the peer group.