The positive relationship between family formation and regular weekly religious service attendance is well established, but cross-sectional data make it difficult to be confident that this relationship is causal. Moreover, if the relationship is causal, cross-sectional data make it difficult to disentangle the effects of three distinct…

Due to globalization, sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is experiencing some changes in her traditional family patterns. A large body of research has examined the relationship between family structure and youth developmental outcomes and few studies have reported the gender differentials in the effect of changing family structure on these outcomes. In an…

Drawing from a relational developmental systems (RDS) perspective (Lerner, Agans, DeSouza, & Gasca, 2013) and data from 1,427 continuously partnered young adult and midlife mixed-sex couples over the first 5 years of the German Panel Analysis of Intimate Relationships and Family Dynamics (pairfam), this study examined the developmental course…

Using a sample of 982 late adolescents and tracking them throughout young adulthood, this study investigated whether marital attitudes held during the last year of high school were predictive of union transitions to both cohabitation and marriage during young adulthood. Results using both logistic regression and discrete event history models found…

Although economic pressure and family stress models have been examined with samples of men and women in first marriages, previous models have neglected to focus on men and women in stepfamilies and to examine stress sources unique to stepfamilies. This study examines the effect of economic pressure on both common stressors and stepfamily-specific…

Increasing fathers' involvement with their children has become a priority in recent years. Marriage promotion programs have been offered as the primary vehicles for increasing paternal involvement. Although marriage is likely to provide fathers with increased access and opportunity for paternal involvement, much less is known about the ways in…

Following the ongoing increase in nonmarital fertility, policy makers have looked for ways to limit the disadvantages faced by children of unmarried mothers. Recent initiatives included marriage promotion and welfare-to-work programs. Yet policy might also consider the promotion of three generational households. We know little about whether…

This paper examines the role of religion in adolescence for shaping subsequent family formation. Data were drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N = 13,895). We explored the role of three dimensions of religious life--affiliation, attendance, and religious fervor--both singly and in combination for the transition to…

As nonmarital childbearing escalated in the United States over the past half century, fragile families--defined as unmarried couples with children--drew increased interest from researchers and policy makers. Sara McLanahan and Audrey Beck discuss four aspects of parental relationships in these families: the quality of parents' intimate…

Investigates whether fatherhood, and specifically involvement with nonresident children, influence men's entrance into marital and cohabiting unions. Findings suggest that neither resident nor nonresident children affect men's chances of entering a new marriage, but nonresident children have a positive effect on cohabitation. (Contains 79…

Using three different theoretical perspectives, examines the engagement, availability, participation, and warmth of residential fathers in married biological parent, unmarried biological parent, married stepparent, and cohabiting father families. Biology explains less of father involvement than anticipated once differences between fathers are…

Investigated incidence of, and factors associated with, marriage and separation/divorce in welfare recipients. Race significantly affected probability of marriage; young child in the household and wife's employment status correlated with marital dissolution. Changes in welfare benefits, number of public assistance programs received, and length of…

Demographic, personality-attitudinal, and interpersonal measures were examined to determine which measures best predicted the couple's present family size and projected family size (present size plus additional children desired) for both the wife and the husband. Subjects were 35 Caucasian, middle class, Protestant couples in Knoxville, Tennessee.…