This article assessed changes in the association between single motherhood and children's verbal cognitive ability at age-11 using data from three cohorts of British children, born in 1958 (n = 10,675), 1970 (n = 8,933) and 2000 (n = 9,989), and mediation analysis. Consistent with previous studies, direct effects were small and insignificant. For…

Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study, the present study tested whether the benefits of a marital birth for early child development diminish as parents' risk of having a nonmarital birth increases (N = 2,285). It was hypothesized that a child's likelihood of being born to unmarried parents is partly a function of father…

The current study examined whether parental and contextual risk factors contribute to mothers' and fathers' differential treatment (MDT/FDT) when accounting for sibling dyad characteristics. Also explored was whether family type (single mothers vs. 2 parents) moderated the links between the parental and contextual correlates and MDT. One hundred…

Black grandmothers, mothers, and children between the ages of 8 and 14 were interviewed using Bronfenbrenner's Parental Behavior Scale. The 60 participating families represented two levels of family structure, single-parent or dual-parent, and two levels of grandmother's domicile, living with the family or in the local community. (Author/RH)

Sixty-four families with four kinds of family structure were interviewed in an effort to examine differences and similarities among and within Black families. Results suggest that different Black family structures are associated with different family climates. (PCB)

Compared with respect to their susceptibility to peer pressure to engage in deviant activity were fifth-, sixth-, eighth-, and ninth-graders from intact, single parent, and stepparent families. Youngsters living with both natural parents were less susceptible to pressure than those living in other family environments. (Author/RH)

Used a three-group design to determine the effects on child development of the Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP), a state welfare reform program. Findings showed that MFIP increased employment rates and decreased poverty. According to mother-reports, children were less likely to exhibit problem behaviors and more likely to perform better…

The links between single mothers' employment patterns and change over time in the well-being of the mothers' adolescent children were investigated using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Adolescents were ages 14 to 16 at baseline, and they and their mothers were followed for 2 years. Relative to being continuously employed in a good job,…

Questionnaires were used to measure mothers' social networks, coping abilities, and life stress. A mother/child interaction situation was used to measure maternal control, maternal maturity demands, maternal nurturance, mother/child communication, and child compliance. Results indicated significant differences in the lives of single and married…

Children, mothers, and mothers' parents completed questionnaires about the children's involvement with their grandparents. Grandparents were more involved with grandchildren from single-parent than from two-parent families. As grandchildren's pubertal development progressed, grandparents became more involved with grandsons, and grandfathers became…

Uses a representative national sample of adolescents to study the interrelationships among family structure, patterns of family decision making, and deviant behavior among adolescents. Mother-only households are shown to be associated with particular patterns of family decision making and adolescent deviance, even when family income and parental…

Data were analyzed from an epidemiological sample of 5-year- old twins and their parents. Findings indicated that the less time fathers lived with their children, the more conduct problems their children had, but only if the fathers engaged in low levels of antisocial behavior. When fathers engaged in high levels of antisocial behavior, the more…

Using census and administrative agency data for 177 urban census tracts in Cleveland, Ohio, variations in rates of officially reported child maltreatment were found to be related to structural determinants of community social organization. Child maltreatment rates were also found to be intercorrelated with other indicators of breakdown of…

Using interview data from 241 single African American mothers and their seventh- and eighth-grade children, this study tested a model of how 2 economic stressors, maternal unemployment and work interruption, influenced adolescent socioemotional functioning. Found that current unemployment, but not past work interruption, contributed to depressive…

This study examined how family structure affected children's delinquency and math test scores, parenting practices as a mediator, and racial differences in these effects. Findings indicated that single parenthood related to reduced well-being among European American children, but not African American children. Cohabitation related to greater…