1. A prospective study of the effects of marital status and family relations on young children's adjustment among African American and European American families
- Author
-
Clare Flanagan, Emily B. Winslow, and Daniel S. Shaw
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,Adolescent ,Neurotic Disorders ,Statistics as Topic ,Ethnic group ,Child Behavior ,Child Behavior Disorders ,White People ,Education ,Developmental psychology ,Race (biology) ,Child Development ,Divorce ,Developmental and Educational Psychology ,Humans ,Prospective Studies ,Prospective cohort study ,Child ,Socioeconomic status ,Poverty ,Family Health ,Urban Health ,Social environment ,Infant ,Pennsylvania ,Black or African American ,El Niño ,Child, Preschool ,Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health ,Marital status ,Female ,Family Relations ,Psychology ,Social Adjustment ,Negroid - Abstract
The present study investigated the effects of divorce and family relations on young children's development prospectively, using an ethnically diverse sample of approximately 300 low-income families. We also were able to examine the moderating effects of ethnicity on child adjustment in always two-parent, to-be-divorced, already-divorced, and always single-parent families. Results indicated that to-be-divorced European American and African American families demonstrated higher rates of preschool-age behavior problems, and already-divorced families showed similar trends. Parental conflict and behavior problems accounted for predivorce differences in child behavior problems, whereas rejecting parenting accounted for differences in problem behavior between always single-parent and always two-parent families. The results are discussed in terms of the importance of ethnicity in influencing young, low-income children's adjustment to different family structures.
- Published
- 1999