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This study aims to understand the direct and indirect effects of poverty trajectories on maternal depression trajectories mediated by material hardship trajectories. A latent growth mediation model was tested using a predominantly low-income and mostly unmarried sample of mothers from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a national birth cohort of racially diverse mothers (N = 3999). Measures included family poverty, material hardship, and maternal depression from 5 waves of data which tracked mothers starting 1 year after childbirth until the child reached 15 years of age. The results revealed that (1) family poverty was associated with material hardship and maternal depression, and material hardship was related to maternal depression at the trajectory level and the rate of change, with the exception of the relationships between the rate of change in family poverty and the rate of change in maternal depression; (2) material hardship mediated the relationship between family poverty and maternal depression at the initial trajectory levels, and the rate of change in material hardship fully mediated the relationship between the rate of change in poverty and the rate of change in maternal depression. This study provides further evidence that alleviating material hardship might be a promising avenue to reducing maternal depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We address how social policies and cultural context impact the association of marital status with parental work-life balance satisfaction. To accomplish this goal, we examine how this association differs between the francophone province of Quebec and the Rest of Canada (all other provinces combined), as these regions have distinct cultures and family-related social policies. The study uses a sample of 15,870 working parents with at least one dependent child from the Canadian General Social Surveys of 2010 to 2016. Using multivariate regression, we compare satisfaction with their work-life balance among cohabiting, divorced, and single parents with that of their married counterparts. The results indicate significant work-life balance satisfaction advantages for married mothers across Canada, except in the province of Quebec. For fathers, no consistent marital status-related gap is found, regardless of the region of residence. Various implications are discussed, and venues for further research are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study explores how low‐income mothers and fathers who recently have had a child avoid and access financial and other instrumental support from kin, and the statements they make about kin support. Background: New parents without significant financial capital have a strong need for social support from family members. Yet some with access to assistance from family do not activate it, and avoiding support can leave them facing dire circumstances alone. Method: This article uses data from all four waves of the Time, Love, and Cash among Couples with Children study (TLC3), a qualitative study embedded in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. Researchers used a stratified random sampling scheme to select 25 couples from each of three cities. Analysis used open and axial coding techniques on interview transcript data. Results: Reports of kin support are widespread, but help is not universally activated. Parents often talk in contradictory ways about activating and avoiding support. Those who access help from family often employ the language of avoidance, particularly when it comes to asking for help. Those who avoid it or claim to avoid it say they do so because of individualistic pride, the pressure of reciprocity, and understandings of what it means to be an independent adult. Conclusion: This study illustrates the complexity and contradictions in how participants think and talk about kin support, and demonstrates that having to ask for help presents a key barrier to support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: We aim to understand the association between father involvement in middle childhood and adolescent behaviors and whether the relationship differs by father residence. Background: Internalizing and externalizing behaviors in adolescence can trigger a cascade of negative outcomes later in life, including lower educational attainment, criminal justice involvement, and future psychological distress. Evidence, largely focusing on nonresidential fathers and older cohort, suggests that father involvement—particularly closeness and engagement—may reduce adolescents' internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Method: We use data six waves of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a birth cohort survey representative of births in large U.S. cities between 1998 and 2000, to estimate OLS regression models examining (a) whether father involvement in middle childhood is associated with fewer problem behaviors at Age 15, (b) if the salience of father involvement differs depending on whether the father was present in the home (i.e., was married to or living with his child's mother) in middle childhood, and (c) whether father involvement matters differently based on the child's sex. Results: We find protective associations between father involvement and adolescent behavioral outcomes that persist even among children who were not living with their fathers. In models stratified by the child's sex, father involvement matters for both boys and girls. In all models, father presence alone, apart from active involvement, is not significantly associated with behavioral outcomes. Conclusion: Father involvement protects against negative adolescent behaviors even among children with nonresidential fathers and for both boys and girls. Implications: These results suggest that policies that promote greater father involvement and father–child bonds, rather than other options such as promoting marriage, may be more effective in reducing behavioral problems among adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Behavioral health problems affect at least 15% of mothers, but few studies have examined how different problems cluster together. Characterizing symptom profiles and their correlates early in the family life cycle can extend existing understanding beyond that provided by studies based on single problems. Mothers in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing study, a national birth cohort of racially diverse and mostly unmarried mothers (N = 4205), reported depression, anxiety, and substance dependence symptoms. Latent class analysis (LCA) identified mothers' symptom profiles in their children's third year. We explored associations between symptom profiles and demographics, reproductive health outcomes, functional limitations, and postpartum behavioral health. LCA identified five profiles: (1) Depression only (14.5% of sample), (2) Severe depression and anxiety (5.3%), (3) Anxiety only (2.2%), (4) Depression and substance use (1.4%), and (5) Currently symptom free (76.6%). Depressive symptoms were more moderate when co-occurring with substance dependence and more severe when co-occurring with anxiety. Postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety, and smoking during pregnancy were the most robust correlates of being symptomatic in year 3. Mothers in the "Severe depression and anxiety" group were more likely to be in that profile if they reported functional impairment and/or relationship dissolution. Mothers in the "Depression only" profile were more likely to have higher parity and/or functional impairment. A quarter of mothers of young children had significant behavioral health symptoms, with most reporting depression symptoms. Psychosocial and physical health factors in the pregnancy and postpartum periods were associated with future symptoms, warranting obstetrician and pediatrician attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior research shows that financial assistance from family and friends is an important source of support for families with children. Research on financial transfers has largely focused on the recipients of transfers, however. In this study, using longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study ( n ∼ 16,000 person-waves), the authors examine the association between the provision of financial assistance to family and friends and material hardship. The results from pooled regression and fixed effects models indicate that providing financial transfers is associated with an increased risk of hardship. The most economically disadvantaged groups, single mothers, those in the bottom income tertile, and Black mothers are the most likely to experience hardship after giving a transfer. These findings have important implications for understanding why families may have difficulty meeting basic and essential needs and how social networks may exacerbate the challenges of escaping poverty and establishing economic self-sufficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the implications of nonstandard work schedules (work outside of the typical 9 - 5, Monday - Friday schedule) for individuals and families are increasingly well understood, it is unclear how such schedules are associated with perceived social support for working mothers. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study and a variety of methodological approaches, we found mixed evidence for this relationship. Results from ordinary least squares and propensity-weighted models suggest that working a nonstandard schedule is associated with weaker perceived support, particularly among those who are Black and less educated, and those who exclusively work such a schedule. Conversely, results from fixed-effects models suggest that changing from a standard to a nonstandard schedule is associated with modest increases in perceived social support. These results add nuance to our understanding of the implications of nonstandard work schedules for families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two concepts capture the dynamic and complex nature of contemporary family structure: family instability and multipartner fertility. Although these circumstances are likely to co-occur, their respective literatures have proceeded largely independently. The authors used data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study ( N = 3,062) to consider these dimensions of dynamic family structure together, asking whether they independently predict children's behavior problems at age 9. Frequent family instability was consistently predictive of higher predicted levels of behavior problems for children born to mothers who were unmarried, an association largely attenuated by factors related to family stress. Multipartner fertility was robustly related to self-reported delinquency and teacher-reported behavior problems among children born to mothers who were married. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the association between paternal multiple partner fertility (MPF; having children with two or more partners) and indicators of environmental chaos (partnership instability, residential instability, work stability, material hardship, and perceived social support) among unmarried, nonresident fathers. Survey data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N= 873) were used to compare unmarried nonresident fathers who experienced MPF to those who had children with one partner. Results show that paternal MPF is associated with most indicators of environmental chaos (greater partnership instability, residential instability, work instability, material hardship) but not social support. Results suggest that fathers who experience MPF face challenges beyond those of other nonresident fathers. Policies and interventions should address aspects of instability and hardship that are unique to paternal MPF in order to encourage fathers’ positive contributions to children and families. Directions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research examining parental reports of children's living arrangements has often relied on information about legally ordered custody agreements following divorce. This analysis used data from matched pairs of parents (N = 1,156) in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study who live apart to compare mother and father reports of their child's residence 5 years after a nonmarital birth. The authors found that over one third of unmarried parents disagreed about who their child lived with and that conflicting reports were much more likely when fathers spent nights with the mother (an indicator of part-time cohabitation) and had overnights with the child on their own. The results further suggest that discrepancies in unmarried parents' reports were more closely associated with the complexity and ambiguity of their living situations than with the quality of their relationships with each other. Implications for measuring children's living arrangements in families formed outside of marriage are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building on past research suggesting that cohabitation is an ambiguous family form, the authors examined an understudied residential pattern among unmarried parents: cyclical cohabitation, in which parents have multiple cohabitation spells with each other. Using 9 years of panel data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 2,084), they found that 10% of all parents with nonmarital births and nearly a quarter of those living together when the child is 9 years old are cyclical cohabitors. Cyclically cohabiting mothers reported more material hardships than mothers in most other relationship patterns but also reported more father involvement with children. On all measures of child well-being except grade retention, children of cyclically cohabiting parents fared no worse than children of stably cohabiting biological parents and did not differ significantly from any other group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We used data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to examine the association between multipartnered fertility (MPF)-when parents have children with more than one partner-and depression. Random-effects models suggested that MPF is associated with a greater likelihood of depression, net of family structure and other covariates. These associations disappeared, however, in more conservative fixed-effects models that estimated changes in MPF as a function of changes in depression. Results also suggested that social selection may account for the link between MPF and depression for fathers (but not mothers), as depressed fathers with no MPF were more likely to have a child by a new partner four years later. Ultimately, MPF and depression may be reciprocally related and part of broader processes of social disadvantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, we examined whether mothers' (N = 4,127) and fathers' (N = 3,405) relationship status influenced their activation of financial support from relatives over time. We found that relationship status influenced the activation of financial support from relatives but that the effects differed somewhat by gender. Mothers were significantly more likely to activate financial assistance if they did not reside with the focal father, whereas fathers had lower odds of activating support if they were no longer in a relationship with the mother. Thus, the need for assistance may encourage mothers to access support; fathers may be less likely to access support when they deviate from social norms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study, this research investigated how income volatility and family structure patterns influence participation patterns of stability and change in Food Stamp Program participation among a sample of young families ( n = 1,263). Multinomial logistic regression models suggested that families that experienced significant declines in income were more likely to persistently participate and initiate participation than to never participate. Furthermore, stably married families were more likely to never participate; while other stable family structures (cohabitating couples and singles) and transitional unions were associated with persistent participation compared to other participation patterns. Immigration status, health, multiple indicators of economic hardship, and participant access rates were also significant in predicting patterns of participation. Strategies to increase participation are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 3,003), we examine the role of parental relationship status at birth on maternal adherence to current recommendations regarding breastfeeding, corporal punishment, and well-child visits. At the bivariate level, parents’ union status is almost linearly related to adherence to recommendations. Multivariate models, however, reveal that much of the association stems from the selection of more advantaged individuals into more serious relationships. The results suggest that, although relationship status may be an accurate indicator of parents who are at risk of not adhering to recommended parenting behaviors, the underlying causes of nonadherence are more complex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, we examine the association between parental major depressive and generalized anxiety disorders and child behavior problems across family types: married, cohabiting, involved nonresident father, and noninvolved nonresident father. Among 3-year-olds in all families, maternal anxiety/depression is associated with increased odds of anxious/depressed, attention deficit, and oppositional defiant disorders (N = 2,120). Paternal anxiety/depression has no significant association with these problem behaviors; father’s illness, however, exacerbates anxious/depressed behaviors in young children if both parents are ill and he is coresident. The findings underscore the importance of maternal mental health for child well-being and suggest that a negative interaction between parent illnesses is most likely when parents and children share the same disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use data from three waves of the Fragile Families Study (N = 2,111) to examine the prevalence and effects of mothers’ partnership changes between birth and age 3 on children’s behavior. We find that children born to unmarried and minority parents experience significantly more partnership changes than children born to parents who are married or White. Each transition is associated with a modest increase in behavioral problems, but a significant number of children experience 3 or more transitions. The association between instability and behavior is mediated by maternal stress and lower quality mothering. The findings imply that policies aimed at reducing maternal stress and partnership instability may improve child well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study of unmarried first-time mothers and their children's fathers (n = 600) was based on data from the Fragile Families Study. Greater religiosity among unmarried fathers was found to increase the odds of marrying vis-à-vis cohabitating with their children's mothers one year after childbirth. Fathers who cited "spending time together" often as a source of conflict were more likely to be in a cohabitating relationship than to marry. Mothers who reported that they were more distrustful of men were more likely to be in visiting (romantic but living apart) or in non-romantic relationships than to marry. Findings suggested that unmarried first-time mothers seeking stable relationships with fathers of their children could benefit from intervention efforts that focus on religious characteristics and quality of relationships of the parents. doi:10.1300/J515v09n01_04 [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Recent research has documented the high prevalence of having children with more than 1 partner, termed multipartnered fertility. Because childbearing is an important mechanism for building kin networks, we theorize that multipartnered fertility will influence the availability of social support for mothers. Analyzing 3 waves of data from the Fragile Families study (N = 12,259), we find that multipartnered fertility is negatively associated with the availability of financial, housing, and child-care support. Our longitudinal evidence suggests a bidirectional relationship in which multipartnered fertility reduces the availability of support, and the availability of support inhibits multipartnered fertility. We conclude that smaller and denser kin networks seem to be superior to broader, but weaker kin ties in terms of perceived instrumental support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent trends in marriage and fertility have increased the number of adults having children by more than 1 partner, a phenomenon that we refer to as multipartnered fertility. This article uses data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to examine the prevalence and correlates of multipartnered fertility among urban parents of a recent birth cohort (N = 4,300). We find that unmarried parents are much more likely to have had a child by a previous partner than married parents. Also, race/ethnicity is strongly associated with multipartnered fertility, as is mothers’ young age at first birth, and fathers’ history of incarceration. To the extent that childrearing across households diminishes parental resources, multipartnered fertility has important consequences for children’s well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We compare contemporaneous and retrospective reports of cohabitation among unmarried mothers in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing survey (N = 2,524). We find that (a) many mothers revise their reports of whether they cohabited at the time of the birth of their child and (b) revisions in reports are systematically related to individuals’ characteristics and the quality and trajectory of parents’ relationships. These results have important implications for analyses of determinants and consequences of family structure using these data and, potentially, any retrospective data on relationships and family structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]