A not-so-grim tale: how childhood family structure influences reproductive and risk-taking outcomes in a historical U.S. Population.

ABSTRACT: Childhood family structure has been shown to play an important role in shaping a child's life course development, especially in industrialised societies. One hypothesis which could explain such findings is that parental investment is likely to be diluted in families without both natural parents. Most empirical studies have examined the influence of only one type of family disruption or composition (e.g. father absence) making it difficult to simultaneously compare the effects of different kinds of family structure on children's future outcomes. Here we use a large, rich data source (n=16,207) collected by Alfred Kinsey and colleagues in the United States from 1938 to 1963, to examine the effects of particular childhood family compositions and compare between them. The dataset further allow

SUBMITTER: Sheppard P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3943735 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature