Family Structure Transitions and Child Development: Instability, Selection, and Population Heterogeneity.

ABSTRACT: A growing literature documents the importance of family instability for child wellbeing. In this article, we use longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to examine the impacts of family instability on children's cognitive and socioemotional development in early and middle childhood. We extend existing research in several ways: (1) by distinguishing between the number and types of family structure changes; (2) by accounting for time-varying as well as time-constant confounding; and (3) by assessing racial/ethnic and gender differences in family instability effects. Our results indicate that family instability has a causal effect on children's development, but the effect depends on the type of change, the outcome assessed, and the population examined. Generally

SUBMITTER: Lee D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4902167 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature