Showing papers in "Journal of Marriage and Family in 1997"

The Cultural Contradictions of Motherhood

Abstract: While women are expected to be nurturing and unselfish in their role as mothers, they are expected to be competitive and even ruthless at work. Drawing on ideas about mothering since the Middle Ages, on contemporary childrearing manuals, and on in-depth interviews, Hays shows that 'intensive mothering' is a powerful contemporary ideology. These unrealistic expectations of mothers, she suggests, reflect a deep cultural ambivalence about the pursuit of self-interest.

A Longitudinal Study of Marital Problems and Subsequent Divorce

Abstract: This study investigated the extent to which reports of marital problems in 1980 predicted divorce between 1980 and 1992, the extent to which these problems mediated the impact of demographic and life course variables on divorce, and gender differences in reports of particular marital problems and in the extent to which these reports predicted divorce. Wives reported more marital problems than husbands did, although this was due to husbands ' tendency to report relatively few problems caused by their spouses. A variety of marital problems predicted divorce up to 12 years in the future. A parsimonious set of marital problems involving infidelity, spending money foolishly, drinking or drug use or both, jealousy, moodiness, and irritating habits mediated moderate proportions of the associations between demographic and life course variables and divorce. Key Words: divorce, gender, longitudinal studies, marital problems. Researchers trying to determine the causes of divorce have approached the problem in two ways. Some researchers have focused on demographic and life course variables that affect the risk of divorce, variables such as age at marriage, social class, race, religiosity, and parental divorce. Others have adopted a subjective perspective and asked previously married individuals why their marriages ended. In her 1990 review of the previous decade's research on predictors of divorce, White (1990) noted the relatively small number of studies in the latter group (e.g., Bloom, Niles, & Tatcher, 1985; Burns, 1984; Cleek & Pearson, 1985; Kitson & Sussman, 1982; Spanier & Thompson, 1987). She argued that personal accounts are useful and provocative, but "because these studies only include divorced respondents, they can tell us little about the extent to which these factors predict divorce" (p. 908). She also pointed out that there is little integration between studies of personal accounts of divorce and studies that focus on demographic and life course predictors of marital dissolution. Finally, she recommended more research that focuses on marital processes as predictors of divorce. The study presented here responds to White's call for more research on the links between marital processes and marital dissolution. Our study goes beyond prior research in three ways. First, in contrast to previous studies that used divorced people's retrospective accounts of marital problems, we use panel data from a nationally representative sample of married persons to investigate the extent to which marital problems in 1980 predict divorce between 1980 and 1992. In doing so, we address questions about the validity and usefulness of people's self-reports of marital problems as predictors of divorce. Second, we integrate data on specific marital problems (which we view as proximal causes of divorce) with data on the demographic and life course predictors of marital disruption identified in most prior sociological research (which we view as distal causes of divorce). To accomplish this, we assess the extent to which particular marital problems in 1980 mediate the associations between demographic and life course variables and divorce. Finally, because previous evidence suggests that men and women experience marriage and divorce differently (Bernard, 1972; Kitson, 1992; Thompson & Walker, 1989), we consider gender differences, both in the frequency of reports of marital problems in 1980 and in the extent to which these problems predict divorce between 1980 and 1992. MARITAL PROBLEMS AND DIVORCE Marital Problems as Predictors of Divorce Despite the substantial body of research on marital disruption, few prospective studies illustrate the extent to which specific characteristics of a relationship predict divorce. One exception is the work of Gottman and his colleagues, who have investigated some of the linkages among marital interaction, conflict resolution, and divorce (Gottman, 1994). …

Gender, status and domestic violence: An integration of feminist and family violence approaches.

Abstract: Family violence researchers suggest that sociodemographic indicators of structural inequality influence propensities for domestic assaults. Feminist scholars argue that domestic violence is rooted in gender and power and represents men's active attempts to maintain dominance and control over women. This article integrates both approaches by proposing that elements of structural inequality influence violent behavior differently for women and men. Using self- and partnerreported data from Wave I of the National Survey of Families and Households, this study examines the relationships among sociodemographic characteristics, gender, status (in)compatibility, and domestic assaults. Results indicate that incompatibilities in income and educational status are differentially associated with domestic violence perpetrated by women and men. Discrepancies between self- and partner-reported violence are examined to determine correlates of reporting differences. The findings suggest that future research would benefit from an integration of family violence and feminist approaches. Key Words: domestic violence, gender, status incompatibility, structure. Efforts to identify risk factors, correlates, and causes of domestic violence have burgeoned in recent decades. However, sociological scholarship on domestic violence is characterized by substantial controversy, particularly around issues of gender (Gelles, 1993; Johnson, 1995; Yllo, 1993). The heart of the debate centers on the relative importance of patriarchy in the etiology of domestic violence. Feminist sociologists contend that issues of gender and power are the ultimate root of intimate violence (Dobash & Dobash, 1979; Stark & Flitcraft, 1991; Yllo,1993), but sociologists from other substantive traditions (e.g., family sociology) argue that patriarchy is just one variable in a complex constellation of causes (Gelles, 1993; Straus, Gelles, & Steinmetz, 1980). The theoretical disputes stem, in part, from different methodological approaches to the study of domestic violence (see Johnson, 1995). Drawing primarily on victimization research that demonstrates the severe and repetitive nature of male violence, feminist researchers contend that violence is part of a system of coercive controls through which men maintain societal dominance over women (Dobash & Dobash, 1979; Martin, 1976; Stark & Flitcraft, 1996). Yet sociologists, employing national survey techniques, find strong relationships between domestic violence and age, cohabiting status, unemployment, and socioeconomic status that suggest that other characteristics of the social structure may engender violence (DeKeserdy, 1995; Smith, 1990; Stets, 1991; Straus et al., 1980). These scholars also suggest that the privacy and isolation of modern households in the United States and cultural support for violence facilitate domestic assaults (Gelles & Straus, 1988). National survey results indicating that women are as likely as men to report engaging in assaults against spouses or partners (Straus & Gelles, 1986) fueled the theoretical and methodological debates. Feminist scholars offer a methodological critique of the use of large-scale surveys to research domestic violence. They argue that these methods ignore the context in which violence occurs and thus the issues of gender and power (Dobash, Dobash, Wilson, & Daly, 1992; Johnson, 1995; Straton, 1994). Additionally, feminists contend that national survey data are biased by underreporting of male violence due to social desirability (Arias & Beach, 1987). Sociologists who focus on sociodemographic and family system explanations and whom Johnson (1995) calls "family violence" researchers claim feminist scholars employ single-variable analyses that concentrate on patriarchy and ignore the impact of factors such as income, unemployment, and age, which may affect the perpetration of domestic assaults by women and men (Gelles, 1993; Gelles & Straus, 1988). …

What did you do today? Children's use of time, family composition, and the acquisition of social capital.

Abstract: Using time-diary data collected from a statewide probability sample of California children aged 3-11, we examine the amount of time children spend on four activities presumed to affect their cognitive and social development-reading or being read to, watching TV, studying, and doing household chores-and how that time varies by four family characteristics: parental education, maternal employment, number of parents in the household, and family size. As expected, children of highly educated parents study and read more and watch TV less. Contrary to expectations, children of mothers who are employed part-time watch significantly less TV than children of mothers at home full-time. Otherwise, there are few significant differences by mother's extent of paid employment, the presence of a father, and the number of siblings. Thus, the results reinforce the thesis that parental education is the predominant predictor of the human and social capital investments that children receive. Key Words: children, family composition, social capital, time use. Changes in the American family have resulted in a growing uneasiness about the well-being of children in the United States. Some researchers note how the increased educational attainment of parents and declining family size bode well for children's economic security (Bianchi, 1990; Haveman & Wolfe, 1993; Hernandez, 1993). At the same time, others have emphasized trends like the increase in single parenting that result in more poverty and undermine children's economic wellbeing (McLanahan & Sandefur, 1994). Although the research on maternal employment has been mixed and inconclusive (Bronfenbrenner & Crouter, 1982; Presser, 1995), there continues to be concern about the potentially negative effects of working mothers. Debate continues over whether the dramatic increase in mothers' labor force participation and more single parenting have diminished parental attention to children and eroded children's chances of success in school and in other arenas of life. Sociologists have emphasized the importance of parental transmission of cognitive ability and academic expectations for the educational and occupational achievement of children (Duncan, Featherman, & Duncan, 1972; Sewell & Hauser, 1980). The notion of "human capital," a term sociologists borrowed from neoclassical economists, infuses our understanding of the goals of many childhood activities, particularly schooling. In this view, accumulating skills in childhood is of paramount importance, and understanding what impedes and what enhances development of competencies that will translate into success later in life becomes an important focus of the study of children and childhood activities. Sociologists, particularly James Coleman (1988), have broadened the economist's notion of human capital to encompass what has been called "social capital." Social capital, like human capital, increases children's future productivity, but investments depend on the relationships in which children are embedded. So, for example, a child may have a talented and highly educated parent and thus be genetically endowed with great potential for cognitive development, but interactions with that parent are needed to convey encouragement and expectations. Social interaction with parents thus can create resources that will enhance the child's realization of his or her potential for achievement and later success. Parental resources also place children in certain types of communities and educational environments where social interactions can provide further social capital to facilitate "good" child outcomes. McLanahan and Sandefur (1994) argue persuasively that the dysfunctional outcomes of children raised with one parent-such as the higher likelihood of dropping out of high school, having an early teen birth, and having difficulty getting established in the labor market-result not only from the poorer economic circumstances of these children but also from the diminished interaction these children have with parents (especially fathers). …

Parents' Cultural Belief Systems: Their Origins, Expressions, and Consequences.

Abstract: 1. Introduction, Harkness and Super I. Theoretical Perspectives 2. Parents' Free Descriptions of Child Characteristics: A Cross-Cultural Search for the Developmental Antecendents of the Big Five, Kohnstamm, Halverson, Havill, and Mervielde 3. Processes of Generalization in Parental Reasoning, Valsiner and Litvinovic 4. The Answer Depends on the Question: A Conceptual and Methodological Analysis of a Parent Belief Behavior Interview Regarding Children's Learning, Sigel and Kim II. The Nature and Origins of Parents' Cultural Belief Systems 5. Essential Contrasts: Differences in Parental Ideas About Learners and Teaching in Tahiti and Nepal, Levy 6. How do Children Develop Knowledge?: Beliefs of Tansanian and American Mothers, McGillicuddy-De Lisi and Subramanian 7. Japanese Mothers' Ideas about Infants and Temperament, Shwalb, Shwalb, and Shoji 8. Scenes from a Marriage: Equality Ideology in Swedish Family Policy, Maternal Ethnotheories, and Practice, Welles-Nystrom III. Intracultural Variation: The Role of Education and "Experts" 9. Parents' and Adolescents' Ideas on Children: Origins and Transmission of Intracultural Diversity, Palacios and Moreno 10. Education and Mother Infant Interaction: A Mexican Case Study, LeVine, Miller, Richman, and LeVine 11. The Contrasting Developmental Timetables of Parents and Preschool Teachers in Two Cultural Communities, Edwards, Gandini, and Giovaninni 12. Ask the Doctor: The Negotiation of Cultural Models in American Parent Pediatrician Discourse, Harkness, Super, Keefer, Raghavan, and Kipp IV. The Instantiation of Parents' Cultural Belief Systems in Practices 13. From Household Practices to Parents' Ideas About Work and Interpersonal Relationships, Goodnow 14. How Mayan Parental Theories Come Into Play, Gaskins 15. Parental Theories in the Management of Young Children's Sleep in Japan, Italy, and the United States, Wolf, Lozoff, Latz, and Pauladetto 16. Maternal Beliefs and Infant-Care Practices in Italy and the United States, New and Richman V. The Consequences of Parents' Cultural Belief Systems for Children's Health and Development 17. My Child is My Crown: Yoruba Parental Theories and Practices in Early Childhood, Zeitlin 18. Growth Consequences of Low-Income Nicaraguan Mothers' Theories About Feeding 1-Year-Olds, Engle, Zeitlin, and Medrano 19. The "Three R's" of Dutch Childrearing and the Socialization of Infant Arousal, Super, Harkness, van Tijen, van der Flugt, Fintelman, and Dijkstra 20. Imagining and Engaging One's Children: Lessons From Poor, Rural New England Mothers, Bond, Belenky, Weinstock, and Cook 21. American Cultural Models of Early Influence and Parent Recognition of Developmental Delays: Is Earlier Always Better Than Later?, Weisner, Matheson, and Bernheimer

From Adolescent to Young Adult: A Prospective Study of Parent-Child Relations during the Transition to Adulthood

Abstract: Longitudinal data from the National Survey of Families and Households were analyzed to explore continuity and change in parent-child relations as children make the transition to adulthood Results support a social learning view that past relationship patterns continue to be played out when families enter a new life stage The effects of earlier patterns of interaction on later relations are modest, however, and account for less than 10% of the variance in current parent-child relationships Evidence of long-term effects was strongest in two aspects of parent-adult child relations: emotional closeness and control-conflict The potential for discontinuity over time in parent-child relations also was examined The hypothesis that children's transition to adult roles would bring about change in family relationships was supported, in part Transitions to marriage, cohabitation, and fulltime employment (but not to parenthood) were associated with closer, more supportive, and less conflicted parent-adult child relations The child's leaving home also weakened the impact of past patterns of interaction on some aspects of current relationship quality Key Words: intergenerational relations, life course, parentchild relations The parental and filial roles form a core part of identity over much of the adult life span (Amato, 1994; Rossi Ac Rossi, 1990; Umberson, 1992) The uniqueness of the parent-child relationship in adulthood derives, in part, from its distinctive history (White, 1993) Over the life course, the relationship evolves from a pattern of child dependence on parents to a relationship between two mature adults that is characterized by mutuality and reciprocity of care (Nydegger, 1991) A critical question is the extent to which the early history of the parent-child relationship determines its future Do childhood patterns shape adult intergenerational relations? This is an area of human development we know little about The few studies in this area have relied mostly on retrospective reports of questionable validity This article explores the extent of continuity in parent-child relations from adolescence to young adulthood and the life course factors that may lead to change over time I focus on two research questions First, do patterns of childrearing and parent-child relations during adolescence exert a long-term influence on relations between parents and adult children? Second, what are sources of discontinuity in parent-child relations? Here I focus specifically on the individual life course transitions that may precipitate relationship changes These questions are examined in a prospective design using longitudinal data from the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH) Analyses are based on parents' reports at both times of measurement THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND LITERATURE The life course perspective on family development (Bengtson & Allen, 1993; Elder, 1984) guides my approach to the study of family relationships over time This perspective emphasizes the interdependence of the life histories of family members (Elder, 1984) and the potential for both continuity and change in patterns of family interaction over the life course Elder's (1984) model of the "dual dynamic of family development" suggests that family relationships change in response to the individual developmental paths of family members At the same time, changing patterns of family interaction shape individual life paths Research in this tradition has demonstrated the potential for continuity over time and over generations in family process and the ability of the life course transitions of individual family members to change patterns of family relationships (Caspi & Elder, 1988; Elder, Caspi, & Burton, 1988; Elder, Caspi, & Downey, 1986) Continuity in Family Patterns: The Past as Prologue How much continuity in parent-child relations should we expect to observe when children move from adolescence to young adulthood? …

Their mother's daughters? The intergenerational transmission of gender attitudes in a world of changing roles

Abstract: This study examines the intergenerational transmission of two gender attitudes (gender role ideology and work role identity). It draws on a life course perspective and panel data on mothers to assess the relationships between daughters' attitudes and (a) mothers' attitudes and employment experiences, as well as (b) the daughters' own life experiences. We find that mothers' gender role ideology in the 1950s was positively related to their daughters' gender role ideology as adults in 1988 and that social change over this 30-year period contributed to greater mother-daughter congruence in gender role ideology and work role identity by the 1980s. However, daughters' own status matters most in predicting their work role identity, suggesting the importance of both behavior and broad historical changes in moderating intergenerational transmission processes. Key Words: gender attitudes, intergenerational processes, longitudinal study, mothers and daughters. A rich tradition of social-psychological research focuses on the formation of basic orientations toward politics, religion, and gender roles (Alwin, Cohen, & Newcomb, 1991; Alwin & Krosnick, 1991; Glass, Bengtson, & Dunham, 1986; Miller & Glass, 1989). A basic question within this tradition is the relative contribution of earlier influences on adult attitudes, compared with later influences. Although the evidence for links between the attitudes of parents and children is strong (Smith, 1983; Smith & Self, 1980; Starrels, 1992), the notion of intergenerational transmission of attitudes and orientations becomes problematic in times of large-scale social change, when younger generations may well part ways with their elders in beliefs, values, and behavior. The revolution in gender roles over the last 30 years is a case in point, as succeeding generations of young women face new norms and frame new expectations regarding work and family roles (Gerson, 1985; Moen, 1992). How are daughters of the gender role revolution similar to or different from their mothers? Given the broad societal shifts in gender norms and expectations in the second half of the 20th century, are adult daughters effectively immune from the influence of their mothers' earlier attitudes and behaviors, or have both mothers and daughters been transformed by the tide of change in women's opportunity structure and expectations? To address issues of family influences and social change, we draw on a life course perspective to propose a transgenerational approach to gender role attitudes. We employ a unique data set of 245 mother-daughter pairs, with data collected on the mothers' generation at two points: in 1986 when their daughters were adults and 30 years earlier in 1956. The adult daughters were surveyed once, in 1988. Daughters may have "learned" their beliefs about women's roles and established their own work role identity while growing up, through their mothers' instruction and example. Or daughters' attitudes about gender roles may continue to develop in adulthood, drawing on the daughters' own experiences and roles as adults (although these, in turn, may reflect the social and economic position of their parents). Because we only have data on daughters at one point in time, we are unable to make firm conclusions about causality. In addition, we lack data about the important contributions of other family members (or caregivers) to the shaping of daughters' gender role attitudes. However, because we do have early data from mothers, we are able to examine the relative contribution of maternal influence and daughters' experiences on daughters' gender role attitudes and work role identity. We consider, as well, the potential for a growing congruence between mothers and daughters, given the revolutionary changes in gender roles and expectations from the 1950s to the latter half of the 1980s. POTENTIAL SOURCES OF INFLUENCE Socialization Much of the research on intergenerational transmission has followed either childhood socialization or social status models or a combination of the two (Acock, 1984; Acock & Bengston, 1980; Glass et al. …

Familial factors associated with the characteristics of nonmaternal care for infants

Abstract: study when the infants were born, and information was collected about naturally occurring patterns of regular nonmaternal care over the first 15 months of the child's life. Economic factors were most consistently associated with the amount and the nature of the nonmaternal care that infants received; maternal personality and beliefs about maternal employment also were factors. Infants who began nonmaternal care between 3 and 5 months of age had mothers who scored highest on extraversion and agreeableness. Children who began nonmaternal care earlier had mothers who believed that maternal employment had greater benefits for children. More nonmaternal care was related to fewer children in the family, lower maternal education, higher maternal income, lower total family income, longer hours of maternal employment, and the mother's belief in the benefits of maternal employment. The type of care was related to the child's ethnicity, household composition, and the mother's concerns about the risks of maternal employment to children. Factors predicting the quality of care varied across different types of care. For care in the child's home or in a childcare home, family income was positively associated with quality. For care in child-care centers, children from both low- and high-income families received higher quality care than those from moderate-income families. These results define the potentially confounding factors to be considered when analyzing the effects of early experiences of nonmaternal care on child outcome.

Child, Parent, and Contextual Influences on Perceived Parenting Competence among Parents of Adolescents.

Abstract: Belsky's (1984) model of the determinants of parenting was examined among 666 pairs of White mothers and adolescents and 510 pairs of White fathers and adolescents. When parents reported higher perceived parenting competence, sons and daughters reported more parental monitoring and responsiveness and less parental psychological control. Moreover, sons and daughters of competent parents reported higher levels of most measures of academic and psychosocial competence. For mothers and fathers, the best correlates of perceived competence in parenting were adolescent openness to socialization and stress in parenting this particular child, followed by parental sensitivity (for mothers) and marital or partner support (for fathers). Implications suggest expanding Belsky's model to include goodness-of-fit between parent and child. Key Words: adolescence, child effects, gender, goodness-of-fit, parenting competence. The long history of research on the parent-child relationship has focused almost exclusively on how parents influence the development of their offspring. Overall, these studies suggest that competent parenting promotes attachment security, cooperation, compliance, and achievement in children, whereas incompetent parenting fosters uncooperative and problematic behavior (see Belsky, 1990; Guidubaldi & Cleminshaw, 1989; Maccoby & Martin, 1983). Even among children as old as adolescents, those with competent parents perform better across a variety of domains, including psychological development, prosocial behavior, and academic competence (Baumrind, 1967, 1989, 1991; Dornbusch, Ritter, Leiderman, Roberts, & Fraleigh, 1987; Lamborn, Mounts, Steinberg, & Dornbusch, 1991; Steinberg, 1990; Steinberg, Elmen, & Mounts,1989). The consistency of these findings over time and across developmental periods has led to claims that further research on the benefits of competent parenting is unwarranted (Steinberg, 1990), that what is needed instead is a systematic attempt to disentangle what contributes to competent parenting-those specific components and processes that explain individual differences in parental functioning (Belsky, 1984, 1990). Yet, few studies of parenting competence are conducted with normative populations (Belsky, 1984), especially parents of adolescents. Knowledge and theorizing about the determinants of competent parenting are extrapolated primarily from studies of young children, with a predominant emphasis on dysfunctional parenting (e.g., child-abusing families). Far more attention is devoted to the parenting role of mothers than of fathers, despite evidence of the importance of the same-sex parent during adolescence (Hetherington, 1989; Steinberg & Silverberg, 1987). Furthermore, the predominant determinants of competent parenting are presumed to be parental characteristics or the social context (Belsky, 1984). There is a lacunae of research that examines children's influences on the quality of parenting they receive. Emerging studies of child characteristics focus primarily on how younger children affect mothers. These studies virtually ignore fathers and older children, despite preliminary evidence that a child's influence becomes more substantial during adolescence (Ambert, 1992; Lerner, 1982). In this article, perceived parenting competence is conceptualized as parents' self-evaluation (Gibaud-Wallston & Wandersman, 1978) of their ability to perform a range of well-accepted and valued behaviors related to optimum adolescent development. Following the lead of Blechman (1984), we do not contend that perceived competence is a stable, enduring trait of parents, but rather reflects their ability to adapt to the changing demands of parenting at a particular point in their adolescent's development. Moreover, if perceived parenting competence is to be a meaningful construct, it should have predictive ability (Blechman, 1984), reflected in adolescents' academic and psychosocial competence. …

Marital Quality and Physical Illness: A Latent Growth Curve Analysis

Abstract: K. A. S. WICKRAMA, FREDERICK 0. LORENZ, AND RAND D. CONGER Iowa State University GLEN H. ELDER, JR. University of North Carolina* Using latent growth curves, this study investigates the association between intraindividual changes in marital quality and physical illness for 364 wives and husbands in the rural Midwest. The results reveal that both the initial level of and the change in the marital quality of husbands and wives correlate with the initial level of and the change in physical health, after controlling for the influence of work stress, education, and income. Additional analyses imply that psychological wellbeing and behaviors that are health risks mediate or explain this association. The results provide stronger evidence for the association between marital quality and physical illness for both husbands and wives than has been obtained from cross-sectional studies or from longitudinal studies that have been limited to the investigation of interindividual differences. Key Words: marital quality, physical illness. Previous research demonstrates a significant association between marital roles and physical health (Gove, Hughes, & Style, 1983; Ross, Mirowsky, & Goldsteen, 1990). Few scholars, however, have examined how the degree of marital quality, rather than simply the status of being married, relates to physical well-being (Marcenes & Sheham, 1992). Yet subjective experience in the marital role may be a more powerful predictor of health status than is role occupancy (Barauch & Barnett, 1986). Gove and Umberson (1985), for example, found that intimate relationships are strongly related to overall well-being. Another limitation in previous research is that most of the studies focusing on the association between marital quality and health have examined only mental health (Lorenz, Conger, Montague, & Wickrama, 1993). In this study, we extend earlier research by investigating the correlation of marital quality, as indicated by marital stability, satisfaction, and happiness in the relationship, with physical illness, as reported by 364 wives and husbands who have been married long. In addition to examining the empirical relationship between marital quality and physical health, our study also addresses two important methodological issues largely neglected in previous research. First, earlier studies have focused on the correspondence between the levels of marital quality and physical health. We were able to locate only one study that has examined the relationship between interindividual changes in marital quality and changes in physical health (Booth & Johnson, 1994). No research in this area has investigated individual differences in intraindividual change in marriage and health, even though the investigation of change should explain individual growth or decline over time. Instead, prior studies of health and social relations have inferred intraindividual change from interindividual differences in levels of attributes (Lorenz & Wickrama, 1994). Actually monitoring the correspondence between changes in social relations and changes in health status provides stronger evidence for the dynamic association between those attributes, at least in comparison with the correspondence that can be obtained from interindividual differences in levels of marital quality and physical health at one point in time (McArdle, 1986; Patterson, 1983, Rogosa, Brandt, & Zimowski, 1982). Most important, none of the earlier studies that we have been able to identify has used individual trajectories of change to examine the systematic relationship between marital quality and physical wellbeing. In examining how the dynamics of marriage might affect changes in health status, it is important to note that changes in personal attributes across several points in time can take either linear or nonlinear forms. When true individual change follows interesting and even nonlinear trajectories, traditional analytical methods (correlational and covariant) are unlikely to reveal the intricacies of individual change (Willet & Sayer, 1994). …

Parental Involvement in Adolescent Schooling: A Proximal Process with Transcontextual Validity.

Abstract: Current theorizing has focused almost exclusively on searching for differences by culture, class, and gender, with scant attention to identifying proximal processes that transcend context. Yet in this study of 10,000 high school students, parents who were more involved in their adolescents' schooling had offspring who performed better in school, irrespective of the parents' gender or education and the children's gender, ethnicity, or family structure. In univariate analyses, the levels of parental school involvement varied across ecological niches (e.g., parental education and family structure), yet the benefits to adolescents' school success were relatively constant. In multivariate analyses, mothers' school involvement exerted a larger effect on grades among students whose mothers had fewer resources than among students whose mothers were more advantaged. Key Words: academic achievement, adolescence, parental school involvement. This article builds on Rappaport's (1981) compelling concept of true paradox-two ideas or principles that seem, on first blush, irreconcilable with each other but prove, on closer scrutiny, simultaneously valid. Rappaport illustrated this notion with the contradiction between two widely held, but opposite, values in American politicsfreedom and equality. Allowing total freedom might result in the powerful dominating the weak, thereby obliterating equality. Conversely, promoting total equality would impose more limits on some people than others, thereby constraining freedom. Thus, freedom and equality exemplify a true paradox because they are valid, yet opposing, schools of thought that are nevertheless intimately intertwined. Maximizing one of these poles necessarily limits the other. Because both poles need attention, we become one-sided when we focus on only one pole and ignore its counterpart. An important role of scientists is first to discover true paradox and, when imbalance occurs, to push in the ignored direction (Rappaport, 1981). Social science in the 1990s may face a true paradox, one that has escaped notice as researchers inadvertently have become one-sided in the representation and study of the nature of human development. For example, the theoretical paradigms that began emerging in the 1960s increasingly focused on context (Bronfenbrenner & Crouter, 1983), raising valid questions regarding how interfamilial processes are affected by extrafamilial conditions (Bronfenbrenner, 1986; Bronfenbrenner & Ceci, 1994; Bronfenbrenner & Crouter, 1983; Lerner, 1991, 1995; Riegel, 1972), specifically by characteristics of the person (e.g., gender and education) and context (e.g., family structure and ethnicity). Consistent with the developmental and contextual nature of these dominant paradigms, Lerner (1995) correctly asserted that "human development does not happen at the general level; it does not occur in a manner necessarily generalizable across diverse people and contexts" (p. 55). Few social scientists would disagree with the importance of contextual theories and analyses, a situation that should be a cause for alarm. As Rappaport (1981) contended, whenever social scientists agree, they run the risk of overlooking a true paradox. To examine whether the current paradigms for studying human development constitute a true paradox, social scientists need to identify whether contextualism has an equally valid counter assertion. Weisz (1978) questioned whether shortterm, context-bound validity is the best the social sciences can hope to achieve or whether some proximal processes are so fundamental to human development that they can be shown to have transcontextual validity that holds across physical and cultural setting, time, or cohort. Have social scientists emphasized the importance of different proximal processes in diverse ecological niches to the exclusion of searching for similarities in the effectiveness of proximal processes across context? If the current paradigms for studying human development constitute a true paradox, we may be overemphasizing one valid, defensible school of thought, contextualism, at the expense of its equally valid and defensible counterpart, the search for common denominators of human development that endure across context. …

Risk, Conflict, Mothers' Parenting, and Children's Adjustment in Low-Income, Mexican Immigrant, and Mexican American Families.

Abstract: Structural equation modeling was used to test mothers' supportive parenting and inconsistent discipline practices as mediators of the effects of multiple risk factors and family conflict on children's conduct disorder and depression. Data were collected from 121 predominantly Spanishspeaking, low-income, Mexican immigrant and Mexican American families. Separate process models were tested for children's and mothers' reports. For children's reports, mothers' supportive parenting partially mediated the effects of family conflict on children's depression. For mothers' reports, inconsistent discipline practices fully mediated the influence of multiple risk factors on children's depression and partially mediated the influence of multiple risk factors on children's conduct disorder. Only children's reports showed direct effects between family conflict and children's conduct disorder and depression. Higher levels of maternal acculturation were related to lower levels of inconsistent discipline practices and less depression in children. Key Words: acculturation, child adjustment, family conflict, Mexican Americans, parenting, reporter agreement. Mexican Americans are the most rapidly growing ethnic group in the United States, particularly in the Southwest, and are overrepresented in lowincome categories (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1993). Yet there have been few studies of influences on parenting practices and children's adjustment in this population. As a result, there is little empirical basis for the development of preventive and therapeutic interventions for families of this ethnic group who are at risk or who have children with adjustment problems. Low-income, predominantly Spanish-speaking, Mexican immigrant and Mexican American families represent a particular developmental niche or context for children in the U.S. Developmental niche, conceptualized by Super and Harkness (1986), refers to children's immediate, culturally structured environments and the effects these environments have on children's development. Three components of developmental niches are physical and social settings, culturally influenced customs and interactions (e.g., childrearing practices), and individual characteristics of children and their caretakers (e.g., psychological characteristics). These components interact dynamically, can be in accord or discord, and are regulated by homeostatic mechanisms to maintain stability (Harkness & Super, 1995). The family, as a developmental niche, is also an open system that interacts across its boundary with its surrounding contexts. The family is influenced by these contexts and, at the same time, exerts an impact on them (Bronfenbrenner, 1989; Lerner, Castellino, Terry, Villarruel, & McKinney, 1995). This study delineates some of the processes operating in the developmental niches of children in low-income, predominantly Spanish-speaking, Mexican immigrant and Mexican American families. More specifically, we wanted to determine whether mothers' parenting practices mediated the effects of the risk factors that these families experience and family conflict on children's adjustment. Research conducted mostly with groups other than Mexican Americans has identified various risk factors in children's and adolescents' contexts that increase the likelihood of adjustment problems (Hawkins, Catalano, & Miller, 1992). Certainly, one of the most salient of these risk factors is poverty and the accompanying financial strain on all family members (Anderson, Williams, McGee, & Silva, 1989; Costello, 1989; Farrington et al., 1990). However, it is the number of risk factors that a family experiences rather than any single risk factor like poverty that best predicts children's developmental outcomes (Rutter, 1990; Sameroff, Seifer, Zax, & Barocas, 1987). Families experiencing multiple risk factors (e.g., financial hardship, low maternal education, maternal depression) or numerous negative life events (e. …

Family Structure, School Context, and Eighth-Grade Math and Reading Achievement.

Abstract: Schools include growing proportions of students from single-parent families and stepfamilies, and this trend prompts the investigation of whether these families affect all students' achievement Analysis of eighth-grade math and reading achievement scores shows that schools that are predominated by students from single-parent families and stepfamilies negatively affect their students' achievement, even after individual demographic characteristics and family background are controlled This negative effect of singleparent families and stepfamilies is partly explained by the relatively low socioeconomic status of children in these schools However, the negative effect of single-parent families and stepfamilies on school achievement can be countervailed when social relations among parents are strong Key Words: nontraditional families, school achievement, socioeconomic status, stepfamilies Growing proportions of children in the United States reside with a single biological parent, and there are also more children attending schools where the majority of students are from singleparent families or stepfamilies Most public attention and debate has focused on the transformation of American families themselves, on the heightened rates of divorce and separation, and on similar rises in childbearing outside marriage In 1960, only 8% of all children lived in motheronly families; in 1992, the rate increased to 23% (DaVanzo & Rahman, 1993) The proportion of children under 18 years old who were living with one parent increased from 12% in 1970 to 27% in 1992 (US Bureau of the Census, 1992) Projections suggest that more than half of the children born in the US in the 1990s will spend some of their childhood in single-parent families (Sweet & Bumpass, 1990) Single-parent families clearly make up the majority of all families with one biological parent However, not only are the number of single-parent families on the rise, but the number of stepfamilies is increasing, as well Bumpass, Raley, and Sweet (1995) estimated that the proportion of children who were likely to ever live in a stepfamily by age 18 had increased from 14% in 1970-1974 to 23% between 1980-1984 For good reason, these trends have raised concerns about the relationship between family structure and children's schooling Cumulative evidence suggests that children who live in singleparent families tend to perform more poorly on standardized tests, are less likely to complete high school or to attend college, and are more likely to exhibit behavioral problems than children who live with both parents (Astone & McLanahan, 1991; Downey, 1994; Entwisle & Alexander, 1995; Haveman, Wolfe, & Spaulding, 1991; Hetherington, Camara, & Featherman, 1983; Krein & Beller, 1988; Lee, 1993; Li & Wojtkiewicz, 1992; Milne, Myers, Rosenthal, & Ginsburg, 1986; McLanahan, 1985; McLanahan & Sandefur, 1994; Muller & Cooper, 1986; Sandefur, McLanahan, & Wojtkiewicz, 1992) Nor are single-parent families unique in their association with adverse effects for children Although children in stepfamilies have two parents, McLanahan and Sandefur (1994) argued that stepfamilies can be viewed as similar to singleparent families because children in both types of families live with only one natural parent Moreover, previous research has shown that children's emotional, behavioral, and academic problems are as frequent in stepfamilies as in single-parent families Problem rates for both types of families are significantly greater than those found among children from biological, two-parent families (Dawson, 1991; Lee, 1993; Lee, Burkam, Zimiles, & Ladewski, 1994; Zill, 1988, 1994) Studies comparing mother-only and mother-stepfather families found similar effects on children's attained schooling, the risk of dropping out of high school, and the chance of entering college (Beller & Chung, 1992; Li & Wojtkiewicz,1992) These troubling findings imply a relationship between family structure and children's welfare, one that has provoked considerable commentary and concern …

Balancing Act: Motherhood, Marriage, and Employment among American Women

Abstract: This study began as a revision of the authors 1986 study entitled American Women in Transition. \"In recognition of the change in womens lives we begin this book with an overview of childbearing patterns among American women....Following that we turn to marital status and living arrangements....The middle chapters...review womens socioeconomic gains of the past decade: in education... in labor force and occupational status... in earnings... and in economic well-being and poverty....[The authors also] examine how women combine employment and family roles. The book is organized around the central roles that women occupy throughout their lives. The dominant theme is that most women now perform a variety of paid and unpaid tasks each day rather than specializing in motherhood at one stage of life and possibly employment at another. The strategies devised by individual women to address these simultaneous demands form the demographic patterns described in this book.\" Data are from a variety of sources both national and international. (EXCERPT)

Risk factors for teenage fatherhood

Abstract: Fatherhood is the consequence of a series of decisions and interactions including those surrounding the initiation and maintenance of sexual activity the use of contraception and the continuation of a pregnancy to term. Fatherhood therefore results from a social process which began months or years earlier. Data from the Rochester Youth Development Study an ongoing panel study of urban youth were used to identify early risk factors for the likelihood of becoming a teen father. The Rochester study is an ongoing panel study investigating the development of delinquent behavior drug use and related behaviors among urban adolescents in Rochester New York. The prospective study has interviewed adolescents and the adults mainly responsible for their care in waves since 1988 beginning with a sample of 1000 public school 7th and 8th graders and their families. The sample was stratified to overrepresent youth at high risk for serious delinquency and drug use. Data on respondents are also collected from school police courts and social service agencies. Findings are based upon 615 young men of average age 21 years interviewed during 1995-96 in wave 11 of the study; 121 White 386 Black and 108 Hispanic. 7 men reported becoming fathers at age 15. From that age the rate of fatherhood increases steadily until 28.5% of respondents overall had become fathers before age 20. Teen fatherhood was found to be positively related to a variety of risk factors including low social class low educational performance early sexual activity and drug use. The probability of becoming a teen father increases exponentially as the number of risk factors increases.

Structural and assimilationist explanations of Asian American intermarriage.

Abstract: This study represents our efforts to synthesize two intermarriage perspectives--one explaining intermarriage at the micro level using individual attributes the other explaining it at the macro level using aggregated community characteristics. The 5% Public Use Microdata Samples from the 1980 U.S. Census were used to link individual and community data. The empirical assessment of the linked model showed great promise indicating that the explanatory power of our model was significantly improved when one set of factors was supplemented by the other. Our findings supported the cultural assimilation hypothesis but contradicted the structural assimilation arguments. Contextual factors such as group size and sex ratio also exerted strong structural constraints on marital choices. (EXCERPT)

Beyond marital status: Partner history and well-being in old age

Abstract: Applying a life course perspective to the relationship between well-being and partner status suggests that the well-being of older adults is not only influenced by their current marital status, but also by aspects of their partner history. Life history data from a recent Dutch survey are used to examine the relationship between partner history variables and loneliness (n = 3,390). Older adults who are currently not involved in a partner relationship are lonelier than older adults with a partner. Furthermore, loneliness increases with the number of union dissolutions that older adults have experienced and decreases with the time elapsed since the last dissolution. No differences in loneliness are found between widowed and divorced older adults. The loss or lack of a partner is more detrimental for males than for females. These differences remain after controlling for age, health, network size, income, and educational attainment. This suggests that it is difficult to compensate for the lack or loss of relationshipspecific benefits of having a partner, especially for males. Key Words: life course, loneliness, marital status, partner relationships, gender. One well-established finding in the literature on well-being is that marked differences in subjective well-being exist between categories of marital status, both in the general population and among older adults in particular. For instance, the married report higher levels of well-being than the unmarried with respect to happiness (Glenn & Weaver, 1988), morale (Balkwell, 1985), mental health (Gove, 1972; Hughes & Gove, 1981), life satisfaction (Acock & Hurlbert, 1993; Strain & Chappel, 1982), and loneliness (De Jong Gierveld, 1987; Perlman, 1988). Among the unmarried, older adults who have never been married, especially women, seem to fare better than the divorced and widowed (Dykstra, 1990, 1995; Essex & Nam, 1987; Lawton, Moss, & Kleban, 1984). The favorable well-being of married people is usually explained by stressing the importance of having a partner for the fulfillment of basic human needs and the provision of resources (Bowlby, 1969; Chappel & Badger, 1989). Those who are not married are differentiated on the basis of whether or not they have been married in the past, and if so, whether that marriage was dissolved by divorce or by the death of the spouse. Here, attention is usually focussed on the devastating effects of losing one's partner, be it through divorce or widowhood (Balkwell, 1985; Ferreiro, Warren, & Konanc, 1986). The focus on marital status implies an explicit emphasis on some aspects of the partner history of people, at the expense of other aspects that might be important as well, especially with respect to older persons' well-being. In recent years, proponents of the life course perspective (Elder, 1994; Moen, Dempster-McClain, & Williams, 1989, 1992; Stroebe, Stroebe, & Hansson, 1993) have stressed that paying attention to these other aspects of people's partner history, for instance the type, number and duration of unions, could enhance our understanding of the importance of intimate relationships for people's well-being. If well-being is related to living full time with a partner rather than to being married, people in alternative relationship arrangements, such as cohabitation or a close relationship with a person outside the household, should show levels of well-being comparable with those of married people. Furthermore, given the serious emotional consequences of losing one's partner (Balkwell, 1985), it is questionable whether these consequences can be completely counterbalanced by entering a new relationship. Therefore, remarried people could be less well off than people in their first marriage. Research among the divorced and widowed suggests that well-being increases with the time elapsed since the last dissolution (Ferreiro et al.,1986). It is not clear, however, to what extent the negative impact of losing one's partner increases with the number of union dissolutions the divorced and widowed have experienced. …

Commitment processes in accounts of the development of premarital relationships

Abstract: CATHERINE A. SURRA The University of Texas at Austin DEBRA K. HUGHES Miami University* We examined the subjective processes by which premarital partners (n = 113) become more or less committed to wed over time. Two commitment processes were identified. In relationshipdriven commitments, commitment evolved smoothly with few reversals. To explain changes in commitment, partners focused on their interaction and activities with one another and with their joint network and on positive beliefs about the relationship and about network members. Eventdriven commitments had more extreme changes in commitment, with sharp downturns alternating with sharp upturns. Partners attributed changes to episodes of self-disclosure and conflict, negative relationship beliefs, separate interaction with network members, and negative network beliefs. On several measures, event-driven partners reported more negative relationship experiences and were less compatible. Yet the two groups did not differ on love or other indicators of involvement. The implications of the two processes for marital decisions are discussed. Key Words: commitment, mate selection, premarital relationships. Whether to wed and whom to wed are among the most consequential decisions that individuals make during their lifetimes. In order to understand fully how individuals make these decisions, two sets of possible influences need to be considered (Surra, Hughes, & Jacquet, in press). The first set is rooted in theories about factors that influence decisions about whom to wed. This set of causes corresponds to an outsider's perspective on mate selection. Research from an outsider's perspective is deductive; investigators make hypotheses about what factors are influential and then test their hypotheses. Most research on mate selection has followed this tradition (see Surra, 1990, for a review). Outsiders' perspectives on mate selection, as evidenced particularly in compatibility theories, generally assume that selecting a mate is approached rationally, with partners taking care to select someone who is a good match (cf. Huston, Surra, Fitzgerald, & Cate, 1981). In this study, we take an insider's perspective, and examine individuals' own explanations for their decisions about marriage. An individual's own reasons for choosing a mate are the subjective causes that influence marital decisions, and they constitute the second set of influences on marital decisions (Surra et al., in press). Subjective causes may or may not resemble those that are influential from an outsider's perspective. The degree to which coupled partners have social networks that overlap, for example, predicts progress toward marriage (cf. Milardo, 1982), but the partners may not be aware of the influence of that social structure. Instead, partners may be more concerned about other features of the network, such as how family members and close friends feel about their dating partner. This study concerns the subjective processes by which premarital partners become more or less committed to wed. What factors do individuals themselves say they weigh when making decisions about marital commitment? Is the decision process as carefully wrought and rooted in tests of homogamy and compatibility as many scholars assume, or is it more capricious and grounded in factors such as love, an auspicious confluence of life events, or personal readiness to wed? More than likely, subjective decisions about marital commitment are based on combinations of different considerations, and the considerations may vary for different people. The goals of this study are to identify the different subjective processes engaged in by different partners. The subjective processes are described in terms of the combinations of causes that individuals say they consider, as well as the nature of their developing commitment (e.g., how unstable it is). DEFINING AND MEASURING MARITAL COMMITMENT In its most general sense, commitment concerns partners' beliefs about whether their relationship is likely to continue over the long run (e. …

The relationship between communication skill and marital satisfaction: some moderating effects

Abstract: BRANT R. BURLESON Purdue University WAYNE H. DENTON Wake Forest University* This article proposes that the relationship between communication skills and marital satisfaction is not simple and straightforward, but rather is quite complex, varying as a function of several moderating factors-skill type, marital distress, gender, and analytic unit (couple, self, or other). Participants (30 distressed couples and 30 nondistressed couples) completed tasks providing assessments of four communication skills and two aspects of marital satisfaction. Analyses revealed that the magnitude-and even the direction-of the associations varied as a function of the moderating variables. In particular, skills and satisfaction were positively associated among nondistressed couples, but were negatively associated among distressed couples. The results are explored in terms of their implications for research on communication in marriage and the treatment of marital distress. Key Words: communication skills, marital communication skills, marital communication, marital distress. marital satisfaction. Communication plays a central role in marriage. For example, communication problems are the relationship difficulty most frequently cited by couples in community surveys (e.g., Cunningham, Braiker, & Kelley, 1982). Consistent with survey findings, communication problems also are the most frequent complaint of couples entering therapy (Geiss & O'Leary, 1981; Hahlweg, Revenstorf, & Schindler, 1984). A popular assumption has been that the cause of many marital communication problems is deficient communication skills on the part of spouses (e.g., Halford, Hahlweg, & Dunne, 1990; O'Donohue & Crouch, 1996). This assumption, which we shall refer to as the communication skills-deficit model of marital distress, has remained largely untested. We examine it critically in this article. We begin by briefly reviewing the contention that communication skills are an important determinant of marital satisfaction. Next, we critique the assumption that deficits in communication skills lead to dissatisfaction, identify several confusions in existing research on this topic, and offer four sets of distinctions that should assist in overcoming these confusions. We then report on a study that is designed to provide a fine-grained examination of the relationship between communication skill and marital satisfaction, as well as some of the factors that may moderate this relationship. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK The Assumed Connection Between Communication Skills and Marital Satisfaction The notion that the communication skills of spouses are major determinants of marital satisfaction is shared by theorists, researchers, and therapists alike. For example, one widely used counseling text asserts: Research indicates that communication problems are the major source of interpersonal difficulties. For example, most marital and family problems stem from misunderstanding, from ineffective communication, which results in frustration and anger when implicit expectations and desires are not fulfilled. And a major problem of those who seek professional help is their inability to recognize and communicate their problems or concerns. (Okun, 1991, p. 23) Consistent with this view, O'Donohue and Crouch (1996) note that communication training, "as an attempt to remediate problematic communication, has become an important component in many approaches to marital therapy" (p. 87). In particular, behavioral marital therapy-which may be the most researched clinical intervention for the treatment of marital distress (Shadish et. al., 1993)-assumes that a major reason for the scarcity of positive outcomes in distressed relationships is a lack of skills on the part of marital partners. Specifically, Jacobson and Margolin (1979) suggested that "distressed couples are often lacking in a variety of communication skills" (p. …

The decline in marriage among African Americans: causes consequences and policy implications.

Abstract: The Decline in Marriage Among African Americans: Causes, Consequences, and Policy Implications. M. Belinda Tucker & Claudia Mitchell-Kernan (Eds.). New York: Russell Sage Foundation. 1995. 397 pp. Hardcover ISBN 0-87154-887-9. $49.95; paper ISBN 087154-886-0, $19.95. This edited volume brings together a collection of chapters, emphasizing the causes, consequences, and policy implications of changing family formation among African Americans. Though declining marriage, female-headed families, and divorce rates are apparent throughout American society, African Americans are disproportionately represented with regard to "getting married and staying married." The editors' intent is to stimulate "discussion in our society as we attempt to redefine both marriage and family, at a time when the matter has become a grist for a rather vitriolic national debate" (p. xix). The writings in this volume are interdisciplinary, reflecting the views of anthropologists, demographers, economists, historians, social and urban psychologists, as well as criminologists. This book consists of 11 chapters divided into four sections. Discussions of social, historical, and political issues that have shaped research on African American families are provided in Section One where myths are dispelled and new conceptual paradigms for examining family formation among African Americans are offered. Sociological contexts are included in Section Two. Attention is devoted to explicating the relationship of unemployment rates among Black males, adult sex-ratio imbalance, and marriage propensities between Black and White marriage rates. Consequences and correlates of African American marital decline are examined in Section Three. Microand macro-level factors are used to examine the interplay between individual perceptions of the marriage market and conformation structural assessment of relationships. A central issue in this section is: "Do Black adults want to marry and expect to marry, given the societal portrayal of the limited availability of Black males?" Section Four focuses on the consequences and policy implications of African American family formation. Cox (1940) and Wilson (1987) frame many of the points of view in this volume. That is, the "fragile" economic position of Black males in American society is linked to the prevalence of female-headed and economically stressed African American families. A sex-ratio imbalance is also offered as a central explanation. Variations in how this process occurs are evident throughout these chapters. For example, some authors provide persuasive arguments that there are deliberate efforts within the wider society to eradicate a segment of the Black male population because they are viewed as "socially unwanted, superfluous, and marginal" (p. …

The marital dynamics of conflict over the division of labor

Abstract: The division of labor as a source of conflict is a concern for many couples. This study goes beyond the mere prediction of the amount of marital conflict by scrutinizing the relationship between spouses' discontent with the division of labor, their conflict interaction patterns, and subsequent outcomes. In addition, it aims to explain the relationship between wives' discontent with the division of labor and their conflict avoidance by looking at the moderating effect of spouses' gender role ideology. A survey of 494 Dutch couples showed that constructive and destructive conflict outcomes were predicted by spouses' discontent with the division of labor via marital interaction. The wife's discontent with housework was positively related to wife-demand/husband-withdraw interaction, which, in turn, predicted destructive conflict outcomes. Constructive conflict outcomes were predicted by mutually integrative interaction, which was, in turn, predicted by lower levels of discontent with the division of labor. Finally, traditional wives and wives with traditional husbands were more inclined to avoid conflict about the division of labor-despite their discontent-than egalitarian wives and wives with egalitarian husbands.

Early Motherhood in an Intergenerational Perspective: The Experiences of a British Cohort

Abstract: Using nationally representative longitudinal data from Great Britain, this study examines the fertility patterns of daughters of teen mothers. It tests several mechanisms to help explain how early motherhood is reproduced across generations, including an earlier inherited age of menarche, poor family and educational environments, and an early ideal age of childbearing among daughters of teen mothers. Some support is provided for all mechanisms except for an early inherited age at menarche. Even after controlling for family, school, and individual factors, daughters of teen mothers were more likely to have a birth in their teens and into their early 20s. Key Words: intergenerational effects, teen motherhood. Public concern surrounding the issue of teenage motherhood recently has accelerated in several industrialized countries because of high rates of teen motherhood, the public sector costs incurred by early childbearers, and the projected negative life outcomes for both mothers and children. Recent research on the long-term effects of teen motherhood has rejected a deterministic model that posits an inevitably negative life trajectory for teen mothers (Furstenberg, Brooks-Gunn, & Morgan, 1987). However, although many teen mothers have been able to avoid poverty or make the transition out of poverty, their children are frequently worse off than other children. Specifically, the experiences of children born to teen mothers reflect the obstacles they face from having access to fewer economic resources, parents with lower educational levels, and less parental involvement and cognitive stimulation (Furstenberg, Levine, & Brooks-Gunn, 1990; Hofferth, 1987; Moore, Morrison, & Greene, in press). However, the extent to which early motherhood is reproduced across generations and the mechanisms through which this happens have received little research attention. This article uses data from the British National Child Development Study (NCDS) to explore intergenerational patterns in teen motherhood. Specifically, it tests whether daughters of teen mothers have different fertility patterns than other teens and whether or not they are more likely to become teen mothers themselves. The article extends existing research by examining intervening mechanisms-including age at menarche, family and educational environments, and early ideal ages of childbearing among daughters of teen mothers-to help explain how early motherhood may be reproduced across generations. Although the data were collected in Great Britain, the results illuminate factors involved in the reproduction of disadvantage across generations in many industrialized nations. TEEN BIRTH RATES IN GREAT BRITAIN AND THE UNITED STATES Lessons from the study of Great Britain can be cautiously applied to the U.S. Demographic trends in the U.S. teen birth rate are more similar to Great Britain than to other European countries. The British teen birth rate, although much lower than the rate in the U.S., remains higher than teen birth rates in most other industrialized countries (Jones et al., 1986). Teen motherhood receives extensive media attention as a social issue in Great Britain, as it does in the U.S. (McRobbie, 1991; Phoenix, 1991). Also, in both the U.S. and Great Britain, a growing proportion of teen births are nonmarital. Figure 1 presents trends in teen birth rates for Great Britain and the U.S. The British teen birth rate rose steadily during the 1960s until it peaked in 1971 at 51 births per thousand. After that, it declined in the 1970s and has remained between 28 and 33 per thousand throughout the 1980s and 1990s. The U.S. teen birth rate peaked in the mid1950s and declined steadily until the mid-1980s. Then it rose by nearly a quarter and leveled off to 57 per thousand in 1995 (Moore, Romano, & Oakes, 1996). In 1965, the British teen birth rate was 73% as high as the U.S. birth rate for Whites. (Because there was a very low percentage of nonWhite British teens at that time and 99% of the NCDS sample is White, the comparison group in this figure is U. …

Significant life experiences and depression among single and married mothers

Abstract: We examine the relationships among early family adversities, depression, and family status using a sample of single and married mothers. Regardless of whether they are never-married or separated or divorced, single mothers report higher lifetime and 1-year prevalence rates of depression than married mothers. By examining the connections among adversities, depressive episodes, and family status, we demonstrate the importance of early adversities in childhood and adolescence in explaining these differences in depression according to marital status. Specifically, higher rates of depression among single mothers are due, in part, to a greater likelihood of early childhood adversities, which then increase the risk for early onset of depression. Interestingly, women whose childhoods have been relatively free of adversities are more likely either to report no depressive episodes or to have a later onset of depression. These latter trajectories are more common among married than among single mothers. We discuss the relevance of these findings for understanding the interplay of stressful experience, depressive illness, and family status. Key Words: childhood adversities, depression, family structure, single mothers, stress. Recent increases in the number of divorces and births out of marriage have led to a rise in the number of single-parent families in North America, the majority of which are headed by women. These changes have broad implications for the psychological well-being of family members, particularly mothers and their children. As numerous researchers have documented, the economic and social conditions associated with single parenthood frequently result in a variety of stressors and chronic strains that lead to elevated levels of psychological distress and clinical depression (Doherty, Su, & Needle, 1991; Hetherington, Cox, & Cox, 1981; McLanahan, 1983, 1985). These observations are consistent with the well-known stress process formulation (Pearlin, 1989; Pearlin, Lieberman, Menaghan, & Mullan, 1981) that postulates that individuals' locations in the social structure expose them to various types of stresses and strains that ultimately manifest themselves in feelings of distress (cf. Avison & Gotlib, 1994, for an overview). Within this theoretical context, many researchers argue that the stress often accompanying the experience of being a single parent and the absence of protective resources such as high self-esteem, mastery, or social support adversely affect mental health. This research does much to inform us about the challenges these women face; however, a focus on current circumstances provides only a partial picture of why marital and parental statuses affect mental health. Although current statuses may be proximal determinants of depression, they obviously cannot shed much light on the distal determinants or origins of depression. In our view, a more complete understanding of the link between single parenthood and mental health requires consideration of these women's backgrounds. It seems important to appreciate that the relationship between single parenthood and mental health is, in part, a reflection of earlier social experiences. Indeed, various research findings are consistent with this premise. For example, research indicates that the onset of depressive disorder frequently occurs in early adulthood (Robins & Regier, 1991), with a significant proportion occurring in childhood and adolescence (Sorenson, Rutter, & Aneshensel, 1991). Moreover, most current cases of major depression among adults are recurrences rather than first episodes (Kessler & Magee, 1993, 1994a, 1994b). These observations strongly suggest that some of the important precursors of depression are to be found in childhood or adolescence. Therefore, to focus only on the circumstances associated with single parenthood neglects the prior experiences that these women bring into their adult marital and parenting roles-that is, life histories that may either exacerbate or diminish their risk of depression. …

Divorce-Related Transitions, Adolescent Development, and the Role of the Parent-Child Relationship: A Review of the Literature.

Abstract: For the adolescent undergoing multiple developmental changes, divorce and its related transitions present additional challenges, promoting growth for some and constituting developmental vulnerabilities for others. A review of the literature on adolescent development, family relationships, and the impact of divorce on adolescents reveals that adolescents experience divorce differently than younger children and that a positive parent-adolescent relationship can ameliorate the negative effects of divorce. Major gaps in the literature, particularly in the areas of differential effects for ethnic and minority youth and families and the effect of diverse family configurations on development, are identified. Specific suggestions for further research are proposed. Key Words: adolescent development, divorce, parent-child relationships. Due to the continuing high rates of divorce, reconstituted families, shared custody, and single-parent homes have become commonplace in the lives of children and adolescents (Cherlin, 1992). In contemporary research, divorce and remarriage are viewed not as single, static events, but as part of a series of transitions, modifying the lives of children (Hetherington, 1989; Wallerstein & Johnston, 1990). In addition to the trauma of divorce itself (i.e., the conflict between parents that often precedes, accompanies, and follows divorce, the possible loss and diminished contact with a parent, the potential of diminished parent effectiveness, and decreases in economic support), divorcerelated transitions often involve geographic moves, the addition of stepsiblings, and a new set of extended family members. Divorce followed by remarriage can involve the introduction of parent figures with multiple roles and overlapping relationships. Taken together, these divorce-related factors have a direct impact on the life courses of children and may be especially challenging for the adolescent who is simultaneously involved in critical developmental transitions (Anderson, Hetherington, & Clingempeel, 1989; Hetherington, Stanley-Hagan, & Anderson, 1989; Springer & Wallerstein, 1983; Wallerstein & Kelly, 1980). For the adolescent undergoing multiple developmental changes, divorce and its related transitions present additional challenges, promoting growth for some and constituting developmental vulnerabilities for others (Hetherington & Anderson, 1987). As a consequence of altered family structure, patterns, and routines, some adolescents acquire certain strengths, notably a sense of responsibility and competence (Demo & Acock, 1988). Another body of research has found that multiple life transitions occurring in a relatively short time place certain adolescents at risk (Rutter, 1981, 1987; Simmons & Blyth, 1989). Studies in this vein reveal that a high percentage of adolescents in residential treatment homes are from families disrupted by separation or divorce (Glick, 1984). Research on antisocial behavior among adolescents has found that adolescents in mother-only households and in conflict-ridden families are more likely to commit delinquent acts (Demo & Acock, 1988). These findings on the negative effect of multiple, stressful events have been corroborated by those from large national surveys that reveal that, compared with youngsters from families with two biological parents, more than twice as many adolescents from divorced families have seen mental health professionals (Zill, 1988; Zill & Peterson,1983). The literature on adolescent development traditionally has emphasized the important role the family plays in negotiating various transitions encountered during this phase, including the formation of a sexual identity (Freud, 1958) and a sense of self (Erikson, 1968), in shaping future life choices and in forming values (Blos, 1979). More recently, the family, especially the parent-child relationship, has been viewed as the main source of support for the adolescent (Feldman & Elliott, 1990), acting as a buffer to help ameliorate some of the stress encountered during this period (Garmezy & Rutter, 1983). …

Gender differences in the social and economic burdens of parenting and psychological distress

Abstract: In a representative national sample of 1,601 adults aged 18-59, parents with children younger than age 18 living in the household reported higher levels of psychological distress than other adults. Mothers reported the highest distress levels. I hypothesized that children provide tradeoffs for their parents' distress. Social and economic burdens associated with parenting increase psychological distress for people with children. The model was supported for both men and women and was not moderated by the number of children in the household. I found that children were associated with lower psychological distress levels. Key Words: child care, depression, gender, marital quality, parenthood; social support. It is an interesting paradox that although Americans place a high value on having children and parents speak of loving their children and enjoying the time they spend with them, most studies show minimal positive effects of children younger than 18 years old on parents' physical well-being and insignificant or small, inconsistent effects on parents' psychological well-being (Gore & Mangione, 1983; Gove & Geerken, 1977; Kessler & McRae, 1982; Lovell-Troy, 1983; McLanahan & Adams, 1987; McLanahan & Adams, 1989; Ross, Mirowsky, & Goldsteen, 1990; Umberson, 1989). For example, compared with persons without children, parents of children under 18 report lower levels of life happiness and higher levels of agitation; yet, parents also report higher levels of life meaning (Umberson & Gove, 1989). Time-use studies offer a partial explanation of these paradoxical findings. They indicate that parents experience a trade-off between enjoyable time spent with their children and an increase (particularly for mothers) in the amount of time spent doing things that they do not enjoy, such as housework (Berk & Berk, 1979). Thus, there is a trade-off between the positive experiences of parenting and the burdens and responsibilities that come with it. Such a trade-off between the positive and negative effects of children and parenting results in the apparent near-zero association if, on average, the positive and negative effects cancel each other out. A thorough examination of the structural burdens associated with childrearing and their impact on parents' psychological distress may reveal an underlying, positive effect of parenthood on distress. If this is the case, then structural burdens of parenting potentially could be reduced, thereby improving parents' psychological well-being. Moreover, such an examination will shed light on whether gender differences in the social and economic burdens of parenting produce greater psychological distress in mothers than in fathers. I examine parenting stressors and their implications for mothers and fathers, compared with persons without children under age 18 living at home. First, I examine how parenting affects adults' exposure to particular social and economic resources and stressors and whether this exposure is likely to differ for men and women. Second, I examine whether these positive and negative aspects of parenting differentially affect men's and women's psychological distress. I focus on two aspects of parenting-social and economic burdens as measured by economic hardship, responsibility for child care, and difficulty arranging child care-and on two social resources-marital happiness and emotional social support, both of which are affected by the presence of children and may buffer parents from the social and psychological consequences of parenting burdens. EFFECTS OF PARENTING ON ADULTS LIVES Having children increases parents' exposure to particular stressors, such as economic hardship, and creates new stressors, such as responsibility for caring for children and, for employed parents, arranging for child care for the time that they are at work. In addition, raising children affects parents' social resources. The demands of parenting may decrease resources for coping with stress by lowering marital happiness, which, in turn, increases distress. …

Out of the Darkness: Contemporary Perspectives on Family Violence

Abstract: Introduction - Glenda Kaufman Kantor and Jana L Jasinski PART ONE: THE PREVALENCE OF FAMILY VIOLENCE Change in Cultural Norms Approving Marital Violence from 1968 to 1994 - Murray A Straus, Glenda Kaufman Kantor and David W Moore The Homicides of Children and Youth - David Finkelhor A Developmental Perspective An Examination of Physical Assault and Childhood Victimization:Histories within a National Probability Sample of Women - Terri L Weaver et al PART TWO: CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT Pandemic Outcomes - Evvie Becker-Lausen and Sharon Mallon-Kraft The Intimacy Variable Pornography and the Organization of Intra- and Extra-Familial Child Sexual Abuse - Catherine Itzin A Conceptual Model Black Mothers' Emotional and Behavioral Responses to the Sexual Abuse of Their Children - Claudia Bernard Children's Exposure to Marital Aggression - Gayla Margolin and Richard S John Direct and Mediated Effects The Effects of Neglect on Academic Achievement and Disciplinary Problems - Kathleen A Kendall-Tackett and John Eckenrode A Developmental Perspective The Traumatic Events Screening Inventory - Jason H Edwards and Karen C Rogers Assessing Trauma in Children Measuring Physical and Psychological Maltreatment of Children with the Conflict Tactics Scales - Murray A Straus and Sherry L Hamby Methodological Issues in Classifying Maltreatment - Heather N Taussig and Alan J Litrownik An Examination of 'Protective Issue' Children PART THREE: WIFE ABUSE Attitudes as Explanations for Aggression against Family Members - Sharon D Herzberger and Quentin H Rueckert Woman Battering - Janice Joseph A Comparative Analysis of Black and White Women Surviving Abusive Dating Relationships - Karen H Rosen and Sandra M Stith Processes of Leaving, Healing and Moving On Social Predictors of Wife Assault Cessation - Etiony Aldarondo and Glenda Kaufman Kantor Wife Abuse in Intact Couples - Pamela D Brown and K Daniel O'Leary A Review of Couples Treatment Programs Expanding Batterer Program Evaluation - Edward W Gondolf Feminist Therapy for Battered Women - Maryse Rinfret-Raynor and Solange Cantin An Assessment Controlling Domestic Violence - JoAnn L Miller and Amy C Krull Victim Resources and Police Intervention Collaboration between Researchers and Advocates - Edward W Gondolf, Kerstie Yllo and Jacquelyn Campbell PART FOUR: ETHICAL AND CULTURAL ISSUES IN FAMILY VIOLENCE Ethical Issues in Trauma Research - Elana Newman et al The Evolution of an Empirical Model for Decision Making Ethical Dimensions of Intervention with Violent Partners - Gilles Rondeau et al Priorities in the Values and Beliefs of Practitioners Conducting Ethical Cross-Cultural Research on Family Violence - Lisa Aronson Fontes

Influence of Older Siblings on Initiation of Sexual Intercourse

Abstract: This study uses data from the 1993 Philadelphia Teen Survey (via telephone) of 2080 adolescents and their parents (75% completion rate) to examine the factors affecting early initiation of sexual intercourse that are associated with sibling influence and gender after controlling for parental behavior and attitudes about adolescent sexuality. Data were gathered on two teenagers living in the same household in 218 cases and were analyzed for 183 pairs. The report also contains an introductory review of the literature on the role of older siblings as "orientational others" and on the effect of the gender of siblings. The model tested in the study predicts that 1) the normative beliefs of older siblings influence younger siblings 2) the sex behavior of older siblings influences younger siblings 3) the sex behaviors and normative beliefs in the older siblings reference groups influence younger siblings 4) the effects remain after parental effects are controlled 5) the influence of an older sibling is greater when siblings are the same gender 6) the influence of older siblings increases when both siblings are female and 7) older brothers have the most influence on younger brothers and/or sisters. Statistical analysis confirmed that the older siblings influence the sex behavior of younger siblings through a process in which younger siblings compare themselves with older siblings. It was also found that parental effects have a stronger impact than sibling effects on the odds of a younger sibling being a non-virgin. Older brothers however influence the sex behavior of younger siblings of both genders (stronger for younger brothers) and also influence use of birth control during first intercourse. Older sisters influence younger siblings only by connecting them with new reference groups. Further research is needed to explore the influence of various characteristics of the sibling relationship and sexual activity.

Sexual Abuse History and Problems in Adolescence: Exploring the Effects of Moderating Variables.

Abstract: This study explores the relationship between sexual abuse and two problem outcomes binge drinking and suicidal ideation in a sample of 42568 adolescents. The effects of current and prior sexual abuse on these outcomes were examined for females and males separately. Of particular interest were factors related to the likelihood of problem behaviors among adolescents who had been sexually abused. Adolescents who had been both physically abused and sexually abused exhibited more problems than those who experienced only one type of abuse. High levels of parental monitoring and high levels of support from at least one parent decreased the risk of problem outcomes among sexually abused adolescents. School success also reduced the risk of problem outcomes for some of the groups studied. (authors)

Married and recently divorced mothers' stressful events and distress : Tracing change across time

Abstract: FREDERICK O. LORENZ, RONALD L. SIMONS, AND RAND D. CONGER Iowa State University GLEN H. ELDER, JR. University of North Carolins* CHRISTINE JOHNSON AND WEI CHAO Iowa State University** We examined the relationship between divorce and psychological distress in adult women by combining data from two studies, one of divorced mothers with adolescent children (n = 188) and another of married mothers (n = 306). The data were modeled using latent growth curves to chart change over time. Change in depressive symptoms paralleled changes in stressful events. For divorced mothers, stressful events and depressive symptoms increased significantly soon after the divorce and then diminished over the next 3 years, although not to the same levels reported by married women, The data were consistent with a proposed model that incorporated aspects of both the social causation and the selection perspectives. Key Words: depressive symptoms, divorce, latent growth curves, panel studies, stressful events. The dramatic increase in divorce rates in the United States is well documented. Current estimates project that at least half of recent first marriages will end in divorce (Bumpass, 1990). Despite its frequency and growing acceptance, divorce is still a traumatic life change; single parents have higher rates of both emotional and physical health problems than their married counterparts (Amato & Keith, 1991; Bachrach, 1975; Kitson, 1992; Tschann, Johnston, & Wallerstein, 1989). In this article, we examine the relationship between divorce and psychological distress by introducing stressful life events as a mediating link between family structure and depressive symptoms in women. This study is conducted by combining data from two three-wave panel studies, one of recently divorced mothers with adolescent children and another of a parallel sample of married mothers. Although several earlier studies have used panel data (see Kitson, 1992, pp. 24-25), this combined data set permits us to extend previous research in specific methodological and substantive ways. Methodologically, we extend previous panel studies on divorce and distress by using latent growth curves to explicitly model intra-individual change in psychological distress and stressful life events in recently divorced mothers, and we then compare their trajectories of change with those of the parallel sample of married mothers. Substantively, we draw on traditional research of family stress (McCubbin & Patterson, 1983) and the stress-distress process (Coyne & Downey, 1991; Kessler, Price, & Wortman, 1985; Mirowsky & Ross, 1989; Pearlin, 1989) to conceive of divorce as a primary stressor that makes women susceptible to an array of stressful life events. These events accumulate quickly following divorce and then subside over time. Changes in depressive symptoms parallel changes in stressful events. To accommodate the competing argument that some people experience more stressful events and higher levels of depressive symptoms because of past behavior problems and that these people are more likely to be among the divorced, we also incorporate measures of antisocial behavior into our model. Taken together, the mother's family structure and past antisocial behavior capture aspects of two competing perspectives: Social causation asserts that divorce creates conditions that make women susceptible to more stressful life events (e.g., Turner, Wheaton, & Lloyd, 1995) and, therefore, higher levels of distress; selection claims that women with a history of antisocial behavior are likely to experience more stressful events, become depressed, and are more likely to be among the divorced (e.g., Patterson & Dishion, 1988). THEORETICAL MODEL The connection between family structure and psychological distress is based on the empirical observation that both divorced men and women are more depressed than their married counterparts. …

A National Profile of Nonresident Fathers and Their Ability to Pay Child Support.

Abstract: This study provides the first national estimates of nonresident fathers' income and child support payments as reported by nonresident fathers, themselves, in two nationally representative surveys. According to these data, nonresident fathers could pay as much as $34 billion more in child support if all nonresident fathers had child support orders and if those orders were fully paid. This figure has been cited extensively by President Bill Clinton and other policymakers as justification for strengthening the enforcement of child support. The article explains how this figure was derived and provides a national profile of nonresident fathers and their ability to pay child support. Key Words: child support, fathers, nonresident parents. In the popular press, nonresident fathers are typically depicted as "deadbeat dads" who can afford to pay child support but choose not to, denying their children needed income. Previous research has certainly confirmed that such men exist, but it also has shown that many nonresident fathers are poor and lack the ability to pay child support. To date, we have not had a national profile of nonresident fathers to ascertain exactly how many of them are able to pay child support but choose not to and how many are already poor. This lack of information is due, in part, to the fact that large national surveys typically do not ask men about their children who live elsewhere. Moreover, nonresident fathers are seriously underrepresented in the national surveys that have asked about these children. This study uses two surveys-the 1987-1988 National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH) and the 1990 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP)-to understand who nonresident fathers are and how much child support they could afford to pay. I begin by explaining how I identify nonresident fathers in these surveys and by measuring the extent to which nonresident fathers are underrepresented. (The Appendix gives more details on identifying nonresident fathers.) I then develop a method of reweighting the data to take into account nonresident fathers' underrepresentation in these surveys. Once the data are reweighted, I provide a demographic and economic profile of nonresident fathers who self-report in the surveys, as well as all nonresident fathers, including those who are missed by these surveys. I contrast the characteristics of nonresident fathers with those of custodial mothers and resident fathers. I end by estimating how much more child support nonresident fathers could potentially pay. PREVIOUS RESEARCH Previous efforts to measure the ability of nonresident fathers to pay child support have met with serious data problems. First, most large, nationally representative surveys do not ask men whether they are nonresident fathers. Surveys that have asked this question have drawn exceedingly low response rates, including those collected in the 1979 Current Population Survey and the 1987-1988 National Survey of Families and Households (Cherlin, Griffith, & McCarthy, 1983; Seltzer & Brandreth, 1994). These studies find about 60% as many nonresident fathers as custodial mothers. In an effort to overcome the lack of national data on nonresident fathers, Garfinkel and Oellerich (1989) developed an indirect method of determining nonresident fathers' income that was based on the characteristics of custodial mothers. Many studies have used this approach to examine nonresident fathers' ability to pay child support (e.g., Garfinkel, 1992; Garfinkel & Oellerich, 1989; Meyer, Garfinkel, Oellerich, & Robins, 1992). These studies conclude that nonresident fathers could pay considerably more child support, but the findings are not based on direct evidence of nonresident fathers and their actual income. Furthermore, this method cannot be used to determine other characteristics of nonresident fathers, such as their behavior in the labor force, their marital status, and living arrangements. …