It is exciting to get married. Marriage offers the opportunity to create a new family and new traditions. However, getting married when there are children involved can bring with it a new set of challenges and anxieties about making your relationship work successfully for a lifetime. Stepfamilies are very common, but creating one can be challenging. In the United States, more than 1,300 stepfamilies are formed every day. It is a great responsibility to model healthy relationships for your children, and now is the perfect time to show them your best stuff! This tip sheet is designed to help…
This fact sheet explores marital challenges adults may face when their adult children leave the home, including feelings of depression, sadness, and grief. Symptoms of Empty Nest Syndrome are described, as well as the challenges faced by the Sandwich Generation that is taking care of their own children while taking care of their aging parents, challenges related to boomerang kids, and the challenge of forced retirement. The impact of these challenges on marriage is noted and the need for couples to feel connected to overcome the challenges is emphasized. 9 references.
This fact sheet explores unique stepfamily characteristics and stepfamily dynamics. Data is shared on the number of stepfamilies, different types of stepfamilies, and nonresidential and cohabiting stepfamilies. It is estimated that between 10 and 20% of U.S. children reside in stepfamilies, and data is reported that indicates between 1997 and 2002, the percentage of stepfamilies did not increase significantly for any racial group except for Hispanics. Compared to children living with both biological parents, the fact sheet states children in stepfamilies tend to have more struggles with…
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Journal Article Marriage between two parents, compared with other family living arrangements, appears, on average, to enhance children's wellbeing and development. Some of the positive association between marriage and children's wellbeing comes from positive associations between marriage and other things that also contribute to children's wellbeing. David Ribar first sets up a standard economic rational-choice model to show that, all else equal, marriage should produce advantages that can improve children’s wellbeing, such as better coordination between parents and economies of scale that make limited…
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Journal Article In this study, we examine how financial stress is associated with problem behavior in adolescents through the lives of their parents. Using an actor–partner interdependence model, we explore pathways within (actor) and between (partner) parents. Our data included 340 families, with both parents rating their financial stress, depressive symptoms, and interparental conflict, and with parents and adolescents rating parenting and problem behavior in adolescents. The results indicate that the association between financial stress and problem behavior in adolescents is mediated by depressive…
Other, Fact Sheet
Divorce can be a big challenge for both children and parents. Though times may be difficult, children can emerge feeling loved and supported. You can all grow through these family changes and discover just how strong you really are. You are not alone. Family, friends, neighbors, and others are there to offer support. Here are some tools to help your child through your divorce.(Author abstract)
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Journal Article This study investigated the associations between fathers' contributions to housework and childcare and both spouses' parenting aggravation. It was hypothesized that greater father contributions to domestic labor would be associated with more paternal aggravation but less maternal aggravation. Data are from a four-wave study of 178 married couples undergoing the transition to first parenthood. Dyadic growth-curve models revealed gender differences in aggravation trajectories over the first year of the child's life. Fathers were higher in initial aggravation, but mothers' aggravation grew at a…
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Journal Article Background: Previous studies suggest a link between parental separation or divorce and risk of depression in adolescence. There are, however, few studies that have prospectively examined the effects of timing of biological father absence on risk for depressive symptoms in adolescence while controlling for a range of confounding factors.Method: We examine the association between father absence occurring in early (the first 5 years) and middle childhood (5-10 years) and adolescent depressive symptoms in a sample comprising 5631 children from the UK-based Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and…
Brief
Divorce is a powerful force in contemporary American family life. Current estimates suggest that between 43 and 50 percent of first-time marriages will end in divorce. Consequently, more than one million U.S. children experience parental divorce each year. The growing number of divorces has profound implications for children, mothers, fathers, and society. The consequences of these family changes for children and society are hotly debated. To bring clarity to this debate, this brief reviews current research about divorce and its consequences for children. (Author abstract)
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Journal Article This research links residence with biological and nonbiological married and unmarried parents to the cognitive achievement and behavioral problems of children aged 3-12, controlling for factors that make such families different. The data were drawn from the 1997 Child Development Supplement to the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Achievement differences were not associated with father family structure per se, but with demographic and economic factors that differ across families. In contrast, behavioral problems were linked to family structure even after controls for measured and unmeasured…
