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Fathers, Mothers, and Family Structure: Family Trajectories, Parent Gender, and Adolescent Schooling
Author(s) -
Heard Holly E.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of marriage and family
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.578
H-Index - 159
eISSN - 1741-3737
pISSN - 0022-2445
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-3737.2007.00375.x
Subject(s) - developmental psychology , psychology , longitudinal study , longitudinal data , affect (linguistics) , life course approach , family life , adolescent health , demography , medicine , sociology , gender studies , communication , pathology , nursing
Previous research has neither fully examined family structure across the life course nor considered increasing variation in family types. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health ( N = 11,318), I examine the influence of longitudinal measures across childhood of family structure duration and the number and timing of parent transitions (entrances and exits) on indicators of grade point average (GPA), college expectations, and suspension or expulsion in adolescence. I also examine whether parent gender moderates these effects. Results show that mother transitions during early childhood affect all outcomes, whereas time in mother‐absent families influences GPA and school discipline. I find evidence for parent gender differences in transition effects; mother transitions, especially early ones, have more severe consequences than father transitions.