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Living Arrangements During Childrearing Years and Later Health of African American Mothers
Author(s) -
Fothergill Kate E.,
Ensminger Margaret E.,
Green Kerry M.,
Thorpe Roland J.,
Robertson Judy,
Kasper Judith D.,
Juon HeeSoon
Publication year - 2009
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.1741-3737.2009.00639.x
Subject(s) - poverty , psychology , socioeconomic status , mood , social support , physical health , marital status , cohort , gerontology , longitudinal study , developmental psychology , mental health , demography , medicine , clinical psychology , population , sociology , psychiatry , social psychology , political science , pathology , law
Using longitudinal data from the Woodlawn Project ( N= 680), this study examined how patterns of living arrangements among a community cohort of African American mothers were associated with later physical and emotional health. We identified eight patterns of stability and transition in living arrangements during the childrearing years. Health outcomes include SF‐36 Physical Functioning, SF‐36 Bodily Pain, depressed mood, and anxious mood. Specific patterns of living arrangements were related to later health, controlling for age, earlier health, education, and poverty. Poverty explained many, but not all, of the relationships between living arrangements and health. Findings underscored the benefits of social support and social integration and highlighted the negative effects of marital dissolution on health.