Mothers’ Union Histories and the Mental and Physical Health of Adolescents Born to Unmarried Mothers

Abstract

As nonmarital childbearing becomes a dominant pathway to family formation, understanding its long-term consequences for children’s well-being is increasingly important. Analysis of linked mother-child data from the NLSY79 indicates a negative association of having been born to a never-married mother with adolescent self-assessed health, but not with depressive symptoms. We also consider the role of mothers’ subsequent union histories in shaping the adolescent health outcomes of youth born to unmarried mothers. With two exceptions, unmarried mothers’ subsequent unions appear to have little consequence for the health of their offspring during adolescence. Adolescents whose mothers subsequently married and remained with their biological fathers reported better health, yet adolescents whose mothers continuously cohabited with the biological father without subsequent marriage reported worse adolescent mental health when compared with adolescents whose mothers remained continually unpartnered.

The Role of Boomerang Fathers in Adolescent Female Depression

“…In these models, the unstable residential group was the reference category and represented the households where biological fathers exited and entered the household only once. As stated previously, much research has indicated a number of positive outcomes for children and adolescents who reside in stable married households (Kelly, 2000), and there is research indicating that children who reside in stable single-parent households are also associated with positive well-being (Demo & Acock, 1996;Williams et al, 2013). Yet, it is unclear whether depressive symptoms vary among children who reside in households where biological fathers exit and enter the household only once from children whose biological fathers exit and enter the household multiple times (i.e., boomerang fathers).…”

Family Diversity and Child Health: Where Do Same‐Sex Couple Families Fit?

“…As a result, family structure patterns tend to vary along socioeconomic and racial or ethnic lines, such that unmarried families with children are disproportionately Black and economically disadvantaged relative to their married parent counterparts (Vespa et al, 2013) and are more likely to undergo a family transition (Demo & Fine, 2010;Harknett, 2009). These divergent childbearing and marital trajectories have implications not only for adults' health, economic, and relationship futures (Williams, Sassler, Frech, Addo, & Cooksey, 2011) but also for their children (Williams, Sassler, Frech, Addo, & Cooksey, 2013). On average, the resources married couples are able to invest in their children's healthy growth and development outmatch those of unmarried couples, thus partly driving family structure differences in children's outcomes (McLanahan, 2004).…”

Expectations of Male and Female Adoptive Parents of Different Marital Status and Sexual Orientation

“…For instance, single mothers in the U.S. seem less happy compared to other adults (Ifcher & Zarghamee, 2014). In addition, children reared by single mothers display increased rates of an assortment of psychological problems such as hyperactivity, problematic peer relations, conduct disorder, and emotional problems (Dunn et al, 1998), poor quality adolescent mental health (Williams, Sassler, Frech, Addo, & Cooksey, 2013), elevated school drop-out rates, and higher probability of teenage pregnancy (McLanahan & Sandefur, 1994). Available evidence further indicates single mothers to be less involved in their children's primary school education (Ressler, Smith, Cavanagh, & Crosnoe, 2017).…”