Using the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS) in Life Course Health Development Research

Abstract

The Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS) is a nationally representative birth cohort study of approximately 4900 children born in large US cities between 1998 and 2000. Nonmarital childbearing increased dramatically in the second half of the twentieth century, raising questions about the capabilities of unmarried parents, the nature of parental relationships, and their implications for child health development and wellbeing. The FFCWS has become a leading source of information about unmarried parents and their children and about child health development more generally. The study contains biological and social indicators of children’s cognitive health development as well as social determinants of health and children’s broader social environment. This rich measurement, coupled with a longitudinal design and multilevel structure, makes it an ideal resource for life course health development research. This chapter describes the demographic, scholarly, and policy context in which the FFCWS was designed, as well as technical details that will enable new users to use the study effectively. We include details of sampling, data availability, variable structure and content, as well as features of the data that enable it to be used in longitudinal research. Finally, the chapter provides information about resources that will be available in the future and institutional resources available for users of the data.

Accumulation, Timing, and Duration of Early Childhood Adversity and Behavior Problems at Age 9

“…Mothers and fathers who gave informed consent were interviewed within 48 hours of the childs birth, typically at the hospital. Both parents were contacted for subsequent phone-based interviews ("core" interviews) when the focal child was approximately age 1 year (Y1), 3 years (Y3), 5 years (Y5), and 9 years (Y9) (Geller, Jaeger, & Pace, 2018). Of the mothers who participated at baseline, response rates at Y1, Y3, Y5, and Y9 were 90%, 88%, 87%, and 76%, respectively.…”

“…In-home data were also collected from a subset of respondents at Y3 (n = 3,258), Y5 (n = 2,981), and Y9 (n = 3,630) to survey the person the focal child lived with at least half the time (the primary caregiver [PCG], usually the mother). Further details about the original study methodology are available elsewhere (Geller et al, 2018;Reichman et al, 2001).…”

Introduction to the Handbook of Life Course Health Development

“…The authors provide examples of its use for exploring questions about health development in households with unmarried parents (Geller et al 2017). …”

Student absenteeism and the role of police encounters

“…The FFCWS parents were contacted for follow‐up interviews five additional times: both parents were contacted around the focal children's first, third, fifth, and ninth birthdays (hereafter the Y1, Y3, Y5, and Y9 surveys), and a single primary caregiver, most often the child's mother, was contacted around the focal children's (now “focal youths’”) fifteenth birthdays (between 2014 and 2017, hereafter the Y15 survey). In both the Y9 and Y15 waves, the youths were also interviewed, providing their perceptions of experiences within their families, schools, and neighborhoods (Geller, Jaeger et al., 2018).…”