Family Structure and Its Effect on Behavioral and Emotional Problems in Young Adolescents

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Abstract
There is growing evidence that changes in family structure, such as divorcee and remarriage, are associated with academic and psychological problems for children and that such problems vary with the age of the child. In this study, we investigated the incidence of school-related emotional and behavioral problems associated with variation in family structure in young adolescents using a large and nationally representative sample of eighth graders from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (Ingels et al., 1989b). Such problems, although more common in boys, are much more prevalent in families in which the natural mother is absent, especially in father-stepmother families. Using a multinomial-logit model, the unique association of family structure with these problems is evaluated after adjusting for demographic differences. An important finding is that interactions between the young adolescent's gender and that of the custodial parent critically influence outcomes, suggesting increased problems f...

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