Maternal Re-Partnering, Parenting Behaviors, and Child Development

这项建议旨在提供儿童发展、人口统计学和高级 统计方法，并支持研究家庭结构转型之间的关系， 父母教养行为与儿童认知和行为发展。大量的研究 一直致力于婚姻解体和单亲家庭结构与儿童 幸福相比之下，母亲重新建立伴侣对儿童的影响受到的关注较少， 据估计，近三分之一的儿童将在再婚家庭中度过一段时间。本研究将集中在 母亲重新合作对养育行为和儿童发展的影响，特别注意 当这种“重新伴侣”构成同居时，这些影响是否有差异， 反对婚姻。它有四个具体目标：（1）估计家庭结构变化的影响， 强调母亲重新合作，改变儿童的认知和行为发展;（2） 探讨母亲再伴侣对母亲养育行为的影响; 比较亲生父亲和非亲生父亲的养育行为和管教策略， 由“社会“父亲使用（即，与妇女结婚或同居的男子及其亲生子女， （4）研究是否以及如何改变 在养育行为中可以解释（即，家庭结构的变化与 孩子的成就和行为的变化。这些目标将使用来自3 基于人口的纵向研究：脆弱家庭和儿童福利研究， 收入动态和全国青年纵向调查。所有分析都将专门测试 母亲再伴侣行为和父母养育行为与儿童的关系存在差异， 婚姻状况。他们还将考虑产妇重新伴侣的影响是否因 孩子的年龄和性别，以及家庭的社会经济地位。最后，他们将评估 母亲在养育子女和儿童福祉方面的重新合作是暂时的，或随着时间的推移而持续。作为一个大 一部分儿童在童年期间将经历母亲的重新伴侣关系， 关键是要了解父母行为的变化，家庭动态，和儿童发展， 伴随着这些转变。这项研究对旨在鼓励 婚姻和家庭的形成，以及设计方案和政策，以促进儿童福利， 复杂家庭结构中的儿童。

This proposal is intended to provide additional training in child development, demography, and advanced statistical methods and to support research examining relationships between family structure transitions, parenting behaviors, and children's cognitive and behavioral development. A considerable body of research has been devoted to marital dissolution and associations between single-parent family structure and child wellbeing. In contrast, the effects of maternal re-partnering on children have received less attention, despite estimates that nearly a third of children will spend some time in stepfamilies. This research will focus on the effects of maternal re-partnering on parenting behaviors and child development, paying specific attention to whether there are differences in these effects when such "re-partnerings" constitute cohabitations, as opposed to marriages. It has 4 specific aims: (1) To estimate the effects of changes in family structure, with an emphasis on maternal re-partnering, on changes in children's cognitive and behavioral development; (2) To explore the effects of maternal re-partnering on changes in maternal parenting behaviors; (3) To compare the types of parenting behaviors and discipline strategies utilized by biological fathers to those utilized by "social"fathers (i.e., men who are married to, or cohabiting with, women and their biological children, but who are not those children's biological fathers); and (4) To examine whether and how changes in parenting behaviors may explain (i.e., mediate) associations between changes in family structure and changes in children's achievement and behavior. These aims will be addressed using data from 3 population based longitudinal studies: the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. All analyses will specificallytest whether there are differences in associations between maternal re-partnering and parenting behaviors and child outcomes by marital status. They will also consider whether the impact of maternal re-partnering varies by child age and gender, as well as family socioeconomic status. Finally, they will assesswhether effects of maternal re-partnering on parenting and child wellbeing are transitory or persist over time. As a sizeable proportion of children will experience maternal re-partnershipsduring the course of their childhoods, it is crucial to understand the changes in parenting behaviors, family dynamics, and child development that may accompany these transitions. This research has implications for public policies intended to encourage marriage and family formation, as well as for designing programs and policies to promote child wellbeing for children in complex family structures.