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变之间的关系， 养育行为，以及孩子的认知和行为发展。相当多的研究 一直致力于婚姻解体和单亲家庭结构与子女之间的联系 幸福。相比之下，母亲重新结成伴侣对孩子的影响受到的关注较少，尽管 据估计，近三分之一的儿童将在继母家庭中度过一段时间。这项研究将集中在 母亲重新配对对父母养育行为和儿童发展的影响，特别关注 当这种“重新伙伴关系”构成同居时，这些影响是否存在差异，例如 反对婚姻。它有4个具体目标：(1)估计家庭结构变化的影响， 强调母亲的重新合作，强调儿童认知和行为发展的变化；(2) 探讨母亲再配对对母亲养育行为改变的影响； 比较亲生父亲和亲生父亲所使用的育儿行为类型和管教策略 被“社交”父亲利用(即，与女性及其亲生子女结婚或同居的男性 儿童，但不是这些儿童的生父)；以及(4)研究是否以及如何改变 养育子女的行为可以解释(即，中介)家庭结构的变化和 儿童成就和行为的变化。这些目标将使用来自3个国家的数据来实现 基于人口的纵向研究：脆弱家庭和儿童福祉研究，小组研究 《收入动态》和《全国青年纵向调查》。所有的分析都将具体测试 母亲的重新伙伴关系和养育行为与孩子之间的联系存在差异 按婚姻状况划分的结果。他们还将考虑母亲重新结成伴侣的影响是否因 儿童的年龄和性别以及家庭的社会经济地位。最后，他们将评估 母亲在育儿和儿童福利方面的重新合作是短暂的或随着时间的推移而持续的。作为一个相当大的 在他们童年的过程中，有一定比例的孩子会经历母亲的重新陪伴。 对理解父母养育行为、家庭动态和儿童发展的变化至关重要 伴随着这些转变。这项研究对旨在鼓励 婚姻和家庭的形成，以及设计促进儿童福祉的方案和政策 处于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.