Family Structure and Child Behavior Problems in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States

Nina A. Stoddard-Bennett (), Jordan Coburn, Mikaela J. Dufur, Jonathan A. Jarvis and Shana L. Pribesh
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Nina A. Stoddard-Bennett: Department of Sociology, Brigham Young University, 2008 JFSB, Provo, UT 84602, USA
Jordan Coburn: Department of Sociology, Brigham Young University, 2008 JFSB, Provo, UT 84602, USA
Mikaela J. Dufur: Department of Sociology, Brigham Young University, 2008 JFSB, Provo, UT 84602, USA
Jonathan A. Jarvis: Department of Sociology, Brigham Young University, 2008 JFSB, Provo, UT 84602, USA
Shana L. Pribesh: Department of Educational Foundations and Leadership, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23529, USA

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 3, 1-24

Abstract: A large body of literature suggests that children living with two married, biological parents on average have fewer behavior problems than those who do not. What is less clear is why this occurs. Competing theories suggest that resource deficiencies and parental selectivity play a part. We suggest that examining different contexts can help adjudicate among different theoretical explanations as to how family structure relates to child behavior problems. In this paper, we use data from the Growing Up in Australia: Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC), the UK Millennium Cohort Study (MCS), and the US Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-K) to examine the relationship between family structure and child behavior problems. Specifically, we look at how living in several configurations of biological and social parents may relate to child behavior problems. Findings suggest both similarities and differences across the three settings, with explanations in the UK results favoring selectivity theories, US patterns suggesting that there is a unique quality to family structure that can explain outcomes, and the Australian results favoring resource theories.

Keywords: family structure; child mental health; internalizing behavior; externalizing behavior (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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