Multipartner Fertility and Psychological Distress: Evidence for Social Selection

Jake J. Hays ()
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Jake J. Hays: University of Michigan

Population Research and Policy Review, 2023, vol. 42, issue 3, No 18, 30 pages

Abstract: Abstract Multipartner fertility (MPF), which occurs when individuals have children with multiple partners, is associated with psychological distress, but it is unclear whether MPF is linked to increase in psychological distress or whether those with higher levels of psychological distress disproportionately enter MPF. I adjudicate between these possibilities using prospective panel data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97; n = 3321). I find that the association between MPF and psychological distress is driven by selection. Hybrid (or between-within) models indicate that men and women who have multipartner fertility have higher levels of psychological distress (the between-effect), but among those who experience MPF, having a child with a second fertility partner it is not associated with changes in psychological distress (the within-effect). Instead, psychological distress predicts MPF (versus having two or more children with the same partner) net of childhood family context, socioeconomic status, first birth characteristics, and prior union instability. The findings suggest that social selection is crucial to understanding the link between complex family formation and mental health in the current era of stable family complexity.

Keywords: Family complexity; Multipartner fertility; Family formation; Mental health; Psychological distress; Selection (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1007/s11113-023-09796-w

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