Family Structure and Children's Health and Behavior

Using data from the 1999 National Survey of America's Families, this research investigates the association and pathways between family structure and child well-being among children age 6 to 17. Three indicators of child well-being are examined: parent-rated health, limiting health conditions, and child behavior. Results show that both stepfamilies and intact families are advantageous relative to single-parent families. Family socioeconomic status (SES) and social capital are important factors of child well-being and help explain family structure effects. Family SES seems to have a stronger mediating effect than social capital. However, after simultaneously modeling these hypothesized mediators, significant differences in aspects of child well-being across family types persist in most cases. Findings support the idea that differences in child well-being across family types are considerably but not entirely accounted for by family SES, parental participation in religious services, parent–child relationship, and child engagement in extracurricular activities.