Related Experiment Videos
Child well-being in single-mother families
Ellen L Lipman1, Michael H Boyle, Martin D Dooley
1Canadian Centre for Studies of Children at Risk, and the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario.
Insights
Children from single-mother families face risks, but factors like income and parenting style are key. Interventions targeting parenting may help mitigate these challenges for at-risk children.
Area of Science:
- Child Psychology
- Family Studies
- Sociology
Background:
- Children from single-mother families exhibit higher rates of psychosocial morbidity.
- Understanding the specific risk factors associated with single-mother family status is crucial for effective intervention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between single-mother family status and child outcomes.
- To control for sociodemographic and personal variables influencing child functioning.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (Cycle 1, 1994-1995).
- Included 9,398 children aged 6-11 from single-mother and two-parent families.
- Assessed child functioning via social impairment, psychiatric problems, and math scores.
Main Results:
- Single-mother status predicted child difficulties, but its effect diminished when controlling for other variables.
- Household income, parenting hostility, and maternal depression significantly impacted child outcomes.
- Children in single-mother families with hostile parenting faced heightened risk for psychiatric issues.
Conclusions:
- Childhood difficulties in single-mother families often stem from similar underlying factors as in two-parent families.
- Targeted interventions focusing on parenting and other risk areas are recommended for single-mother families.
Objectives:
Children from single-mother families are at increased risk of psychosocial morbidity. This article examines the strength of association between single-mother family status and child outcome, both alone and controlling for other sociodemographic and personal (maternal/family) variables.
Method:
Data from the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth Cycle 1 (1994-1995) were used. Children aged 6 to 11 years in single-mother and two-parent families were included (n = 9,398). Child functioning measures included social impairment, psychiatric problems, and math score.
Results:
Single-mother family status on its own is a significant predictor of all child difficulties, but the explained variance is limited and the effect size decreases when other variables known to influence child functioning are included. Household income, a sociodemographic variable, is inversely associated with social impairment and positively associated with math score. Hostile parenting and maternal depression are the personal variables most strongly associated with social impairment and psychiatric problems. Children in single-mother families where there is hostile parenting are at significantly increased risk of psychiatric problems.
Conclusions:
The results suggest that children from single-mother families develop difficulties for the same reasons as children from two-parent families. Specific interventions for single-mother families may be warranted in the areas of parenting and other areas of concentrated risk.