Publications [#145353] of Christina M. Gibson-Davis

Papers Submitted

1. C.M. Gibson-Davis, The Associations between Complex Family Structures and Cognitive and Behavioral Outcomes in Middle Childhood (2008)
   (last updated on 2008/04/25)

   Abstract:
   Using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study - Kindergarten Cohort (n = 8,643), a nationally representative sample of elementary age children, this study is the first to employ Hierarchical Linear Modeling to analyze how a range of family structures - married, step married, cohabiting, step cohabiting, divorced, and never married - are associated with academic and behavioral outcomes. Even after accounting for within- and between-person variation, family structure influenced child well-being, but not always in the anticipated directions: children in never married households had slightly higher cognitive outcomes than children in married parent homes. Marriage may not be universally beneficial for children, as children in cohabiting and married families were statistically similar on many outcomes, children residing with a married step father displayed consistently low levels of child well-being, and the relative gap in child well-being between step married and married families widened over time. Findings also indicate that family stability, which is often excluded in studies of complex family structure, plays an equally important role as parental relationship status in determining child well-being.