Intergenerational transmission of family adversity: Examining constellations of risk factors

Abstract

This study adopts a socio-ecological approach to examine multiple factors and processes assumed to shape the intergenerational transmission of social disadvantage, including influences of social change, social causation and social selection. Moving beyond approaches focusing on cumulative risk indices, this study uses latent class analysis to examine how different socio-economic and psycho-social risk factors combine within families and to what extent and how constellations of risk are transmitted from one generation to the next. We draw on data collected for the longitudinal and national representative 1970 British Cohort Study, comprising information on more than 11,000 cohort members and their parents. We identified four distinct risk configurations among the parent generation (G1): low-risk families (57.6%), high-risk families (16.3%), high-risk single-parents (24%) and ethnic minority families (2.1%). Within their offspring (G2) we identified five distinct risk configurations: low-risk families (62%), low-risk no-children (15.1%), moderate-risk single parents (10.1%), moderate-risk large families (8.9%), high socio-economic and high psycho-social risk (4%). There is evidence of structural mobility, and the findings suggest that intergenerational transmission of disadvantage is not just a systemic tendency towards social reproduction, but also reflects processes of social change and social selection. We conclude that a socio-ecological model provides a useful framework for a more comprehensive understanding of the multiple processes involved in the transmission of inter-cohort inequality.

What Research Questions Should the Next Generation of Birth Cohort Studies Address? An International Delphi Study of Experts

“…Identifying the factors that contribute to social inequality and intergenerational transmission of disadvantage was also rated highly on importance by the expert panel. While these issues have also been extensively explored in past BCS, 27,28,29,30 the panel expressed the view that further work is necessary. One issue is that the majority of previous BCS have been conducted in single HICs.…”

A Socioecological Developmental Systems Approach for the Study of Human Resilience

“…Risk factors do not exert their effect in isolation but interact with other influences-and very often risk begets risk, as expressed in the notion of cumulative adversity (Dannefer, 2003;Gutman et al, 2019;Schoon et al, 2002;Schoon & Melis, 2019). Vice versa, advantages and privileges also tend to cumulate, leading to conditions of increasing polarization and inequality.…”

“…In my own research I focus on how individuals and families cope with exposure to socioeconomic hardship and adversity at key transition points, such as entry into school or the transition to the labor market. Indicators of adversity, such as the experience of income poverty, tend to co-occur with other risks such as low parental education, parental worklessness, family instability, poor housing, and area deprivation (Schoon, Cheng, Jones, & Maughan, 2013;Schoon, Jones, Cheng, & Maughan, 2012;Schoon & Melis, 2019). Each of these factors shows independent risk effects (i.e., each factor is associated with indicators of child adjustment).…”

“…To gain a more comprehensive understanding of risk effects, it is thus necessary to study more than one outcome. Moreover, it is necessary to not only examine cumulative risk exposure but also to examine constellations of risk (i.e., if economic risk is accompanied by family risk or mental health problems; Schoon & Melis, 2019).…”

Masculinidades, desigualdad social y embarazo en varones adolescentes mexicanos

“…Este tipo de ambientes familiares puede contribuir a definir las trayectorias de vida de los jóvenes en las que acumulan varias desventajas que propician frecuentemente transiciones precoces a la vida adulta (Mora y Oliveira, 2014;Nurius, Prince y Rocha, 2015;Schafer, Ferraro y Mustillo, 2011;Schoon y Melis, 2019;Vandecasteele, 2010).…”