The Role of Family Structure and Family Processes on Adolescent Problem Behavior

Examining family processes linked to adolescent problem behaviors in single-mother families: The moderating role of school connectedness

“…Specifically, previous studies have indicated that adolescents in single-parent households are at a heightened risk for adjustment problems ( Barrett and Turner, 2005 ; Amato, 2010 ; Daryanani et al, 2016 ). Although many studies suggest various risk factors for adolescent problem behaviors, investigating the processes associated with the behaviors is necessary ( Childs et al, 2020 ). Specifically, although not all single parents live in poverty, single mothers are more likely to suffer from economic hardship compared to single fathers ( United States Census Bureau, 2022 ).…”

“…For instance, high rates of material hardship ( Amato, 2000 ), single parents’ depression ( Compas and Williams, 1990 ), and less optimal parenting behaviors (e.g., low involvement and monitoring, and harsh discipline) are key risk factors for adolescent problem behaviors in single-parent families ( Laursen, 2005 ). Although examining the main risk factors for adolescents’ problem behaviors is very important, identifying specific mechanisms underlying family processes that include those risk factors is necessary to explain the formation and progression of adolescents’ problem behaviors ( Restifo and Bögels, 2009 ; Childs et al, 2020 ). Nevertheless, few studies have explored family processes in single-parent households to understand adolescent problem behaviors (e.g., Turner et al, 1991 ; Taylor et al, 2010 ).…”

Family structure and delinquency: Antisocial cognition as a mediating mechanism

“…Given the paucity of research on mediation of the family structure–delinquency relationship, mediation was the focus of the current investigation. As previously noted, Childs et al (2022) contend that family process may be one of the key factors mediating the relationship been family structure and delinquency. The handful of empirical studies that have addressed this issue have produced mixed results, however (Dunifon & Kowaleski‐Jones, 2002; Ugarte et al, 2021).…”

“…Whereas family process emphasizes the dynamic aspects of family life as represented by activities, conflicts, and relationships that signal how a family functions, family structure encompasses the more static aspects of family life, such as the overall intactness of the parental unit (Demo & Acock, 1996). Family process has been attributed, in part, to family structure, and it has even been argued that it may mediate the association between family structure and child behavioral problems (Childs et al, 2022). Instead of focusing on family process as a mediator of the family structure–delinquency relationship, however, the current study explores the possibility that a characteristic of the child (i.e., antisocial cognition) is responsible for mediating this relationship.…”

“…Boccio and Beaver (2019), for instance, discovered that youth experiencing parental divorce in adolescence were significantly more likely to engage in delinquency than youth living in an intact home, although the relationship weakened over time to the point where the authors concluded that it was best to characterize it as temporary. In a recent longitudinal study conducted using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, Childs and colleagues (2022) ascertained that family structure predicted a latent variable composed of four antisocial behaviors (delinquency, truancy, substance use, and risky sexual behavior), after age, sex, race, number of household members, and family public assistance had been controlled. We should point out, however, that the effect disappeared once family process variables (i.e., parental attachment, parental involvement, parental communication, and child independence from parents) were added to the equation.…”