Data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 2,957) are used to examine partnership instability and children’s wellbeing during the transition to elementary school. We find that coresidential transitions are related to externalizing, attention, and social problems. Mothers’...

We use data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to investigate the association between co-parenting quality and nonresident fathers’ involvement with children over the first five years after a nonmarital birth (N=2,191). Using structural equation models to estimate cross-lagged...

We use data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to examine the role of individual and family characteristics, as well as mother-father and parent-child relationships, with regard to differences in wellbeing for children living with their biological mother and either their...

The association between parental mental health problems and child wellbeing has rarely been examined in the context of non-traditional families. Using the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS), this analysis exploits the full range of parent relationship types, including married,...

High rates of nonmarital childbearing combined with high rates of instability and repartnering in nonmarital relationships portend that a large proportion of children born to unmarried mothers can expect to spend time with a ‘social father.’ This paper uses data from the Fragile Families and...

We use data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to investigate the association between co-parenting quality and nonresident fathers’ involvement with children over the first five years after a nonmarital birth (N=2,191). Using structural equation models to estimate cross-lagged...

Existing research shows that marriage and marital stability are positively associated with health and well-being. Thus, recent increases in births to unmarried parents and the instability surrounding these relationships raise concerns about the possible health effects associated with changes in...

The association between parental mental health problems and child wellbeing has rarely been examined in the context of non-traditional families. Using the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS), this analysis exploits the full range of parent relationship types, including married,...

Recent scholarship has begun to investigate the consequences of instability in the family over a period of time, as compared to examining family status at a particular point in time (Fomby & Cherlin, 2007; Osborne & McLanahan, 2007; Wu & Martinson, 1993; Wu & Thomson, 2001). This body of research has...

High rates of incarceration, coupled with high rates of fatherhood among men in prison, has motivated a far-reaching literature that examines the effects of paternal incarceration on family stability and child development. Although a growing body of evidence documents significant disadvantage...