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Family Transitions in Cohabiting Families: a Longitudinal Investigation of the Role of Parent Depressive Symptoms in Youth Problem Behaviors

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Abstract

Cohabiting family structures are becoming increasingly prevalent in the United States but are less stable than married family unions. In this longitudinal study we examine the change in psychosocial adjustment of adolescents when a non-biologically related male cohabiting partner (MCP) transitions out of the family home. Of particular interest, the role of maternal and MCP depressive symptoms was examined as a moderator. At wave 1, the sample was comprised of 111 low-income urban Black families, consisting of an adolescent (42.3 % male; Mage = 13), a biological mother, and a non-biologically-related male cohabiting partner (MCP). Wave 2 and 3 assessments occurred over the course of the subsequent 29 months, with 38 % of MCPs transitioning out of the home. We used latent growth curve modeling to characterize trajectories of youth internalizing and externalizing symptom change across the 3 waves. Both maternal and MCP depressive symptoms interacted with whether a transition occurred, consistent with the notion that adolescent problem behaviors are shaped by the dynamic interplay of individual- and family-characteristics.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychological Science, University of Vermont, Dewey Hall, 2 Colchester Ave, Burlington, VT, 05405, USA

    Justin Parent, Virginia D. Peisch & Rex Forehand

  2. National Development Research Institute, New York, NY, USA

    Andrew Golub & Megan Reid

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  1. Justin Parent
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  2. Virginia D. Peisch
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  3. Rex Forehand
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  4. Andrew Golub
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Correspondence to Rex Forehand.

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Funding for this project was provided by a National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Grant (R01HD064723) (PI: Fourth Author) and NICHD F31 (F31HD082858) (PI: First Author). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent he official views of the National Institutes of Health.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Parent, J., Peisch, V.D., Forehand, R. et al. Family Transitions in Cohabiting Families: a Longitudinal Investigation of the Role of Parent Depressive Symptoms in Youth Problem Behaviors. J Abnorm Child Psychol 45, 681–691 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-016-0202-4

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