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Family Context and Individual Weil-Being

Patterns and Mechanisms in Life Course Perspective

  • Chapter
Handbook of the Life Course

Part of the book series: Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research ((HSSR))

Abstract

The assertion that the family environment experienced by an individual at any point in life has consequences for her/his subsequent life course outcomes is not likely to provoke much disagreement. Nevertheless, there are some important and interesting questions related to linkages between family context and subsequent outcomes. How significant is the family in shaping the life course? What aspects of family have genuinely significant implications for particular outcomes? What are the implications of changing family behavior in one generation for the well-being of those in other generations? These questions have received a good deal of research attention and are the subject of this essay. Before reviewing existing research findings on the role of the family in determining life course outcomes, several preliminary observations on this topic may nevertheless be useful.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27599-3210

    Peter Uhlenberg & Margaret Mueller

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  1. Peter Uhlenberg
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  2. Margaret Mueller
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  1. University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota

    Jeylan T. Mortimer

  2. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

    Michael J. Shanahan

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Uhlenberg, P., Mueller, M. (2003). Family Context and Individual Weil-Being. In: Mortimer, J.T., Shanahan, M.J. (eds) Handbook of the Life Course. Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-306-48247-2_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-306-48247-2_6

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