Understanding
Family Change: Past, Present, and
Future Effects of Family Events on Children
Rachel Dunifon
Abstract
This paper investigates the links between family events
and changes in mother-reported behavior problems for children in
middle childhood, using data from the merged mother-child supplement
of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. The family events
considered here are divorce/separation, maternal unemployment, the
onset of welfare receipt, and the birth of a sibling. In order to
address problems of heterogeneity, I use within-child fixed-effects
models in analyses relating these events to changes in reported
behavior problem scores. Additionally, recognizing that family events
occur as parts of complex processes, I estimate whether each event
has a more significant impact on children before, during, or after
its occurrence. My results suggest that the effect of an impending
divorce on changes in children's behavior problem scores is greater
than its concurrent effect. I also identify a complex relationship
between mother-reported behavior problems and the birth of a sibling;
a decrease in reported problems in the period prior to the birth
is followed by an increase in the period concurrent with the birth.
My results also point to a marginally-significant increase in reported
behavior problems concurrent with and before the onset of unemployment.
These results shed light on the complexities of family interactions
and, using new methodological techniques, advance the literature
on the development of children in middle childhood.
Rachel Dunifon, Graduate Fellow,
Human Development and Social Policy Program, School of Education
and Social Policy, Northwestern University; currently, postdoctoral
fellow, Program on Poverty and Social Welfare Policy, University
of Michigan.
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