Document Type

Unpublished Material

Disciplines

Developmental Psychology

Abstract

Single-parent households are often viewed as a risky family context associated with children’s negative outcomes such as social difficulties, psychopathology, and lower academic performance. While single-parent households are becoming more common, particularly in the United States, not all children who grow up in single-parent households go on to develop negative outcomes. Prior studies have not clearly outlined whether there are child or family-level factors that are associated with positive outcomes in the context of single-parent households. This honors thesis explored whether chores, which may support children’s persistence and autonomy, are more common in single-parent households and whether they predict positive developmental outcomes in the future, such as better social skills, increased community engagement, and decreased psychopathology. To explore this possibility, I conducted analyses using the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS), a longitudinal study with a multistage sample of 4,897 children born between 1998 and 2000. One of the primary aims of the FFCWS is to advance understanding of the conditions, capabilities, and relationship dynamics between unmarried parents and their children as well as child outcomes in the context of single-parent environments. The study design included oversampling children born to unwed parents. As a result, the FFCWS sample is characterized by socioeconomic, racial, and ethnic diversity. This analysis focused on household structures and how aspects such as chores impact future childhood outcomes. I found that having a multi-parent household structure was associated with increased delinquent behaviors in adolescence, whereas chores were positively correlated with community involvement at age 15. For children from single-parent households, chores were associated with fewer depressive symptoms and increased social skills in adolescence. By applying a strengths-based approach to the study of single-parent households, this examination has the potential to contribute to a more well-rounded and nuanced understanding of children within this family structure.

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