quote:

---

Child Well-Being in Single-Mother Families

ELLEN L. LIPMAN, M.D. ; MICHAEL H. BOYLE, Ph.D. ; MARTIN D. DOOLEY, Ph.D. ; DAVID R. OFFORD, M.D.

Drs. Lipman, Boyle, and Offord are with the Canadian Centre for Studies of Children at Risk, Hamilton Health Sciences Corporation and the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario. Dr. Dooley is with the Department of Economics, McMaster University.

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF CHILD & ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRY 2002;41:75-82

ABSTRACT

Objectives: Children from single-mother families are at increased risk of psychosocial morbidity. This article examines the strength of association between single-mother family status and child outcome, both alone and controlling for other sociodemographic and personal (maternal/family) variables.

Method: Data from the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth Cycle 1 (1994–1995) were used. Children aged 6 to 11 years in single-mother and two-parent families were included ( n = 9,398). Child functioning measures included social impairment, psychiatric problems, and math score.

Results: Single-mother family status on its own is a significant predictor of all child difficulties, but the explained variance is limited and the effect size decreases when other variables known to influence child functioning are included. Household income, a sociodemographic variable, is inversely associated with social impairment and positively associated with math score. Hostile parenting and maternal depression are the personal variables most strongly associated with social impairment and psychiatric problems. Children in single-mother families where there is hostile parenting are at significantly increased risk of psychiatric problems.

Conclusions: The results suggest that children from single-mother families develop difficulties for the same reasons as children from two-parent families. Specific interventions for single-mother families may be warranted in the areas of parenting and other areas of concentrated risk.

Key Words: single mother ; child behavior ; epidemiology ; parenting ; risk factors

---

"Criminologists have long used race and poverty as key variables for explaining crime rates. However, researchers at the Univ. of Maryland find that when differences in family structures are taken into account, crime rates run much the same in rich and poor neighborhoods and among black, white, and Hispanic populations."
Douglas A. Smith and G. Roger Jarjoura, "Social Structure and Criminal Victimization," Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 25 [Feb., 1988], 27-52; epitomizing in The Family in America: New Research, June 1988 Cited in Amneus, The Garbage Generation, page 220

Another one I found, although less related:

Among all possible contributing factors, "only divorce rates were consistently associated with suicide and with homicide rates."
David Lester, "Time-Series Versus Regional Correlates of Rates of Personal Violence," Death Studies (1993): 529-534.

[ January 12, 2002: Message edited by: clockwork ]

quote:

---

Poverty is bad for kids.
Abuse is bad for kids.
Isolation is bad for kids.
Insufficient adult attention is bad for kids.
Didn't we already know this?

---

To answer vaudree's question,

quote:

---

what can we or should we be doing to make the single parent lifestyle healthier for kids?

---

Most of us would agree that home care programs for seniors are worthwhile, even at the housekeeping level. It helps them keep their homes liveable as well as providing them with companionship. Single mothers deserve no less. How overwhelmed I often felt when I was working nearly full-time and trying to parent 3 children! The house was never tidy let alone clean, I was the only driver (try going to three different schools on "Meet the Teacher" night), and if something in the house broke, I did not have the time to fix it. Yes, I became depressed and then I really wasn't there for my kids. And yes, one of my children in particular struggles.

I try to stay out of guilt by telling myself I did the best job possible (and I did) and that mothers are not the only members in a community that can be supportive of children (I knew lots of people, my parents lived close by but didn't want to help with the kids because I don't parent their way and the children's father lived in town but was dating a woman who didn't like children.) Too many single parents are trying to do it all and they just can't.

Also, although they did a comparison, did they compare the single parent families to those who were dysfunctional or fully functional? That was my choice - to continue on in a marriage that was not working on any level or to leave. Neither choice is ideal but I believe I made the best choice possible, for them and for me.

[ January 13, 2002: Message edited by: Loretta ]

When you separate
a) if you go home you leave your friends behind
b) if you stay you lose the benefit of the extended family

And as any single parent with involved grandparents in the picture - it is both a blessing and a curse. As soon as children learn how to talk your parents know your business - especially the stuff you feel isn't their business. Second, it is hard for grandparents to let their children make their own parenting decisions so you give up a little of your authority over your own children if the grandparents play a big role in babysitting during working hours. If you are not in daycare and relying on your parents for child care to work, you have to bite your lip once in a while and your children learn from their grandparents that their parent's decisions can be overruled.

It is much easier to fight with a kid over disciplinary issues than to have to fight both the kid and your parents.

Bad and irresponsible decisions are often the easiest and the most fun to make. They also often have negative repercussions. Eliminate the negative repercussions with gifts of free government money to anyone who purposely makes bad and irresponsible decisions and more and more people will feel free to take the easy and fun route.

[ February 08, 2002: Message edited by: Rabid Gerbil ]

[ February 08, 2002: Message edited by: Rabid Gerbil ]

"Hey how's about those saintly men keep their dicks in their pants until said sexual and financial responsibility is achieved also?"

These children aren't products of immaculate conception. And further more I'd argue that MOST single mothers were "together" with the fathers of these children when they got pregnant and delivered their children, many were even married and got divorced, winding up as single mothers.

Something I would not wish on anyone, and an area that needs serious attention and support, not snide remarks such as that.

[ February 08, 2002: Message edited by: Trinitty ]

Help them build a safe, clean home, no down-payment, but they pay the affordable mortgage.

The costs of poverty, dispair, depression, drug & alcohol abuse and malnourishment is FAR costlier in the long run than providing decent homes for these people. And it says a lot about our society.

[ February 08, 2002: Message edited by: Trinitty ]

quote:

---

Can you make a point without being piggish about it?

---

Haven't seen that yet so I wouldn't get your hopes up.

quote:

---

Slick Willy wrote -

"After looking at HFH I admit that they have a pretty good track record for getting deserving people into home ownership."

---

By extension doesn't using HFH as an example suffer from a "cherry picking" problem? It's less than clear to me that on a much larger scale, without the ability to carefully chose your candidates, things would work out nearly so well. And that's before you even get into NIMBY issues and all that rot that would inevitably follow.