Extended families and adolescent well-being

doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2004.02.022

Journal of Adolescent Health

Volume 36, Issue 3, March 2005, Pages 260-266

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2004.02.022 Get rights and content

Abstract

Purpose

To examine the association between adolescent well-being and the presence of non-parental adults in the household.

Methods

The sample for this study was obtained from the 1995 National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. The sample consists of adolescents who reside with parents and at least one non-parental adult. Non-parental adults include grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and other relatives. Two measures of adolescent well-being are examined: depressive symptoms and deviant behavior. Regression analyses include controls for family structure, parent and child characteristics, and parent-child relations.

Results

The presence of grandparents in the household is associated with less deviant behavior overall, and fewer depressive symptoms among Blacks. The presence of other adults such as aunts, uncles, and other relatives is associated with greater depressive symptoms overall, but less deviant behavior among adolescents in households with large numbers of siblings.

Conclusions

The association between extended families and adolescent well-being is not as straightforward as often assumed. Results point to the need for caution when discussing the benefits of such families as their impact varies with outcome of interest, the relationship to the child, and other characteristics within the family.

Section snippets

Sample

The sample for this study was obtained from the 1995 National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (also known as Add Health) [19]. The Add Health in-home sample consists of 20,745 respondents. Several adjustments to the sample were made for analytic purposes. Cases without sample weights are excluded, as are adolescents who reside without parents in the home. In addition, the sample is limited to adolescents who are white, black, Hispanic, or Asian because of issues related to sample size.

Results

Table 1 outlines descriptive statistics for the total sample as well as for grandparent, other adult, and non-extended households (i.e., no grandparents or other adults) separately. Tests of differences between samples indicate few significant differences between the grandparent and “other adult” samples. A greater proportion of adolescents who co-reside with grandparents are in either two- or one-parent homes, while a greater proportion of those who co-reside with other adults are in

Discussion

This study examined the association between adolescent well-being and the presence of non-parental adults, in addition to parents, in the household. Adolescents who co-reside with parents and grandparents report similar depressive symptoms and less deviant behavior than adolescents who do not reside with grandparents. The finding of no significant overall association between grandparent co-residence and depressive symptoms is consistent with previous research [12], [28]. The finding that black

Limitations

One limitation of this study is selectivity. Isolating the effects of one additional adult on adolescent depression is very difficult because families with these additional adults are different in many ways from families without additional adults. This concern is similar to the often expressed concern that characteristics related to family structure may explain observed differences in child well-being, rather than family structure itself [29], [30], [31]. A second limitation is that factors

Conclusion

The association between the presence of non-parental adults and adolescent well-being is not as straightforward as often assumed. Thus, arguments extolling the virtues of extended families should be tempered with greater attention to the behavior or outcome of interest, the relationship between children and non-parental adults (e.g., grandparents, aunts, uncles), and to other characteristics within the family. More in-depth analyses of extended families are needed in order to better understand

Acknowledgements

This research uses data from the Add Health project, a program project designed by J. Richard Udry (PI) and Peter Bearman, and funded by grant P01-HD31921 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to the Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with cooperative funding from 17 other agencies. Persons interested in obtaining data files from The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health should contact Add Health, Carolina Population

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Original articleExtended families and adolescent well-being

Abstract

Purpose

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Section snippets

Sample

Results

Discussion

Limitations

Conclusion

Acknowledgements

Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Double jeopardyParental conflict and stepfamily outcomes for children

Journal of Marriage and the Family

The adolescent outcomes of adoptionA 16-year longitudinal study

Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry

Adolescent Mothers in Later Life

Social stresses in childhood and adolescence

Family size and achievement

The home inventoryRationale and research

Sponsoring the next generationParental willingness to pay for higher education

American Journal of Sociology

Social structure, life stress and depressive symptoms in a high school-aged population

Journal of Health and Social Behavior

Pattenrs of competence and adjustment among adolescens from authoritative, authoritarian, indulgent, and neglectful homes

Child Development

Impact of parenting practices on adolescent achievementAuthoritative parenting, school involvement, and encouragement to succeed

Child Development

The New American GrandparentA Place in the Family, a Life Apart

Grandparents’ influences on grandchildren

Strengths and needs of black grandparents

International Journal of Aging and Human Development

Original article
Extended families and adolescent well-being