Recently in Family Facts Category

Looking up to their mothers as a female role model has predominantly psychological health benefits for youth. Both male and female students who did not look up to their mothers and perceive them as positive role models exhibited more psychological distress than those who did.

Source:
"Role Models and Psychosocial Outcomes Among African-American Adolescents"
Bryant, Alison L.
and Zimmerman, Marc A.
Journal of Adolescent Research Vol. 18, Number 1. , 2003. Page(s) 36-67.
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Girls whose parents were separated, divorced, or widowed were more likely to develop eating disorders than peers from intact families. Girls who read teen magazines weekly were also more likely to develop eating disorders than peers who did not read such magazines as often.

Source:
"Parental Factors, Mass Media Influences and the Onset of Eating Disorders in a Prospective Population-Based Cohort"
Marinez-Gonzalez, Miquel A.
Pediatrics Vol. 111, Number 2. , 2003. Page(s) 315-320.

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Compared with childless peers, new parents had higher levels of social integration with relatives, friends, and neighbors.

Source:
"Costs and Rewards of Children: The Effects of Becoming a Parent on Adults' Lives"
Nomaguchi, Kei M.
Milkie, Melissa A.
Journal of Marriage and Family Vol. 65, Number . May, 2003. Page(s) 356-374.

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Divorce results in a drop in income causing parents to be worried, exhausted, and stressed in handling multiple roles, thereby affecting their parenting and parental control and giving rise to children's disruptive behavior.

Source:
"Children's Behavior Problems in Single-Parent and Married-Parent Families: Development of Predictive Model"
Hilton, Jeanne M.
Desrochers, Stephan
Journal of Divorce & Remarriage Vol. 37, Number . , 2003. Page(s) 13-34.

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The more often teenagers have dinner with their parents, the less likely they are to smoke, drink, or use illegal drugs. In fact, compared with teens who have frequent family dinners, those who have dinner with their families only two nights per week or less are at double the risk of substance abuse. Compared with teens who have dinner with their families only two nights per week or less, those who have family dinners five or more nights in a typical week are more likely to report that they have never tried cigarettes (85 percent vs. 65 percent), almost 50 percent likelier to report that they have never tried alcohol (68 percent vs. 47 percent), and more likely to report that they have never tried marijuana (88 percent vs. 71 percent).

Source:
"The Importance of Family Dinners"
The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University
CASA Survey Report: The Importance of Family Dinners Vol. NA, Number . September, 2003. Page(s) 3, 7.

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While a woman's intimate premarital relationship that was exclusively with her husband did not affect the risk of marital disruption, having at least one other intimate relationship prior to marriage was linked to an increased risk of divorce (The increase in risk associated with having had a sexual relationship with another partner ranged from 53 percent to 119 percent). The risk of divorce is substantially higher if the woman not only had a sexual relationship with another man before marriage but also cohabited with that partner. (This increase in risk is as high as 166 percent).

Source:
"Premarital Sex, Premarital Cohabitation, and the Risk of Subsequent Marital Dissolution Among Women"
Teachman, Jay
Journal of Marriage and Family Vol. 65, Number . May, 2003. Page(s) 444-455.

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When controlling for available resources, African American and Hispanic couples were consistently more likely to provide assistance to elderly parents than white couples were.

Source:
"Assistance to Aging Parents and Parents-In-Law: Does Lineage Affect Family Allocation Decisions?"
Shuey, Kim
Hardy, Melissa A.
Journal of Marriage and Family Vol. 65, Number . May, 2003. Page(s) 418-431.

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Compared with peers who were cared for at home, preschoolers who attended day-care centers used health-care services more often. Day-care children were at greater risk of contracting both minor communicable illnesses and more significant medical problems such as hepatitis, injuries, and chronic otitis media (ear infections). They were three times more likely to have made at least one visit to a doctor's office, twice as likely to have visited an emergency room, and almost three times as likely to have received a prescription medication. This increased use of health services resulted in health-care expenditures for day-care children that were, on average, $343 higher per child each year.

Source:
"Health Care Utilization and Expenditures Associated with Child Care Attendance: A Nationally Representative Sample"
Silverstein, Michael
Sales, Anne E., and Koepsell, Thomas D.
Pediatrics Vol. 111, Number 4. April, 2003. Page(s) e317-e375.

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Compared with peers who were cared for at home, preschoolers who attended day-care centers used health-care services more often. Day-care children were at greater risk of contracting both minor communicable illnesses and more significant medical problems such as hepatitis, injuries, and chronic otitis media (ear infections). They were three times more likely to have made at least one visit to a doctor's office, twice as likely to have visited an emergency room, and almost three times as likely to have received a prescription medication. This increased use of health services resulted in health-care expenditures for day-care children that were, on average, $343 higher per child each year.

Source:
"Health Care Utilization and Expenditures Associated with Child Care Attendance: A Nationally Representative Sample"
Silverstein, Michael
Sales, Anne E., and Koepsell, Thomas D.
Pediatrics Vol. 111, Number 4. April, 2003. Page(s) e317-e375.

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Fathers' alcoholism was associated with an increase in sons' disruptive behavior, even when controlling for mothers' alcoholism, parents' antisocial personality disorder, conflict within the family, and sons' lack of self control.

Source:
"Developmental Trajectories of Disruptive Behavior Problems Among Sons of Alcoholics: Effects of Parent Psychopathology, Family Conflict, and Child Undercontrol."
Loukas, Alexandra
Zucker, Robert A., Fitzgerald, Hiram E., Krull, Jennifer L.
Journal of Abnormal Psychology Vol. 112, Number 1. , 2003. Page(s) 119-131.

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More than parental monitoring, closeness of teens to their nonresident fathers and biological mothers is positively related to adolescent well-being and is more often a significant predictor of adolescent outcomes.

Source:
"Adolescent Well-Being in Cohabiting, Married, and Single-Parent Families"
Manning, Wendy D.
Lamb, Kathleen A.
Journal of Marriage and Family Vol. 65, Number 4. November, 2003. Page(s) 876-893.

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According to teachers' reports, children whose mothers were married or in long-term partnerships had fewer behavioral problems and showed more social development in first-grade assessments.

Source:
"Social functioning in first grade: Associations with earlier home and child care predictors with current classroom experiences."
NICHD, Early Child Care Research Network
Child Development Vol. 74, Number 6. November/December, 2003. Page(s) 1639-1662.

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Children in first grade who had spent more time in non-maternal care from 3 to 54 months had more conflict with teachers and showed lower levels of social skills than their peers who spent less time in child care according to teacher reports.

Source:
"Social Functioning in First Grade: Associations with Earlier Home and Child Care Predictors with Current Classroom Experiences"
NICHD, Early Child Care Research Network
Child Development Vol. 74, Number 6. November/December, 2003. Page(s)

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The greater the number of non-marital sex partners a woman has the greater is the probability that she will be depressed. Only 2.8 percent of women who had had sex only with men they married reported that they felt 'not very happy' or 'very unhappy' at the time of the survey, while 8.3 percent of women with 16 to 20 non-marital sex partners reported that they felt 'not very happy' or 'very unhappy.'

Source:
"The Harmful Effects of Early Sexual Activity and Multiple Sexual Partners Among Women: A Book of Charts"
Rector, Robert E.
Johnson, Kirk A., Noyes, Lauren R.; and Martin, Shannan
Heritage Foundation Working Paper Vol. 1, Number . June, 2003. Page(s) 21.

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The factors most strongly related to the decline in teen pregnancies and teen births from 1991 to 1995 were an increase in abstinence and a decline in the percentage of teens who were married. Increased abstinence among teens accounted for most of the reduction in births and for 67 percent of the reduction in out-of-wedlock teenage pregnancies.

Source:
"An Analysis of the Causes of the Decline in Non-marital Birth and Pregnancy Rates for Teens from 1991 to 1995"
Mohn, Joanna K.
Tingle, Lynne R., and Finger, Reginald
Adolescent and Family Health Vol. 3, Number 1. , 2003. Page(s) 39-47.

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Pornography consumption is significantly associated with perceptions of emotional infidelity. People also perceive online acts of infidelity as being authentic and real as offline acts.

Source:
"Pushing the Wrong Buttons: Men's and Women's Attitudes Toward Online and Offline Infidelity"
Whitty, Monica Therese
CyberPsychology & Behavior Vol. 6, Number 6. , 2003. Page(s) 569-579.

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The majority of children (67.42%) who have a parent with a sexual addiction know about the problem, or suspect a problem prior to it being formally disclosed to them.

Source:
"Disclosure to Children: Hearing the Child's Experience"
Black, Claudia
Dillon, Diane, and Carnes, Stephanie
Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity Vol. 10, Number . , 2003. Page(s) 67-78.

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According to a study on adolescent sexuality, sexual initiation at an earlier age during adolescence continued to be associated with an increase in the likelihood of engaging in delinquent behavior in early adulthood.

Source: "Adolescent Sexual Debut and Later Delinquency"
Armour, Stacy, Haynie, Dana L., Journal of Youth and Adolescence Vol. 36, Number . February, 2007. Page(s) 141-152.

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A study on marital instability finds that one out of ten children from divorced families reach adulthood with a lower level of psychological well-being than they would have had if their parents remained married.

Source:
"Reconciling Divergent Perspectives: Judith Wallerstein, Quantitative Family Research"
Amato, Paul R
Family Relations Vol. 52, Number 4. , 2003. Page(s) 332-339.

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A study on cohabitation finds that compared with peers who had not cohabited prior to marriage, individuals who had cohabited reported higher levels of depression and the level of depression also rose with the length of cohabitation.

Source: "Effects of Cohabitation Length on Personal and Relational Well Being", Hill, John R., Evans, Sharon G., Alabama Policy Institute Vol. API Study, Number . August, 2006. Page(s) 1-13

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According to a study on religion and child development, children were more likely to report feeling sad or lonely when their parents argued frequently about religion.

Source: "Religion and Child Development: Evidence from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study", Bartkowski, John P., Xu, Xiaohe and Levin, Martin L.
Social Science Research Vol. NA, Number . , 2007. Page(s) NA.

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According to a study on religion and child development, children were less likely to have internalizing behavior problems (in terms of anxiety, loneliness, low self-esteem, and sadness) if either of their parents attended church services and/or if both parents attended with the same frequency (i.e. either sporadically or frequently.)

Source: "Religion and Child Development: Evidence from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study", Bartkowski, John P., Xu, Xiaohe and Levin, Martin L.
Social Science Research Vol. NA, Number . , 2007. Page(s) NA.

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A 20-year (1980-2000) longitudinal study of Marital Instability Over the Life Course found that having grandparents who divorced was associated with having a lower level of educational attainment, a greater likelihood of marital discord, and a poorer quality of parent-child relationship. This association held even if the grandparents' divorce occurred before the grandchild was born.

Source: "The Long Reach of Divorce: Divorce and Child Well-Being Across Three Generations", Amato, Paul R., Cheadle, Jacob, Journal of Marriage and Family Vol. 67, Number 1. February, 2005. Page(s) 191-206.

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1. Fathers’ religiosity is linked to higher quality of parent-child relationships. (Source)

2. Fathers who regularly attend religious services are more likely to be engaged in one-on-one activities with their children. (Source)

3. Civically active fathers are more likely to participate in youth-related activities. (Source)

4. Fathers’ engagement in their children’s activities was linked to higher academic performance. (Source)

5. Among adolescent boys, those who receive more parenting from their fathers are less likely to exhibit anti-social and delinquent behaviors. (Source)

6. Among adolescent girls, those who have a strong relationship with their fathers are less likely to report experiencing depression. (Source)

7. Close father-adolescent bonds protect against the negative influence of peer drug use. (Source)

8. Adolescent girls who have a close relationship with their fathers are more likely to delay sexual activity. (Source)

9. Adolescent girls whose fathers were present during their childhood are less likely to become pregnant. (Source)

10. Adolescent males who report a close relationship with their fathers are more likely to anticipate having a stable marriage in the future. (Source)

Among a sample of adolescent virgins from intact two parent families, females who reported having a close relationship with their father during the initial interview were less likely to report having engaged in sexual intercourse during a follow-up interview one year later, when compared to similar females who did not report having a close relationship with their father.

Source: "The Parent-Child Relationship and Opportunities for Adolescents’ First Sex" Regnerus, M. D., Luchies, L. B. Journal of Family Issues Vol. 27, Number 2. , 2006. Page(s) 159-183.

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Seventy-one percent of adolescents surveyed believed pornography consumption influenced others' behavior, and 29 percent believed it affected their own behavior.

Source: "Associations Between Pornography Consumption and Sexual Practices Among Adolescents in Sweden" Haggstrom-Nordin, E., Hanson, U., and Tyden, T., International Journal of STD & AIDS Vol. 16, Number 2. February, 2005. Page(s) 102-107.

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In this study, boys who frequently used marijuana or participated in binge drinking were more than four times more likely to be depressed than peers who did not.

Source: "Which Comes First in Adolescence?--Sex and Drugs or Depression?" Hallfors, Denise D., Waller, Martha W., Bauer, Daniel; Ford, Carol A.; Walpern, Carolyn T., American Journal of Preventive Medicine Vol. 29, Number 3. , 2005. Page(s) 163-170.

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In this study, compared with peers who abstained from sex and drugs, girls who experimented with sex or drugs were two to three times times more likely to become depressed: those with multiple sex partners were 10 times more likely than their abstinent peers to become depressed and those who used drugs frequently were about seven and a half times as likely as peers who did not use drugs to become depressed.

Source: "Which Comes First in Adolescence?--Sex and Drugs or Depression?" Hallfors, Denise D., Waller, Martha W., Bauer, Daniel; Ford, Carol A.; and Halpern, Carolyn T., American Journal of Preventive Medicine Vol. 29, Number 3. , 2005. Page(s) 163-170.

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For the males in the sample, compared to those living with two biological parents, the odds of having had sex with a romantic partner were 80% greater for those in a stepfamily, 96% greater for those living with a single mother, twice as high for those living with a single father, and almost four times as high for those living in other family structures. For the females in the sample, compared to those living with two biological parents, the odds of having had sex with a romantic partner were 88% greater for those in a stepfamily, 81% greater for those living with a single mother, and 2.3 times as high for those living in other family structures. Females living with a single father were equally as likely to have had sex with their romantic partner as females living with two biological parents.

Source: "Sexual activity among adolescents in romantic relationships with friends, acquaintances, or strangers" Kaestle, C.E., Halpern, C.T., Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine Vol. 159, Number . , 2005. Page(s) 849-853.

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Teens from intact families with frequent religious attendance were least likely to have ever gotten into a fight (27.1 percent) when compared to (a) their peers from intact families with infrequent religious attendance (32.1 percent), (b) peers from non-intact families with frequent religious attendance (34.3 percent), and (c) peers from non-intact families with infrequent religious attendance (43.5 percent).

Source: Source: Fagan, Patrick, A Portrait of Family and Religion in America: Key Outcomes for the Common Good, (Washington, D.C.: The Heritage Foundation 2006), pp. .

(HT: FamilyFacts.org)