Environmental or genetic influences, or both could account for the increased risk of divorce among the offspring of separated parents. Previous studies have used covariates to statistically control for confounds, but the present research is the first genetically informed study of the topic. The investigation used the Children of Twins Design with…

Evidence is scarce regarding the prevalence of interparental discord in families of adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Using data collected from adolescents with childhood ADHD and comorbid oppositional defiant disorder (ODD; n = 46) or conduct disorder (CD; n = 23), with childhood ADHD only (n = 26), and without…

This study charted the longitudinal trajectories of wives' and husbands' reports of marital love, satisfaction, and conflict and explored whether and how first- and second-born offspring's pubertal development was related to marital changes. Data were drawn from the first 7 years of a longitudinal study of family relationships. Participants…

We use data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health and the Adolescent Health and Academic Achievement Study to estimate how parents' union dissolution influences changes in adolescents' mathematics course work gains, overall grade point average, and course failure rates during a window of approximately 1 year (N = 2,629). A…

This study examined family stressors among 3-year-old children who were classified as hyperactive (HYP), hyperactive and oppositional defiant (HYP/OD), and non-problem based on mothers' reports of behavior. Children with HYP/OD were found to experience higher levels of family stressors than non-problem children on almost every family stressor…

Although much has been written suggesting that stress, grief, and other factors associated with parenting a child with disabilities results in high rates of marital discord, marital dissatisfaction, and divorce, this notion is poorly supported by research. Research demonstrates that parents of children with disabilities have marriages that exhibit…

We examine the assortative mating patterns of new parents who are married, cohabiting, romantically involved and no longer romantically involved. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing study, we find that relationship status at the time of a birth depends mainly on father's race rather than on whether mother and father's…