This article investigates differences in marital quality in Black and White marriages. The specific focus is the role of spousal behavior and how this differs by race. Using national sample data, the author found several things. First, there are significant differences in marital quality across race. This is a general finding that has been…

Using multilevel models of data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort (N = 20,356), the authors find that parental involvement in education partially mediates the association between family poverty and children's math and reading achievement in kindergarten, but differences exist across race. In Asian families, poor and…

Used data from National Survey of Families and Households to explore black-white differences in kin contact and exchange among unmarried young adults. Unmarried black men and women were more likely than whites to be living with relatives, especially nonnuclear relatives. Black women contacted mothers and siblings and socialized with relatives more…

Based on a sample of 649 students from 3 New England colleges, this study examined the long-term effects of childhood corporal punishment on symptoms of depression and considered factors that may moderate or mediate the association. Similar to national studies, approximately 40% of the sample reported experiencing some level of corporal punishment…

Parental substance abuse is associated with adverse health and developmental outcomes for children. Existing research, however, has not fully explored the relative magnitude of the associations between maternal, paternal, and both parents' substance abuse and child outcomes, nor has it examined these associations in regard to substance abuse among…

This article compares characteristics of families, mothers, and children on the basis of whether their household is multigenerational, using data from Welfare, Children, and Families: A Three-City Study, which samples low-income culturally diverse families. Few differences were found between multigenerational and nonmultigenerational households,…

Explores the relationship between family structure and control attempts of parents with regard to their adolescent children. Findings reveal little difference between parental control attempts in lifelong intact families versus single-parents and stepparent families. Cohabitating parents demonstrated the greatest variation on adolescent control…

Examined correlates of enlistment of young men in military. Focused on all volunteer force, paying attention to effects of work, school, and family roles on enlistment. Work and school enrollment significantly reduced likelihood of enlisting in military for whites but not for African Americans. Marriage and parenthood did not affect likelihood of…

The promotion of marriage and two-parent families as a strategy to reduce welfare dependency continues to be a major public policy goal of the 1996 welfare reform. Based on the assumption that women will marry employed men and that their earnings will lift poor mothers and their children from public dependency, this objective raises important…

This study seeks to assess the impact of maternal psychological well-being on the depression and anxiety levels and social withdrawal in a sample of young African American and Caucasian adolescents between the ages of 10 and 14 (N = 854) using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 child sample. Analyses using structural equation…

Investigated the impact of age and premarital fertility status on subsequent marital dissolution for Black and White women (N=6,374). Results using multivariate proportional hazards models indicate that premarital births, but not premarital pregnancies, increase risk of marital dissolution, and an increasing age reduces the risk of divorce.…

In this introduction to a special issue devoted to runaway youth, demographic characteristics of runaways and the characteristics of the runaway episode are reviewed. (Author/BEF)

Examines the determinants of black, Hispanic, and Anglo women's and men's views of the fairness of the division of housework. Results indicate that men's proportional share of time spent on female-typed tasks affects both women's and men's views of how fairly housework is divided, although the effect is stronger for women. (JPS)

Examines self-expectations, expectations for future partners, and comparative expectations (self versus partner) held by college students. African Americans had higher self-expectations regarding future income, professional success, and educational achievement than European Americans. No differences emerged in expectations for future partners'…

Drawing from social disorganization theory, this study examined how perceived neighborhood conditions modified associations between parenting and delinquency, depressive symptoms, and school problem behavior among more than 800 African American and Latino 10- to 14-year-olds participating in Welfare, Children, and Families: A Three-City Study.…