IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsoctx/v13y2023i8p192-d1218218.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Impact of Family Complexity on the Risk of Developmental Delay and Socio-Emotional Difficulties in Early Childhood

Author

Listed:
  • Judit Monostori

    (Hungarian Demographic Research Institute, 1024 Budapest, Hungary)

  • Laura Szabó

    (Hungarian Demographic Research Institute, 1024 Budapest, Hungary)

  • Krisztina Kopcsó

    (Hungarian Demographic Research Institute, 1024 Budapest, Hungary
    Department of Developmental and Clinical Child Psychology, Pázmány Péter Catholic University, 1088 Budapest, Hungary)

Abstract

The aim of this research is to examine how developmental progress and socio-emotional difficulties in early childhood are influenced by family complexity, and how socioeconomic status (SES) and interparental conflict influence these effects. To measure family complexity, full biological families, two-biological-parent families with half- and/or step-siblings, step-parent families, and single-parent families were separated. Dependent variables include the risk of developmental delay (based on ASQ-3) and socio-emotional difficulties (based on SDQ) at age 3. The data come from four waves of the Cohort ’18 Growing Up in Hungary longitudinal birth cohort study (n = 5788). Based on the results, children in all non-intact family types have a higher risk of developmental delay than do children from full biological families, when controlled only for the basic socio-demographic characteristics of children and mothers. However, controlling for family SES or interparental conflict as well, only children raised by a step-parent have a higher risk. Considering socio-emotional difficulties, children living with their biological parents but also with half- or step-siblings, or in a single-parent family, were at higher risk, even adjusted for interparental conflict. After controlling for family SES, however, only children in single-parent families have a higher risk. Parental conflict and low family SES have significant negative effects on both child outcomes, even in intact families, and together these seem to explain the adverse effect of non-intact family types. To conclude, children’s outcomes in the early years depend not only on whether they live with both their biological parents, but also on whether they are raised with half- and/or step-siblings or by a step-parent. That said, in many cases the negative impacts are due to selection effects, i.e., the fact that children of low-status parents are more likely to live in non-intact families.

Suggested Citation

  • Judit Monostori & Laura Szabó & Krisztina Kopcsó, 2023. "The Impact of Family Complexity on the Risk of Developmental Delay and Socio-Emotional Difficulties in Early Childhood," Societies, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-30, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsoctx:v:13:y:2023:i:8:p:192-:d:1218218
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/13/8/192/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/13/8/192/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Donna Ginther & Robert Pollak, 2004. "Family structure and children’s educational outcomes: Blended families, stylized facts, and descriptive regressions," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 41(4), pages 671-696, November.
    2. Case, Anne & Paxson, Christina, 2001. "Mothers and others: who invests in children's health?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 301-328, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Emily E. Wiemers & Judith A. Seltzer & Robert F. Schoeni & V. Joseph Hotz & Suzanne M. Bianchi, 2019. "Stepfamily Structure and Transfers Between Generations in U.S. Families," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(1), pages 229-260, February.
    2. Naoko Akashi-Ronquest, 2009. "The impact of biological preferences on parental investments in children and step-children," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 59-81, March.
    3. Claudia Wood Strow & Brian Kent Strow, 2008. "Evidence That the Presence of a Half‐Sibling Negatively Impacts a Child's Personal Development," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 67(2), pages 177-206, April.
    4. Karen Conway & Minghua Li, 2012. "Family structure and child outcomes: a high definition, wide angle “snapshot”," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 10(3), pages 345-374, September.
    5. Alexander N. Slade & Andrea H. Beller & Elizabeth T. Powers, 2017. "Family structure and young adult health outcomes," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 175-197, March.
    6. Bratti, Massimiliano & Mendola, Mariapia, 2014. "Parental health and child schooling," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 94-108.
    7. Jeanne Lafortune & Corinne Low, 2023. "Collateralized Marriage," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(4), pages 252-291, October.
    8. Coneus, Katja & Spieß, Christa Katharina, 2008. "The Intergenerational Transmission of Health in Early Childhood," ZEW Discussion Papers 08-073, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    9. Marco Francesconi & Stephen Jenkins & Thomas Siedler, 2010. "Childhood family structure and schooling outcomes: evidence for Germany," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 23(3), pages 1073-1103, June.
    10. Andrés Romeu & Ignacio Ortuño Ortín, 2003. "Altruism Vs. Exchange In Intergenerational Transfers: New Evidence From Children'S Health Care," Working Papers. Serie AD 2003-26, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas, S.A. (Ivie).
    11. Anne Case & Christina Paxson & Joseph Ableidinger, 2004. "Orphans in Africa: parental death, poverty, and school enrollment," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 41(3), pages 483-508, August.
    12. Sarma, Vengadeshvaran J. & Parinduri, Rasyad A., 2016. "What happens to children's education when their parents emigrate? Evidence from Sri Lanka," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 94-102.
    13. Marie-Christine Saint-Jacques & Élisabeth Godbout & Sylvie Drapeau & Toula Kourgiantakis & Claudine Parent, 2018. "Researching Children’s Adjustment in Stepfamilies: How is it Studied? What Do we Learn?," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 11(6), pages 1831-1865, December.
    14. Richard Layte & Anne Nolan, 2015. "Eligibility for free GP care and the utilisation of GP services by children in Ireland," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 3-27, March.
    15. Kelly Bedard & Allison Witman, 2020. "Family structure and the gender gap in ADHD," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 1101-1129, December.
    16. repec:pri:crcwel:wp06-28-ff is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Tiago V. de V. Cavalcanti & José Tavares, 2008. "Assessing the "Engines of Liberation": Home Appliances and Female Labor Force Participation," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(1), pages 81-88, February.
    18. Armand Mboutchouang K. & Cédric Foyet K. & Cédrick Kalemasi M., 2023. "Child fostering and health nutritional outcomes of under-five: Evidence from Cameroon," Working Papers 23/008, European Xtramile Centre of African Studies (EXCAS).
    19. Liliana E. Pezzin & Robert A. Pollak & Barbara Steinberg Schone, 2008. "Parental Marital Disruption, Family Type, and Transfers to Disabled Elderly Parents," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 63(6), pages 349-358.
    20. Anne Case & Christina Paxson, 2011. "The Long Reach of Childhood Health and Circumstance: Evidence from the Whitehall II Study," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 121(554), pages 183-204, August.
    21. Jeenat Binta Jabbar, 2022. "Effects of parental migration on the education of left-behind children," Technium Social Sciences Journal, Technium Science, vol. 33(1), pages 309-350, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsoctx:v:13:y:2023:i:8:p:192-:d:1218218. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.