IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0192968.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Health and health risk behaviour of adolescents—Differences according to family structure. Results of the German KiGGS cohort study

Author

Listed:
  • Petra Rattay
  • Elena von der Lippe
  • Elvira Mauz
  • Felicitas Richter
  • Heike Hölling
  • Cornelia Lange
  • Thomas Lampert

Abstract

Objective: This study’s aim was to investigate the association between family structure and different health-related outcomes in adolescence (self-rated health, emotional and behavioural problems, health-related quality of life, regular smoking, and heavy episodic drinking). Furthermore, we analysed the extent to which socio-economic status, family cohesion and the pre-transition health status explain family structure-related health disparities. Methods: We used longitudinal data from the first two waves of the German KiGGS cohort study carried out by the Robert Koch Institute (baseline: 2003–2006, follow-up: 2009–2012). The sample comprised 4,692 respondents aged 11 to 17 years. Using data from both waves, effects of family structure on health status at follow-up were calculated applying linear and logistic regression models. Results: We found that adolescents continuously living with both birth parents were in good health. Adolescents whose parents separated after the baseline survey, reported poorer health and were more likely to smoke. The transition from stepfamily to single parent family was also associated with a higher risk of regular smoking. Lower health-related quality of life as well as higher scores for emotional and behavioural problems occurred in almost all non-nuclear family structures, although not all effects were statistically significant. No significant effects of family structure on heavy episodic drinking were found. While family cohesion mediated the effects of family structure on adolescents’ health, the mediating effect of socio-economic status was small. After controlling for pre-transition health, the effects were even lower. Conclusions: Because the direct effects of family structure on adolescents’ health were small and family cohesion was found to be an important mediator in the association between family structure and adolescents’ health, prevention programmes and interventions should be directed towards the parent–adolescent relationship rather than just the family structure, in order to minimize the psychosocial stress of adolescents during the period of family transition.

Suggested Citation

  • Petra Rattay & Elena von der Lippe & Elvira Mauz & Felicitas Richter & Heike Hölling & Cornelia Lange & Thomas Lampert, 2018. "Health and health risk behaviour of adolescents—Differences according to family structure. Results of the German KiGGS cohort study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(3), pages 1-19, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0192968
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0192968
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0192968
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0192968&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0192968?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Griesbach, Dawn & Amos, Amanda & Currie, Candace, 2003. "Adolescent smoking and family structure in Europe," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 56(1), pages 41-52, January.
    2. Collishaw, Stephan & Goodman, Robert & Pickles, Andrew & Maughan, Barbara, 2007. "Modelling the contribution of changes in family life to time trends in adolescent conduct problems," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(12), pages 2576-2587, December.
    3. Marco Francesconi & Stephen P. Jenkins & Quirin Schimeta & Thomas Siedler, 2010. "Scheidungskinder rauchen mehr," DIW Wochenbericht, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 77(34), pages 2-7.
    4. Simon Chapple, 2009. "Child Well-Being and Sole-Parent Family Structure in the OECD: An Analysis," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 82, OECD Publishing.
    5. McMunn, Anne M. & Nazroo, James Y. & Marmot, Michael G. & Boreham, Richard & Goodman, Robert, 2001. "Children's emotional and behavioural well-being and the family environment: findings from the Health Survey for England," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 53(4), pages 423-440, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Dierker, Philipp & Kühn, Mine & Mönkediek, Bastian, 2023. "Does parental separation moderate the heritability of health risk behavior among adolescents?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 331(C).
    2. Miriam Blume & Petra Rattay & Stephanie Hoffmann & Jacob Spallek & Lydia Sander & Raphael Herr & Matthias Richter & Irene Moor & Nico Dragano & Claudia Pischke & Iryna Iashchenko & Claudia Hövener & B, 2021. "Health Inequalities in Children and Adolescents: A Scoping Review of the Mediating and Moderating Effects of Family Characteristics," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-33, July.
    3. Apolinaras Zaborskis & Aistė Kavaliauskienė & Charli Eriksson & Elitsa Dimitrova & Joana Makari, 2022. "Family Structure through the Adolescent Eyes: A Comparative Study of Current Status and Time Trends over Three Decades of HBSC Study," Societies, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-16, May.

    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. 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.
    2. Reiss, Franziska, 2013. "Socioeconomic inequalities and mental health problems in children and adolescents: A systematic review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 24-31.
    3. Ben Lakhdar, Christian & Cauchie, Grégoire & Vaillant, Nicolas Gérard & Wolff, François-Charles, 2012. "The role of family incomes in cigarette smoking: Evidence from French students," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(12), pages 1864-1873.
    4. Melisa Bubonya & Deborah A. Cobb-Clark & Mark Wooden, 2017. "Job loss and the mental health of spouses and adolescent children," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 6(1), pages 1-27, December.
    5. Pasqualini, M. & Lanari, D. & Pieroni, L., 2018. "Parents who exit and parents who enter. Family structure transitions, child psychological health, and early drinking," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 214(C), pages 187-196.
    6. Lawson, David W. & Mace, Ruth, 2010. "Siblings and childhood mental health: Evidence for a later-born advantage," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(12), pages 2061-2069, June.
    7. Cory Koedel & Teerachat Techapaisarnjaroenkit, 2011. "Systematic Differences in How Mothers Assess Their Children and Implications for Developmental Research," Working Papers 1124, Department of Economics, University of Missouri, revised 29 Oct 2012.
    8. Fagg, James & Curtis, Sarah & Stansfeld, Stephen & Congdon, Peter, 2006. "Psychological distress among adolescents, and its relationship to individual, family and area characteristics in East London," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(3), pages 636-648, August.
    9. Proto, Eugenio & Sgroi, Daniel & Oswald, Andrew J., 2010. "Are Happiness and Productivity Lower among University Students with Newly-Divorced Parents? An Experimental Approach," IZA Discussion Papers 4755, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Anna Baranowska-Rataj & Anna Matysiak & Monika Mynarska, 2012. "Does Lone Motherhood Decrease Women’s Subjective Well-Being? Evidence from Qualitative and Quantitative Research," Working Papers 48, Institute of Statistics and Demography, Warsaw School of Economics.
    11. Emanuele Millemaci & Dario Sciulli, 2014. "The long-term impact of family difficulties during childhood on labor market outcomes," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 12(4), pages 663-687, December.
    12. Björkenstam, Emma & Burström, Bo & Brännström, Lars & Vinnerljung, Bo & Björkenstam, Charlotte & Pebley, Anne R., 2015. "Cumulative exposure to childhood stressors and subsequent psychological distress. An analysis of US panel data," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 109-117.
    13. Jung, Se-Hwan & Tsakos, Georgios & Sheiham, Aubrey & Ryu, Jae-In & Watt, Richard G., 2010. "Socio-economic status and oral health-related behaviours in Korean adolescents," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(11), pages 1780-1788, June.
    14. Olga Kislitsyna & Andrew Stickley & Anna Gilmore & Martin McKee, 2010. "The social determinants of adolescent smoking in Russia in 2004," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 55(6), pages 619-626, December.
    15. Marco Francesconi & Stephen P. Jenkins & Thomas Siedler, 2010. "The effect of lone motherhood on the smoking behavior of young adults," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(11), pages 1377-1384, November.
    16. Duncan McVicar, 2012. "Cross Country Estimates of Peer Effects in Adolescent Smoking Using IV and School Fixed Effects," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2012n07, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    17. Rainer Eppel & Thomas Leoni, 2011. "New Social Risks Affecting Children. A Survey of Risk Determinants and Child Outcomes in the EU," WIFO Working Papers 386, WIFO.
    18. Richards, Lindsay & Paskov, Marii, 2016. "Social class, employment status and inequality in psychological well-being in the UK: Cross-sectional and fixed effects analyses over two decades," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 45-53.
    19. Duncan McVicar & Arnold Polanski, 2014. "Peer Effects in UK Adolescent Substance Use: Never Mind the Classmates?," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 76(4), pages 589-604, August.
    20. Stefan Bauernschuster & Rainald Borck, 2012. "The Effect of Child Care on Family Structure: Theory and Evidence," CESifo Working Paper Series 3763, CESifo.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:plo:pone00:0192968. 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: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    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.