Families in the United States are becoming increasingly diverse and complex, with the potential to have significant impacts on children. One of the most notable changes in recent decades has been the dramatic increase in cohabitation rates. However, the existing research on the effects of transitions into and out of cohabitation on child outcomes is limited. Most of the existing research is cross-sectional (Nelson, Clark, and Acs 2001; Brown 2004), focuses on the number of maternal relationship transitions experienced by children, rather than the type (Hao and Xie 2007; Manning and Lamb 2003), or uses retrospective data on the amount of time children spend in various family structures (Dunifon and Kowaleski-Jones 2002; Fomby and Cherlin 2007; Hao and Xie 2002). The exception is Brown (2006), who compares the effects of various maternal relationship transition types. However, Brown’s research is limited to adolescents and her data do not allow for race-specific analyses.
I extend this research using data from the 1986-2004 waves of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 and the Children of the NLSY79. I compare the effects of experiencing various maternal union entrances and exits and stable maternal unions on child behavior problems, as measured by the Behavior Problems Index. The data allow for an examination of the effects of transitions experienced by children between the ages of 4-5 and 6-7, 6-7 and 8-9, 8-9 and 10-11, and 10-11 and 12-13. In addition to age-specific analyses, I also include interactions by child sex and race/ethnicity and consider the role played by the relatedness of the mother’s spouse or partner to the child. I consider the possibility that there is a spurious association between maternal relationships and child behavior, such that children with behavior problems may exhibit such problems before any maternal relationship transition occurs. Finally, I examine the mediating role played by parenting after the transition, as measured by the Home Observation Measurement of the Environment-Short Form (HOME-SF).
I find few significant effects associated with maternal relationship entrance. The most consistent effect for relationship exit is seen in the detrimental impact of divorce on child behavior problems relative to remaining in a stable married mother family. For younger children, much of this effect operates through behavior problems that existed prior to the divorce. Divorce is particularly harmful for pre-adolescents aged 10-11 and has a significant impact even when controlling for background characteristics and post-divorce parenting. The most consistent effects are seen in the effects of stable maternal union types. Remaining in a stable single mother or cohabiting mother family compared to remaining in a stable married mother family is associated with a higher level of behavior problems, though there is no significant difference in the effect of remaining in a stable single mother family relative to remaining in a cohabiting mother family. I find few significant effects by child sex or race/ethnicity, though there is some evidence that non-traditional family types are more detrimental for non-Black, non-Hispanic children than for their Black or Hispanic counterparts.