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Descriptors:
One Parent Family; Family Work Relationship; Family Life; Social Networks; Discussion; Parent Child Relationship; Family Relationship; State Policy; Well Being; Family Financial Resources; Marriage; Interpersonal Relationship; Costs; Child Care; Guidelines; Health Services; Early Parenthood; Pregnancy; Prevention; Contraception; Taxes; At Risk Persons; Health Insurance; Divorce; Family Violence; Parent Participation; Fathers; Child Custody; Child Welfare; Leaves of Absence; Services

Abstract:
The relational well-being of families is an important factor affecting a family's economic success, physical and mental heath, the readiness and success of children in school, and the engagement of youth in positive and productive roles. In short, the strength of family bonds is crucial to a family's capacity to provide, nurture, and care for its members. "Strong Family Relationships" is defined as the relational well-being of families. While the successful promotion of "strong family relationships" is clearly tied to ensuring family economic success and family health, this brief focuses primarily on strengthening the formation of families, the interaction of parents and children, the connection of families to social networks, and the adequacy and quality of necessary family resources. Addressing these many facets of family life is important given the dramatic changes and pressures associated with contemporary American family life. For example, fewer couples are marrying or are choosing to marry at later ages, more are cohabiting, increasing numbers of children will spend some part of their childhood in a single parent home, and rising health care, housing, and child care costs are making it difficult for families to balance the competing demands of work and family. This brief is a companion to a complete policy and research paper that provides an overview of current trends affecting American families and offers a beginning framework for state policies that strengthen family relationships. (Contains 72 endnotes.) [For the full report, "Encouraging Strong Family Relationships. Policy Matters: Setting and Measuring Benchmarks for State Policies. A Discussion Paper for the "Policy Matters" Project," see ED536821.] Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Marital Status; Daughters; One Parent Family; Interpersonal Relationship; Marital Instability; Divorce; Marriage; Parent Influence; At Risk Persons; Stress Variables; Family Structure; Age Differences; Racial Differences; Family Income; Parent Child Relationship; Attitudes; Affective Behavior; Educational Attainment; Religion; Self Esteem; Depression (Psychology); Grades (Scholastic)

Abstract:
The authors used data from the Add Health study to estimate the effects of parents' marital status and relationship distress on daughters' early family formation transitions. Outcomes included traditional transitions (marriage and marital births) and nontraditional transitions (cohabitation and nonmarital births). Relationship distress among continuously married parents was not related to any outcome. Offspring with single parents and remarried parents had an elevated risk of nonmarital births and nonmarital cohabitation. Offspring with remarried parents with a high-distress relationship had an elevated risk of early marriages and marital births. These results, combined with analyses of mediating variables, provide the strongest support for a modeling perspective, although some support also was found for a perspective based on escape from stress. (Contains 5 tables.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Family Life; Parent Child Relationship; Foreign Countries; Guidelines; Public Policy; Family (Sociological Unit); Family Characteristics; Family Structure; Catholics; Religious Factors; Poverty; Divorce; Interpersonal Relationship; Sexuality; Social Change; Family Size; Unwed Mothers; Economic Factors

Abstract:
In Ireland, historically and in the current era, family has been a central concern for society and the State. This article provides a descriptive overview of family life in Ireland and of major family-related changes over the past 40 years. It presents a general framework of analysis within which these changes can be understood, considers the general nature of change and continuity in family in Ireland, and proposes some implications for research and policy in the early part of this century. (Contains 2 notes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Models; Family Life; Social Work; Family (Sociological Unit); Family Relationship; Interpersonal Communication; Interpersonal Relationship; Marriage; Sexuality; Caregivers; Family Characteristics; Family Structure; Attachment Behavior

Abstract:
Theoretical models of family formation have assumed sexual coupling as the foundation of family life. This article proposes instead a model of family formation predicated on the processes of taking care of one another, eating together, and sharing life together. The interpersonal dynamics that distinguish a family from other close relationships are attachment, belonging, and entitlement. This process model of family formation does not presume marriage or any other form of sexual coupling to be a requirement for family formation. A case study illustrates, with implications for social work practice. (Contains 1 figure.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Stress Variables; Life Satisfaction; Unemployment; Social Indicators; Measurement; Sociometric Techniques; Socioeconomic Influences; Psychometrics; Comparative Analysis; Predictor Variables; Time Perspective; Experience; Adjustment (to Environment); Resilience (Psychology); Widowed; Marriage; Birth; Divorce

Abstract:
This paper analyzed the effect of major positive and negative life events (marriage, divorce, birth of child, widowhood, and unemployment) on life satisfaction. For the first time, this study estimated the effects of life events not with a precision of 12 months but of 3 months. Specifically, two questions were addressed: (1) Does the precision of the temporal localization of the event (i.e., 12 or 3 months) affect the observed trajectories of life satisfaction, and (2) is the precision of the temporal localization more important for negative life events? As expected, results showed that the precision of temporal localization allows a clearer view on hedonic adaptation, in particular following negative life events. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Measures (Individuals); Marriage Counseling; Interpersonal Relationship; Questionnaires; Research; Gender Differences; Males; Females; Marriage; Marital Instability; Adults

Abstract:
Client readiness for change is garnering increased interest both conceptually and methodologically. This article describes the reliability, validity, and utility of a measure of readiness for couple relationship change, Schneider's (2003) Stages of Relationship Change Questionnaire (SRCQ). Based on the Transtheoretical Model of Change, the instrument measures change along nine domains of marital functioning. Results indicate that this one-factor instrument may reliably measure readiness for change and discriminate between various stages of change. Most in this sample (n = 406) were in early stages of change, with men more often in the stage of precontemplation and women more often in contemplation. The SRCQ can be completed and scored in under 10 min. Clinical use and research implications are discussed. (Contains 8 tables.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Crime; Well Being; Birth Rate; High School Graduates; Statistical Data; Social Environment; Physical Environment; Public Agencies; Violence; Children; Child Health; Adolescents; Social Indicators; Economics; Health Insurance; Mathematics Achievement; Reading Achievement; Child Behavior; Body Weight; Drug Use; Family (Sociological Unit); Family Structure; Sexuality; Smoking; Health Services; Victims of Crime; Poverty; Employment; Trend Analysis; Ethnic Groups; High School Students

Abstract:
Each year since 1997, the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics has published a report on the well-being of children and families. Pending data availability, the Forum updates all 41 indicators annually on its Web site (http://childstats.gov) and alternates publishing a detailed report, "America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being," with a summary version that highlights selected indicators. The "America's Children" series makes Federal data on children and families available in a nontechnical, easy-to-use format in order to stimulate discussion among data providers, policymakers, and the public. The Forum fosters coordination and integration among 22 Federal agencies that produce or use statistical data on children and families, and seeks to improve Federal data on children and families. The "America's Children" series provides accessible compendiums of indicators drawn across topics from the most reliable official statistics; it is designed to complement other more specialized, technical, or comprehensive reports produced by various Forum agencies. Indicators are chosen because they are easy to understand, are based on substantial research connecting them to child well-being, cut across important areas of children's lives, are measured regularly so that they can be updated and show trends over time, and represent large segments of the population, rather than one particular group. These child well-being indicators span seven domains: "Family and Social Environment", "Economic Circumstances", "Health Care", "Physical Environment and Safety", "Behavior", "Education", and "Health". This report reveals that preterm births declined for the fourth straight year and that the adolescent birth rate declined. Average mathematics scores for 4th- and 8th-grade students increased, and the violent crime victimization rate among youth decreased. However, the percentage of children living in poverty increased, and the percentage of children with at least one parent employed full time, year round decreased. New this year is a detailed figure showing the percentage of children in race groups constituting less than 10 percent of the population. This detailed figure, available only online at http://childstats.gov, supplements Figure 1 in this Brief; the latter uses a wider lens to show the percentage of children by race and Hispanic origin. Readers will also note a revised figure showing the percentages of high school graduates who completed selected coursework (Figure 13 in this Brief). The Brief concludes with a summary table displaying the most recent data for all 41 indicators. (Contains 15 figures and 36 footnotes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Foreign Countries; Futures (of Society); Children; Youth; Social Development; Economic Development; Educational Attainment; Health; Birth Rate; Decision Making; Child Rearing; Social Values; Demography; Family (Sociological Unit)

Abstract:
The future of Russian society is manifested in the new generation, the community of children and young people. To a large extent, the country's social and economic development depends on the health and education of the rising generation, on its social values and orientations, its spirituality and morality, and its level of cultural accumulation. The comprehensive study and assessment of the potential and the quality of children represent a very important condition that is necessary for the formulation of an effective state policy oriented toward the preservation of the nation and the social and demographic development of Russia. The profound social and economic reforms got under way in the early 1990s, and the generations born then are no longer children. In 10 to 15 years, today's youngsters will constitute not only the main segment of Russia's working and creative population but also its demographic foundation; they will directly determine the country's future in all its aspects. In today's Russia one can clearly observe the clash (or intersection) of two independent processes. One is the demographic process, which, as in all developed countries, is characterized by a rapid aging of the population and a deterioration of its qualitative properties. The second process has an economic foundation and is linked to the country's transition from natural-resource-oriented technologies to innovative technologies that are characteristic of all developed countries. To a large extent, the success of this transition depends on the percentage of the youth cohort in the structure of the work force, since it is young people who are being prepared to be involved in the effective modernization of industry via high-level technologies whose replacement time is increasingly shorter and more intensive. This accounts for the pressing need for special reforms affecting the country's younger generation. At least three sets of vital problems can be discerned in this sphere, which must be solved. The author discusses them in this paper and offers preliminary solutions. She suggests that the low rate of reproduction of the Russian population makes it necessary to ensure that the smaller size of the young population is mitigated by an improvement in its health and education, and the creation of conditions necessary for its intellectual potential to be realized. [This article was translated by Kim Braithwaite.] Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Adolescents; Interviews; Adolescent Attitudes; Interpersonal Relationship; Intimacy; Marriage; College Students; Comparative Analysis; Divorce; Teaching Methods

Abstract:
Attitudes formed in adolescence create a foundation for family-formation decisions in adulthood. Drawing on qualitative interviews with fifty American adolescents, this article details five relationship-relevant factors that emerge in the teens' discussions of their relationship views. These are personal communication style, divorce acceptance, relationship efficacy, preferred family-formation timing and sequencing, and romantic relationship examples seen growing up. There is systematic variation in the teens' views along these factors, which cluster together into distinct relationship orientations that range in their skepticism of romantic relationships in general and marriage specifically. These relationship orientations among adolescents are compared with those in previous research on college student samples. The importance of these findings for adolescent-focused relationship education is discussed. (Contains 1 table.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Self Efficacy; Interpersonal Relationship; Divorce; Marital Satisfaction; Adolescents; Family Planning; Longitudinal Studies; Correlation; Marriage; Pregnancy; Youth; Young Adults

Abstract:
This study used the 1979 cohort of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (N = 3,481) to test whether the association between marital quality and divorce is moderated by premarital cohabitation or nonmarital childbearing status. Prior research identified lower marital quality as a key explanation for why couples who cohabit or have children before marrying are more likely to divorce than other couples. Using event history and fixed-effects models, we found that the effect of marital quality on divorce is similar for cohabitors and noncohabitors, with cohabitors more likely to end both high- and low-quality marriages. In contrast, the relationship between marital quality and divorce is weaker for women with nonmarital births; they are less likely than others to dissolve low-quality marriages. We discuss how commitment norms and self-efficacy might explain these differences in the association between marital quality and divorce. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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