Family Instability During the Transition to Schooling and Links to Children's Social-Emotional Skills

• In Event: Poster Session 14
  In Poster Session: PS 14 Topic - Family Context & Processes

Abstract

In the last several decades more children than ever before have experienced considerable changes to their family structure, including divorce, cohabitation, re-marriage, and loss of a parent. Nearly one third of children under the age of six experience a disruption to their family structure (U.S. Census, 2014). Family structure instability can have profound consequences for the development of children because transitions from one family structure to another upsets children’s daily routines and is negatively associated with children’s development (Crosnoe et al., 2014).

The current study deepens our knowledge on how familial instability during the kindergarten year is linked to children’s social-emotional development. While most prior research has focused exclusively on the effects of divorce on child well-being, we are expanding the definition of family instability to include cohabitation, ending of relationships, and loss of parent. We focus on social-emotional development, as it has longitudinal associations with mental health symptoms and wellbeing (Coplan & Rubin, 2010; Weeks et al., 2016). With most children experiencing transitions and no longer living in traditional nuclear families, it is more important than ever to further the research on family instability (Pasqualini, Lanari, & Pieroni, 2018), particularly during key developmental transitions.

The current study leverages the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010-2011 – a nationally-representative dataset of approximately 18,170 children followed longitudinally from kindergarten to fifth grade. Teachers rated children’s social-emotional skills on the Social Skills Rating Scale (SSRS; Gresham & Elliot, 1990) across the following domains: interpersonal skills, externalizing and internalizing behaviors, and self-control. Parents reported on changes in family structure during the kindergarten year. A binary variable of family instability indicated if the child’s mother, father, guardian, or a partner of the child’s parent/guardian moved out of the home for the following reasons: separation or divorce, death, or moved on/moved elsewhere. Covariates included socioeconomic status, child race/ethnicity and gender, and the parent’s age and gender.

Regression analyses were conducted, such that Model 1 represented the effect of family instability during the kindergarten year on social-emotional skills in first grade. Model 2 added a lagged outcome measure from the kindergarten year, to assess how family instability during kindergarten was associated with changes in social-emotional skills during the first-grade year. Results demonstrate that family instability during kindergarten was significantly associated with higher internalizing behaviors and lower interpersonal skills in first grade. Further, family instability during kindergarten was associated with increases in internalizing behaviors during the first-grade year and decreases in interpersonal skills during the first-grade year (at a trend-level). Family instability during kindergarten was not associated with externalizing behaviors or self-control.

Overall, these results highlight important links between family instability during the transition to formal schooling and both children’s internalizing behaviors, such as anxiety and worrying, and interpersonal interactions, after controlling for a robust set of covariates. They suggest that intervention is need to support kindergartners who are simultaneously undergoing the transition to formal schooling and instability in family structure. Next steps include examining parents or partners moving into the home for reasons such as new relationships and re-marriage.

Authors

• NaKeysha Olson, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
  Presenting Author

• Jenna Elizabeth Finch, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
  Non-Presenting Author