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43 Deviant Behav. 1 (2022)

handle is hein.journals/devbh43 and id is 1 raw text is: DEVIANT BEHAVIOR DuIled 2022, VOL. 43, NO. 1, 1-16 O gedg https://doi.org/10.1080/01639625.2020.1771128 Taylor & Francis Group The Role of Family Structure and Family Processes on Adolescent Problem Behavior Kristina K. Childs, Caitlin M. Brady, Alesha L. J. Cameron, and Catherine Kaukinen University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY We examined the impact of family structure and family processes on Received 5 March 2020 engagement in multiple and co-occurring problem behaviors during ado- Accepted 28 April 2020 lescence (delinquency, substance use, risky sexual behavior, and truancy) while accounting for key risk factors (attachment to school, antisocial peers, self-control, and residential stability) for antisocial behavior. Using data from Waves 1 and 2 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (n = 9,992), latent class analysis identified classes of youth based on engagement in multiple forms of problem behavior. Multinomial logistic regression was then employed to test the direct and indirect effects of family structure on family processes and placement in the latent classes. Significant differences in family processes and latent class membership were identified across categories of family structure except when compar- ing across two types of single biological mother households (with children from one father and multipartnered fertility families). Family processes, self- control, and having antisocial peers reduced the effects of family structure on latent class membership. Introduction Complex family structures have become more common over the past several decades with a rise in the instability of marriages and high rates of teenage or nonmarital motherhood (Dinisman et al. 2017; Murry and Lippold 2018). While the cultural ideal of an intact family (i.e., nuclear family with a heterosexual married couple and their shared biological children) is still acknowledged, broken homes or non-intact families are increasing in number. For example, in 1980, 18% of children living in the United States lived in a mother-only household and 2% lived in a father-only household; in 2015, 23% lived in a mother-only household and 4% lived in a father-only household (U.S. Census Bureau 2018). Research also suggests that, prior to adulthood, a significant number of children and adolescents experience at least one family transition or change in family structure (Brown 2010; Manning, Brown, and Stykes 2014). Decades of research have investigated how different forms of family structure impact family processes and adolescent behavior (Crosnoe and Cavanagh 2010; Murry and Lippold 2018). Early studies operationalized family structure as a dichotomy which distinguishes between intact and non-intact families. Operationalizing and treating all non-intact families as the same is proble- matic because it ignores variations that exist among single-parent and other family forms. Additionally, when excluding variations in family form, research fails to consider differences in economic resources and family processes that may influence the risk for adolescent problem behavior (see Apel and Kaukinen 2008; Demuth and Brown 2004; Mack et al. 2007; Wells and Rankin 1991 for a discussion). More recent studies have differentiated between married and CONTACT Kristina K. Childs ® kristina.childs@ucf.edu ( Department of Criminal Justice, University of Central Florida, 12805 Pegasus Drive, Bldg. 80, Suite 311, Orlando, FL 32816, USA 0 2020 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC