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Article
Do Residential Conditions Explain the Relationship Between Living Arrangements and Adolescent Behavior?
Journal of Marriage and Family (2004)
  • Jay Teachman, Western Washington University
  • Kyle Crowder
Abstract
Persistent effects of childhood living arrangements and family change on adolescent outcomes have often been attributed to differences in socialization and intrafamily processes. We use data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to assess an alternative explanation: that neighborhood context and residential mobility represent a central set of mechanisms through which family structure affects adolescent risk behavior. Our results indicate that the effects of childhood living arrangements and family change on the risk of dropping out of school (n=8,267) and of experiencing a premarital teen pregnancy (n=6,063) are largely attenuated when differences in the level of neighborhood disadvantage and the number of residential moves experienced by adolescents is taken into account.
Keywords
  • Childhood living arrangements,
  • Neighborhood distress,
  • Residential mobility,
  • School dropout,
  • Teen childbearing
Disciplines
Publication Date
2004
Publisher Statement
Published by: National Council on Family Relations Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3600224
Citation Information
Jay Teachman and Kyle Crowder. "Do Residential Conditions Explain the Relationship Between Living Arrangements and Adolescent Behavior?" Journal of Marriage and Family Vol. 66 Iss. 3 (2004)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/jay_teachman/31/