The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Differences in mental health between adults in stepfamilies and 'first families'

Differences in mental health between adults in stepfamilies and 'first families'
Differences in mental health between adults in stepfamilies and 'first families'
This study used longitudinal data from the UK National Child Development Study (N = 5844) to examine whether mental health measured at age 42 was associated with living in a stepfamily. Accounting for the potential selection of those with mental health problems at the onset of family formation (at age 23) into, or out of, stepfamilies we show that stepparents, their partners and particularly those in dual stepparent families all had worse mental health than parents in ‘first families’. It was also found that the mental health of men was worse if they were a stepparent than if they were the partner of a stepparent, while the reverse was the case for women.
2042-4116
10
ESRC Centre for Population Change
Feijten, Peteke
e4d537f5-0923-4f11-9a9b-715013ad84e9
Boyle, Paul
b5659afd-f7b7-428d-8cc4-049e9563b40b
Graham, Elspeth
44e94ad4-8fbe-485e-9353-6a83af3c33f7
Gayle, Vernon
6f166435-39d9-43a2-babd-f5daaf6ae898
Feijten, Peteke
e4d537f5-0923-4f11-9a9b-715013ad84e9
Boyle, Paul
b5659afd-f7b7-428d-8cc4-049e9563b40b
Graham, Elspeth
44e94ad4-8fbe-485e-9353-6a83af3c33f7
Gayle, Vernon
6f166435-39d9-43a2-babd-f5daaf6ae898

Feijten, Peteke, Boyle, Paul, Graham, Elspeth and Gayle, Vernon (2011) Differences in mental health between adults in stepfamilies and 'first families' (Centre for Population Change Working Paper, 10) Southampton, GB. ESRC Centre for Population Change 45pp.

Record type: Monograph (Working Paper)

Abstract

This study used longitudinal data from the UK National Child Development Study (N = 5844) to examine whether mental health measured at age 42 was associated with living in a stepfamily. Accounting for the potential selection of those with mental health problems at the onset of family formation (at age 23) into, or out of, stepfamilies we show that stepparents, their partners and particularly those in dual stepparent families all had worse mental health than parents in ‘first families’. It was also found that the mental health of men was worse if they were a stepparent than if they were the partner of a stepparent, while the reverse was the case for women.

Text
2011_WP10_ Differences_in_Mental_Health_Feijten_et_al.pdf - Other
Download (1MB)

More information

Published date: 1 January 2011
Organisations: Social Statistics & Demography, Centre for Population Change

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 338995
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/338995
ISSN: 2042-4116
PURE UUID: 36113609-37ba-4ed4-a472-991dd9098aea

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 22 May 2012 12:56
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 11:07

Export record

Contributors

Author: Peteke Feijten
Author: Paul Boyle
Author: Elspeth Graham
Author: Vernon Gayle

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×