There for them
The effects of fathers on daughters’ expectations for men
Danielle DelPriore et al.
Developmental Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Guided by paternal investment theory (PIT), the current research examines the effects of fathers on daughters’ expectations for men in adulthood, and the role of these expectations in mediating women’s short-term (casual or uncommitted) sexual behavior. Using a genetically informed differential sibling-exposure design (N = 223 sister pairs from divorced/separated families), we found that developmental exposure to low-quality paternal behavior (but not paternal absence per se) predicted adult women’s expectations for men as partners. For older sisters, who spent much of their childhoods living with their fathers, lower-quality paternal behavior predicted lower expectations for male investment in their relationships as adults. Moreover, lower expectations for men as partners predicted higher numbers of sexual partners (past and anticipated) among these women. By contrast, for younger sisters, who spent relatively little time coresiding with their fathers, no such effects of quality of paternal behavior were observed. The current work provides evidence that exposure to low-quality paternal behavior during development may help calibrate daughters’ expectations for the behavior of male relationship partners, and these expectations may shape their sexual behavior in adulthood.
The Impact of Parental Involvement Laws on Minor Abortion
Theodore Joyce, Robert Kaestner & Jason Ward
NBER Working Paper, April 2019
Abstract:
In this article, we conduct a comprehensive analysis of the effect of parental involvement (PI) laws on the incidence of abortions to minors across a span of nearly three decades. We contribute to the extant literature on this topic in several ways. First, we explore differences in estimates of the effect of PI laws across time that may result from changes in contraception, the composition of pregnant minors, access to confidential abortions in nearby states, or through judicial bypass, and the degree to which these laws are enforced. We find that, on average, PI laws enacted before the mid-1990s are associated with a 15% to 20% reduction in minor abortions. PI laws enacted after this time are not, on average, associated with declines in abortions to minors. Second, we assess the role of out-of-state travel by minors, estimating models that allow the effect of PI laws to differ by the distance to the nearest state without a PI law. We find that out-of-state travel is not a substantive moderating factor of the effect of PI laws. Third, we use a synthetic control approach to explore state-level heterogeneity in the effect of PI laws and find large differences in the impact of PI laws on minor abortions by state. These differences are unrelated to the type of law (consent versus notification) or whether contiguous states have enacted PI laws. Finally, we show that estimates of the effect of PI laws using data from either the Centers for Disease Control or the Alan Guttmacher Institute do not differ qualitatively once differences in coverage by state and year across these data are harmonized.
Unfit by Accident: Third-Party Perception of Parental Fitness Based on Childbearing Intention
Julie Huang
Social Psychological and Personality Science, forthcoming
Abstract:
Prior research has examined the impact of unintended birth on parent and child welfare. The present studies examine another potential consequence: namely, how third-party observers react to information about parenthood intention. We examine whether the act of having intended (or not) to become a parent affects people’s impressions of (1) what type of caregiver the (un)intended parent will be, (2) the type of relationship the (un)intended parent will have with the child, and (3) potential outcomes for that family. Studies 1 and 2 demonstrate that people award less custody to accidental mothers and fathers because lack of intention during birth is perceived as decreasing parental quality and closeness between parent and child. Study 3 tests potential moderators of this effect including parenthood status and controllability, highlighting the potential negative consequences of this phenomenon for families in child custody disputes where third-party judgments are especially likely to bear weight.
Graduated Driver Licensing and Teen Fertility
Monica Deza
Economics & Human Biology, forthcoming
Abstract:
This paper evaluates the effect of implementing nighttime driving curfews and passenger restrictions mandated by graduated driver licensing (GDL) on teen fertility. Both components of GDL potentially restrict the freedom and mobility of minor drivers by requiring adult supervision, and therefore reduces opportunities to become pregnant. Using birth data from the National Vital Statistics (NVSS) and a triple differences approach, I find that the implementation of “tough” GDL decreased fertility by 3% -4% among mothers between the ages of 16 and 18. This effect is driven by the states that require driving curfews for at least a year before teenagers can obtain their unrestricted drivers license.
Paid Family Leave and Breastfeeding: Evidence from California
Jessica Pac et al.
NBER Working Paper, April 2019
Abstract:
This paper evaluates the effect of Paid Family Leave (PFL) on breastfeeding, which we identify using California’s enactment of a 2004 PFL policy that ensured mothers up to six weeks of leave at a 55 percent wage replacement rate. We employ synthetic control models for a large, representative sample of over 270,000 children born between 2000 and 2012 drawn from the restricted-use versions of the 2003 – 2014 National Immunization Surveys. Our estimates indicate that PFL increases the overall duration of breastfeeding by nearly 18 days, and the likelihood of breastfeeding for at least six months by 5 percentage points. We find substantially larger effects of PFL on breastfeeding duration for some disadvantaged mothers.
The interplay of polygenic plasticity and adrenocortical activity as sources of variability in pathways among family adversity, youth emotional reactivity, and psychological problems
Patrick Davies et al.
Development and Psychopathology, forthcoming
Abstract:
This study examined the interplay between a polygenic composite and cortisol activity as moderators of the mediational pathway among family adversity, youth negative emotional reactivity to family conflict, and their psychological problems. The longitudinal design contained three annual measurement occasions with 279 adolescents (Mean age = 13.0 years) and their parents. Latent difference score analyses indicated that observational ratings of adversity in interparental and parent–child interactions at Wave 1 predicted increases in a multimethod, multi-informant assessment of youth negative emotional reactivity to family conflict from Waves 1 to 2. Changes in youth negative emotional reactivity, in turn, predicted increases in a multi-informant (i.e., parents, adolescent, and teacher) assessment of psychological problems from Waves 1 to 3. Consistent with differential susceptibility theory, the association between family adversity and negative emotional reactivity was stronger for adolescents who carried more sensitivity alleles in a polygenic composite consisting of 5-HTTLPR, DRD4 VNTR, and BDNF polymorphisms. Analyses of adolescent cortisol in the period surrounding a family disagreement task at Wave 1 revealed that overall cortisol output, rather than cortisol reactivity, served as an endophenotype of the polygenic composite. Overall cortisol output was specifically associated with polygenic plasticity and moderated the association between family adversity and youth negative emotional reactivity in the same for better or for worse manner as the genetic composite. Finally, moderator-mediated-moderation analyses indicated that the moderating role of the polygenic plasticity composite was mediated by the moderating role of adolescent cortisol output in the association between family adversity and their emotional reactivity.
Child Care Subsidies with One- and Two-Parent Families
Emily Moschini
University of Minnesota Working Paper, December 2018
Abstract:
The implementation of child care subsidies has varied widely across countries and states, as well as over time, ranging from universal to poverty-tested eligibility. I study the implications of eligibility rules for child care subsidies in a general equilibrium, overlapping generations framework where altruistic parents invest in child skill. I allow for one- and two-parent families, and endogenize family formation with a marriage market. This explicitly incorporates single mothers, who currently parent 20% of children under 5 in the United States. Using individual-level data from the US Department of Education, I estimate how mother time, father time, and non-parental child care affect child skill for each family structure. These estimates allow me to account for the differential effect of child care subsidies on one- and two-parent families. My general equilibrium framework accounts for the effect of the subsidy on government expenditures as well as the skill distribution and, through that, on endogenous tax rates. I find that universal subsidies yield ex ante welfare gains of 5.9 percentage points, while targeting child care subsidies to one-parent families or poor families yields welfare gains of 2.4 and 2.0 percentage points, respectively. Universal subsidies more fully insure newborns against the risks they face than targeted subsidies, and do not disincentivize skill investment as happens with subsidies to the poor.
Community matters: GxE interactions predicting childhood aggression and violent behavior
Leslie Sattler et al.
Journal of Criminal Justice, March–April 2019, Pages 58-71
Purpose: Aggression in childhood is a common precursor to youth violence, yet few studies have examined the extent to which genetic and environmental factors interact (GxE) to influence aggression by male and female children.This secondary analysis of data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study examined GxE interactions between two composites of genetic polymorphisms and community-level factors on childhood aggression and violent behavior.
Methods: The analytic sample consisted of preadolescent children of single mothers (Year 3, n = 2102; Year 5, n = 2065; Year 9, n = 2007). Analysis included multiple regression and tests of differential susceptibility using simple slopes and regions of significance.
Results: Findings indicate that low levels of neighborhood social control and community stability interacted with genotypes to predict childhood aggression and violent behavior at age 9. Moreover, girls who possessed specific dopamine and serotonin polymorphisms were differentially susceptible to the level of neighborhood social control.