Assessing the variation of measurement of family structure in studies of adolescent risk behaviors: a systematic review

Abstract

ABSTRACT Family structure is associated with many youth risk behaviors, such as sexual risk taking, substance abuse, and delinquency. These risk behaviors may result in increased negative health outcomes that impede the success of youth. However, family structure is inconsistently defined in the literature as a construct and is not always static. This review evaluated how family structure is conceptualized, defined, and measured in the literature on youth risk behaviors. A literature search of electronic databases CINAHL, PsycInfo, and PubMed was conducted in June of 2016 to identify studies published between January 2006 and June 2016, meeting all inclusion criteria. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews methodology (PRISMA) was applied. Of the initial 412 studies assessed, 53 studies were included and found considerable variation in the definition and measurement of this construct. The domains of family structure most commonly assessed for adolescents were: intact or non-intact, transitions or changes, marital status, head of household gender. Less common domains include other members of household (related or unrelated), parent education level, and parent income. Although family structure is multidimensional, the extent to which family structure is measured is limited. Family structure as used with youth risk behavior overwhelmingly describes the marital status and number of parents in the home. Analysis commonly involves dummy coding, using two biological/adoptive parents as the reference category. Family structure was generally assessed for the current household, but some studies assessed family structure longitudinally or for multiple time points. The present study provides a synthesis of the literature on how family structure is defined and utilized for different youth risk behaviors and highlighted the need to more consistently and fully measure family structure. Future studies can capture a more accurate representation of families by using broader definitions of family structure that expand beyond traditional definitions of family.