Lawrence M. Berger

Estimating the “Impact” of Out‐of‐Home Placement on Child Well‐Being: Approaching the Problem of Selection Bias

This study used data on 2,453 children aged 4-17 from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being and 5 analytic methods that adjust for selection factors to estimate the impact of out-of-home placement on childrens cognitive skills and behavior problems. Methods included ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions and residualized change, simple change, difference-in-difference, and fixed effects models. Models were estimated using the full sample and a matched sample generated by propensity scoring. Although results from the unmatched OLS and residualized change models suggested that out-of-home placement is associated with increased child behavior problems, estimates from models that more rigorously adjust for selection bias indicated that placement has little effect on childrens cognitive skills or behavior problems.

Social and Demographic Predictors of Preschoolers' Bedtime Routines

Objective: To examine the associations of child and family sociodemographic characteristics with preschooler bedtime routines. Method: We use parent-report data of 3217 3-year-old children (48% black, 26% Hispanic, and 22% white) from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to examine whether child and family characteristics are associated with the presence, time, and consistency of bedtime routines. Results: More than 80% of sample children have a bedtime yet only two thirds follow it. After extensive controls for maternal education, family structure, and other household characteristics, black and Hispanic children have later bedtimes than white children and reduced odds of using regular bedtimes (by 22% and 29%, respectively) and using bedtime routines (by 47% and 33%, respectively). Low maternal education, increased household size, and poverty are associated with decreased use of parent-child interactive and hygiene-related bedtime routines. Conclusion: Children from disadvantaged households are less likely to have consistent bedtime routines than their more advantaged counterparts. This may contribute to later disparities in sleep quality, duration and timing, factors known to be associated with adverse behavioral, cognitive, and health outcomes.

Family Structure Transitions and Changes in Maternal Resources and Well-Being

This article uses data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to examine whether family instability is associated with changes in perceived social support, material hardship, maternal depression, and parenting stress among mothers of young children. In addition to accounting for the number of transitions that a mother experiences during the first five years of her child’s life, we pay close attention to the type and timing of these transitions. We find that mothers who transition to cohabitation or marriage with their child’s biological father experience declines in material hardship and that those who transition to cohabitation or marriage with another man exhibit modest declines in both material hardship and depression. Mothers who exit cohabiting or marital relationships encounter decreases in perceived social support and increases in material hardship, depression, and parenting stress. Overall, our results suggest that both the type and, to a much lesser degree, the timing of family structure transitions may influence maternal well-being.

Risk Factors for Child and Adolescent Maltreatment A Longitudinal Investigation of a Cohort of Inner-City Youth

This study investigates associations between individual, family, and extrafamilial factors and the likelihood of subsequent childhood and adolescent maltreatment. The authors analyzed 1,411 participants in the Chicago Longitudinal Study whose maltreatment records were verified from administrative data. Findings suggest that maternal age at the childs birth was a robust predictor of maltreatment outcomes. Receipt of public assistance and single-parent family status were significantly associated with select outcomes. Among school-age indicators examined, parent participation in school was negatively associated with most maltreatment outcomes. Participation in the Chicago Child-Parent Center program was negatively associated with maltreatment, although effects varied by type and timing of maltreatment. In separate analyses, several factors were associated with neglect, but only maternal age at the childs birth was associated with physical abuse. Findings suggest that prevention programs may need to target select populations and specific mechanisms associated with different types of maltreatment to maximize effectiveness.

A longitudinal study of preschoolers' language-based bedtime routines, sleep duration, and well-being.

To investigate the associations of caregiver-reported use of language-based bedtime routines among preschoolers at age 3 with childrens nighttime sleep duration and cognitive, behavioral, and health outcomes at age 5. Furthermore, we wanted to identify whether parental or household characteristics help explain these associations. We used data on 4,274 children from birth to age 5, drawn from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCW), a longitudinal birth cohort study of at-risk children born between 1998 and 2000 in 20 U.S. cities. We used ordinary least squares (for continuous outcomes) and logistic regressions (for dichotomous outcomes) to estimate associations of language-based bedtime routines at age 3 with sleep duration and cognitive, behavioral, and health outcomes at age 5, net of a host of child and family background characteristics. After adjustment for child and family characteristics, we observed a positive association between language-based bedtime routines and both nighttime sleep duration and verbal test scores. Language-based bedtime routines were also inversely associated with behavior problems (anxious, withdrawn, and aggressive behaviors) and positively associated with better general health, yet adjustment for family background characteristics attenuated these associations. No associations were found between language-based bedtime routines and obesity. Results were confirmed using propensity score matching. This research suggests regular use of language-based bedtime routines including singing, reading, and/or storytelling at bedtime may have a lasting positive benefit for childrens sleep duration and cognitive development; we find little evidence of such a benefit for child behavior or health.

Mothers, Men, and Child Protective Services Involvement

This study used data on 2,297 families from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to examine whether Child Protective Services (CPS) involvement varies by maternal relationship status. Families were categorized according to whether the mother was living with a (male) partner or spouse, was involved in a dating relationship, or was not romantically involved. Families in which the mother was romantically involved were further delineated by whether her partner was the biological father of none, some, or all of the children in her household. Results indicated that families in which the mother was living with a man who was not the biological father of all children and those in which she was not romantically involved were significantly more likely to be contacted by CPS than those in which she was living with the biological father of all resident children. These findings withstood the inclusion of detailed controls for the mothers characteristics and behaviors and (in two-parent families) her partners characteristics and behaviors, suggesting that they are not fully explained by observable social selection factors.

Socioeconomic Factors and Substandard Parenting

This article uses data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to estimate the independent and interactive effects of income, family structure, and maternal work on measures of substandard parenting. Results from child fixed‐effects analyses suggest that children in mother‐partner families are more likely to be exposed to substandard parenting than children in mother‐father families. However, income plays a particularly strong protective role in regard to substandard parenting in mother‐partner families, such that parenting improves as income rises. Increases in maternal work hours are associated with increases in substandard parenting for children in single‐mother families.

Spanking and child development during the first 5 years of life.

Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N=3,870) and cross-lagged path analysis, the authors examined whether spanking at ages 1 and 3 is adversely associated with cognitive skills and behavior problems at ages 3 and 5. The authors found spanking at age 1 was associated with a higher level of spanking and externalizing behavior at age 3, and spanking at age 3 was associated with a higher level of internalizing and externalizing behavior at age 5. The associations between spanking at age 1 and behavioral problems at age 5 operated predominantly through ongoing spanking at age 3. The authors did not find an association between spanking at age 1 and cognitive skills at age 3 or 5.

Child maltreatment and children's developmental trajectories in early to middle childhood

Associations between experiencing child maltreatment and adverse developmental outcomes are widely studied, yet conclusions regarding the extent to which effects are bidirectional, and whether they are likely causal, remain elusive. This study uses the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a birth cohort of 4,898 children followed from birth through age 9. Hierarchical linear modeling and structural equation modeling are employed to estimate associations of maltreatment with cognitive and social-emotional well-being. Results suggest that effects of early childhood maltreatment emerge immediately, though developmental outcomes are also affected by newly occurring maltreatment over time. Additionally, findings indicate that childrens early developmental scores predict their subsequent probability of experiencing maltreatment, though to a lesser extent than early maltreatment predicts subsequent developmental outcomes.

Caseworker-Perceived Caregiver Substance Abuse and Child Protective Services Outcomes

The authors used data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being to examine associations of child protective services (CPS) caseworkers’ perceptions of caregiver substance abuse with their perceptions of the severity of risk and harm a child experienced as a result of alleged maltreatment, as well as with whether a family experienced a range of CPS outcomes. The outcomes included whether the family received services from CPS, was substantiated for maltreatment, experienced child removal, and was subject to a termination of parental rights (TPR) petition. The authors also compared the magnitude of the association between caseworker-perceived caregiver substance abuse and each outcome to that of the association between other maltreatment-related risk factors and each outcome. Findings suggest that, all else equal, caseworker-perceived caregiver substance abuse is associated with increased caseworker perceptions that children have experienced severe risk and harm and also with an increased probability of each of the CPS outcomes except TPR. Moreover, these associations are equal in magnitude or larger than those between the other risk factors and the outcomes. These findings imply that CPS decisions are heavily influenced by caseworker perceptions of caregiver substance abuse, regardless of the presence of other risk factors for child maltreatment.