Sarah Halpern-Meekin

Relationship Churning in Emerging Adulthood On/Off Relationships and Sex With an Ex

We build on the emerging adulthood literature to examine two forms of relationship instability, reconciliations and sex with an ex; we term these forms of relationship churning. Analyzing recent data on emerging adult daters and cohabitors (n = 792), we find that nearly half report a reconciliation (a breakup followed by reunion) and over half of those who break up continue a sexual relationship (sex with an ex). We analyze individual demographic, social psychological, and relationship factors associated with reconciliations and sex with an ex. These findings showcase that emerging adult relationships are characterized by considerable uncertainty and add to our theoretical and empirical understanding of stability in romantic relationships in emerging adulthood.

Dignity and Dreams What the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Means to Low-Income Families

Money has meaning that shapes its uses and social significance, including the monies low-income families draw on for survival: wages, welfare, and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). This study, based on in-depth interviews with 115 low-wage EITC recipients, reveals the EITC is an unusual type of government transfer. Recipients of the EITC say they value the debt relief this government benefit brings. However, they also perceive it as a just reward for work, which legitimizes a temporary increase in consumption. Furthermore, unlike other means-tested government transfers, the credit is seen as a springboard for upward mobility. Thus, by conferring dignity and spurring dreams, the EITC enhances feelings of citizenship and social inclusion.

Relationship Churning and Parenting Stress Among Mothers and Fathers

Researchers have documented the consequences of relationship instability for parenting stress but have given little attention to within-partner relationship instability. In this study, the authors used data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 3,544) to estimate the association between within-partner relationship instability (known as churning or on-again/off-again relationships) and parenting stress. First, they found that by the focal childs 5th birthday about 16% of biological parents experience churning. Second, compared to being stably together with or stably separated from the childs other parent, churning is associated with greater parenting stress for both mothers and fathers. Because parenting stress is the same or higher among churners compared to their counterparts who stably separate, this suggests that, more than a change in partner, relationship instability-whether within or across relationships-is tied to parenting stress.

High School Relationship and Marriage Education: A Comparison of Mandated and Self-Selected Treatment:

This study examines whether high school relationship and marriage education can affect students’ relationship skills and if effects vary between sites having mandated and self-selected course participation. Based on an original data set (n = 222), results show that course exposure can result in a significant, positive change in students’ relationship skills, although only at certain schools and for certain students. Mandated treatment appears to garner better results, those from two-parent families show the most consistent gains in relationship skills across schools, and severely economically disadvantaged school samples appear not to show gains. The importance of these results for practitioners and policy makers is discussed.

Unlikely Optimists, Skeptics, and Believers: Understanding Adolescents’ Prospective Relationship Views

Attitudes formed in adolescence create a foundation for family-formation decisions in adulthood. Drawing on qualitative interviews with fifty American adolescents, this article details five relationship-relevant factors that emerge in the teens’ discussions of their relationship views. These are personal communication style, divorce acceptance, relationship efficacy, preferred family-formation timing and sequencing, and romantic relationship examples seen growing up. There is systematic variation in the teens’ views along these factors, which cluster together into distinct relationship orientations that range in their skepticism of romantic relationships in general and marriage specifically. These relationship orientations among adolescents are compared with those in previous research on college student samples. The importance of these findings for adolescent-focused relationship education is discussed.

School Variation in Students’ Experiences of High School Relationship and Marriage Education Courses:

Previous research on high school relationship and marriage education (RME) has shown small but positive course effects. However, these studies have pooled results across schools, without exploring differences in outcomes by school. This article examines variations in students’ RME course experiences by school, captured in interviews. It compares these against the average change in students’ relationship skills from pre- to postexposure at each school, measured in surveys. Results show that at schools where students show quantitative gains in relationship skills during the course, qualitative differences are also visible—students discuss learning a wide variety of course lessons, relevant to both adolescent and adult relationships. At schools where students do not show quantitative gains in relationship skills, they describe learning a limited number of lessons. Findings confirm the importance of exploring variation in course effects across schools and demonstrate that successful courses affect students in a variety of respects simultaneously.

Parenting in On/Off Relationships: The Link Between Relationship Churning and Father Involvement

Family systems theory points to the interconnected nature of dyadic relationships within the family unit, arguing for attention to how the parental relationship shapes their ties to and interactions with their children. Grounded in family systems theory, we consider how relationship churning—defined as being in an on-again/off-again relationship with the same partner—is associated with father involvement. We use data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to examine how father involvement among relationship churners compares with father involvement among those in three other relationship types (measured during the first five years of the focal child’s life): stably together relationships, stably broken-up relationships, and repartnered relationships. First, we find that churning fathers remain more involved with their 9-year-old children than do parents who stably break up or repartner, but they are less involved than those who are stably together. Second, lower relationship quality among churners—and, to a lesser extent, repartnering and childbearing with a new partner—explains some of the differences in father involvement between churners and the stably together. Third, these differences are most apparent among parents not living together when father involvement is measured. Taken together, the focus on relationship churning extends prior research on the association between relationship transitions and father involvement by separating relationship instability from partner change.

Relationship Churning and Desistance From Intimate Abuse

It is essential to understand how desistance from intimate abuse occurs so it can be facilitated for those experiencing it. Recognizing the category of churning relationships-in which partners separate and reunite-gives us analytic leverage in identifying the relationship dynamics that predict abuse desistance. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a longitudinal survey of parents in urban areas, we compare desistance among churners (who experience a breakup only) with those who repartner (who experience a breakup and a new partnership) and those who are stably together (who experience neither a breakup nor a new partnership). We examine whether abuse desistance patterns are distinct for those who breakup and reconcile versus those who breakup and form new partnerships-that is, we can separate out the association between abuse desistance and the breakup versus the new partnership. We find that, among those with a history of intimate abuse, churners and those who later repartner are overrepresented. However, among those who do experience abuse, the repartnered are most likely to experience desistance from intimate abuse, controlling for individual sociodemographic characteristics. In breaking up and entering a new relationship, the repartnered may be most successful in developing a healthier relationship dynamic than the churners who reunite with one another.

A Hand Up for Low-Income Families

How the EITC supports working families without imposing stigma.