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Family Structure Changes And Child Behavior Problems Essay

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There is a common misconception is that children who grow up in low income families end up being more susceptible to experience behavioral problems as they get older, in contrast to that of high income families which generally speaking, people believe children are better off. The report Associations between Family Structure Change and Child Behavior Problems: The Moderating Effect of Family Income challenges the false impression associated with low income families. The analysis was conducted by three experts from Georgetown University Rebecca Ryan, Anna Markowitz, and Amy Claessens. The report analyzed the different structures of low income families, middle and high income families to better determine whether economic structure played a role in the behaviors of children. The study focused on a specific age group between 3 to 12 years old. Additionally, the study took in to account other changes in a family structure – single mothers, divorce, and father’s involvement in the child’s life. The study illustrated that “significant associations between family changes and child behavior problems emerged only for changes experienced during early childhood and preschool.” Furthermore the data shows that children born into high income families are in fact more fragile to changes in the family structure and that economic status is not necessarily indicative to child behaviors. The study performed by Rebecca Ryan, Anna Markowitz, and Amy Claessens studied the effects of family

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