Running head: CHILDREN OF SINGLE PARENTS 1

Limitations of Children living within a Single Parents family structure

Stephanie Asantewaah- Acheamfour

Trent University
CHILDREN OF SINGLE PARENTS 2

Long Term Difficulties of Children living within a Single Parent family structure

Research has shown that children of single parents have a lowered long term quality of

life than children with two parents. They suffer of reduced physical and mental health, lowered

educational attainment (Weitoft, Hjern, Haglund, & Rosen, 2003), and increased victimization

(Jablonska & Lindberg, 2007). These difficulties are in response to environmental stressors,

financial stress of the family (Bull & Mittelmark, 2009), and the parent the child is primarily

living with (Jablonska & Lindberg, 2007). Ethnicity and exposure to other dual parent families

have buffering effects on the negative outcome of living with a single parent (Pan, 2006).

Therefore, this paper hypothesize and supports the statement that children living within a

single parent family structure suffer long term consequences such as lowered health, higher

stress and lower educational attainment with buffering effects of exposure to dual parent families

and ethnicity.

Storksen, Roysam, Holmen, & Tambs (2006), assessed the long term psychological

problems and social adjustment in children of parental divorce children and if parental

psychological problems had effects on their children. The psychological problems they looked at

included depression and anxiety and the social adjustment included well being, academic

achievement and school problems. They assumed there would be some effects of parental

anxiety on anticipated negative outcomes in children of parental divorce.

The participants were 8984 Norwegians children aged 13 to 19 from divorce families and

their parents. The participants were assessed for anxiety and depression, subjective well being,

and also three areas of school problems. All factors were measured through self reports and

separation times from dual parenting averaged eight years.

CHILDREN OF SINGLE PARENTS 3

It was found that children of divorce parents had increased anxiety and depression levels and

were faced with more problems at school. Well being and academic achievement was lowered

in the teens. Parental anxiety was found to confound teen anxiety mildly if the teen had

adjustment problems. Poor academic performance was assumed to be due to a lack of attention

by the primary care giver. Overall this paper shows an increase in anxiety and depression as well

as academic problems due to being a child of a single parent with parental anxiety affecting this

only if there are problems with adaptation.

Jablonska & Lindberg (2007) investigated the risk behaviours, mental distress, and

victimization in children of different single family subgroups. The risky behaviours included

smoking, illicit substance and alcohol use. Mental distress included anxiety, aggressive

tendencies and depression while victimization included bullying and use of physical violence.

Jablonska &Lindberg (2007), compared the different subgroups directly and see what results

would be shown as well as eliminate social economic status through statistical methods.

The participants were 12,582 ninth graders from Stockholm private and public schools

and of these 68.4% are from two parent families, 23.2% from single mother families, 4.8% from

single father families and 3.5% from shared custodial families.

Results showed children of single mothers and fathers had increased levels of

victimization, anxiety and aggression. When eliminating victimization, the effect of aggression is

removed with children of single mothers but not for single fathers or cases of shared custody.

Children of single fathers had increased likelihood of alcohol, illicit drug use, drunkenness and

aggressive behaviour.
CHILDREN OF SINGLE PARENTS 4

These result support the view that most negative long term outcomes are present with the

father being the sole custodian as well as family dissolution with high levels of conflict.

Maternal and shared custody buffer these effects. Anxiety effects remain.

Walker, Crawford & Taylor (2008), studied the lived experiences and perspective of

children between the ages of 6 – 16 years living within a single parent family structure by

assessing how the children of single parent families experience and understand their daily lives,

cope with poverty and social exclusion and also how they perceive the support and service

available to them. There were 40 participants recruited for the qualitative study and they were

interviewed individually and also in focus groups. The collected data was analyzed for patterns,

connection, differences and was categorized. They found that the children reported having less

quality time spent with their parent, family occasions are rare and irregular. They also found that

when there is an argument between the children and their parent, the child home security is

damaged and can be traumatic to the child. They also found that the children felt responsible to

provide their parent with emotional support, help and guidance mainly because they are raised

with one parent.

Walker et al (2008) also found that it was hard for the teenage children to make and

maintain friendships because of social exclusion related to the lack of money to afford the things

that help them fit in. They also found that because of the socioeconomic restraint the child

cannot afford to live a healthy lifestyle since healthy living cost is not within the parents’

capacity.

The Walker et al (2008) study showcased that single parent families can have as much

significant impact on a child’s life as dual parent families but that it also illustrated that even
CHILDREN OF SINGLE PARENTS 5

with a huge financial support, the emotional parasitic relationship and social exclusion can

become a burden and harmful to the child.

Pan & Farrell (2006), examined how single mothers of different ethnicities progressed in

raising their children. It was assumed from previous research that children of single mother

families (SMF) have increased substance abuse and delinquency. They wanted to assess quality

of SMF, see if supportive mothering and non-residential father buffer SMF effects on

adolescents, and whether there are ethnicities which buffer these effects.

Pan et al (2006) presumed that ethnicities used to SMF over time would have developed

more strategies for reducing SMF effects, and buffering effects for quality of attachment to the

single mother and presence of a non-residential father would have different effects depending on

ethnicity.

In order to test this hypothesis, Pan et al (2006) interviewed 12,105 grade seven students

selected from the national longitudinal study of adolescent health from different ethnic decent.

All participants were assessed for closeness to their mother, presence of drinking, drug use, and

delinquency. Children of widowed mothers and stepfamilies were excluded.

Results showed less closeness to mothers in SMF, higher delinquency and substance use

overall in SMF. The closeness of the relationship of the matriarch buffered all effects for

Caucasian, delinquency and heavy drinking for African American, delinquency and drug use for

Hispanics, and heavy drinking for Asian Americans but is associated with heavier drug use.

Non-resident father involvement buffered against effects of drug use and delinquency in African

American adolescents but not for Asian Americans, or Hispanics adolescents, where they found

the opposite; father involvement increased delinquency and drug use. Presence of non-resident
CHILDREN OF SINGLE PARENTS 6

father had no effect in Caucasian adolescents. For social problems a non-resident father had no

buffering effect.

Pan et al (2006) study shows ethnicity, and closeness to the matriarch in single mother

families has a buffering effect against delinquency and substance abuse dependent on ethnicity.

Non residential fathers had no or worsening effects if not of African American descent.

Attar-Schwartz, Tan, Buchanan, Flouri & Griggs (2009), study was about looking at the

role that grandparents play in their grandchildren’s well being from the adolescent perception.

1,515 adolescent between the ages of 11- 16 participated in this study with both gender equally

represented. Through randomization 103 schools were selected in England and Wales with 60 of

those schools responding. They were looking for the “adjustment and pro-social behaviour”

using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) while controlling the participant’s

characteristics, categorising the family structure that they belong to and looking at their relation

with their grandparent. They found that individuals that are raised within single parent family

have more conducts problems and total difficulty than those raised in a dual parent family. They

also fund that adolescences raised with a single parent family had higher hyperactivity levels.

The Attar-Schwartz et al (2009) study indicated that due to a lack of quality time to spend

with their parent these adolescents developed emotional and socially unacceptable behaviours.

These studies together strongly suggest that children of single parent families have long

term problems associated with mental, emotional and physical health, anxiety or depression and

substance abuse. In Jablonska & Lindberg (2006) they specifically looked at what kind of effect

the gender of the primary custodian has on the child and if the custody has an effect, there is

increased victimization, anxiety, aggression and substance abuse with. Effects of the father

include victimization paired with aggression if they have a role in child rearing, substance abuse,
CHILDREN OF SINGLE PARENTS 7

such as alcohol and use illicit drugs by their offspring. Anxiety as an effect of being the child of

a single parent remains regardless of the gender. Socioeconomic status and conflict in the home

all had moderate effects as well when eliminated the roles of gender still had significant effects.

The Walker et al (2008) study focused more on the children perspectives and lived

experiences, showing that the children know and understand what was going and how

disadvantaged they are compared to other children with two parents. Even through some findings

in this study showcased the positive aspect of living within a single parent family, it also show

patterns of the effect on the children emotional well being and it emphasized how they could be

negatively affected.

The source of anxiety and as well as looking at school problems was next analyzed by

Storksen et al (2006) trying to identify whether the health of the parents was responsible for

anxiety. Results showed there was a doubling in anxiety and there was an increase in school

problems which were assume to be due to the lack of attention the teens were receiving due their

working roles. Problems in school could not be indicted as due to a lack of attention by the

parent from the data as suggested. The affects of anxiety on the teen were compounded by the

health of the parent only if the child themselves had previous problems with adjustment.

Overall we know children of single parents have problems in mental and physical health,

anxiety, victimization and problems with school. These effects were largely due to the gender of

the care giver(s), the stressful environment, exposure to dual parent families, and attention

received by the primary caregiver. The role of ethnicity, closeness to the mother and the role of

a non-residential father was in single mother families were studied by Pan et al (2006). This

paper showed that the role of a non residential father has a negative effect accept in African

Americans where effects of drug abuse and delinquency were buffered. Closeness to the mother
CHILDREN OF SINGLE PARENTS 8

was also found to buffer effects of delinquency, drinking and drug use in Caucasians,

delinquency and drinking for African Americans, delinquency and drug use for Hispanics, heavy

drinking for Asian Americans but increased heavy drug use. This effect of Asian Americans is

likely due the view by youth of a breakdown of traditional cultural norms. Pan et al (2006)

found that ethnicities with higher incidents of single mother families had more strategies and

higher community support with dealing single mother families. Highest success against problems

in delinquency and drug use were observed in Caucasian and Africa Americans with Hispanics

falling in between and Asian Americans do worst of the four tested groups.

Limitations on the research used include extrapolation to North American society, use of

self reporting, and family conflict as a variable for anxiety, genetic influence, and time span of

studies. Most of these studies were not looking at the North American culture but that of

different cultures and varying degrees of social assistance available for single parents.

Replicating these conclusions to North America may require bridging socioeconomic gaps as

well as cultural. The use of self reporting leads the way for potential biases to enter the study.

Family conflict was not measured in most of the studies which was indicated by Walker

et al (2008) findings has negative outcomes. Results could be confounded with higher levels

being present in either certain genders of parent or be responsible for delinquency due to the type

of attention received. There could be potential genetic influence by one or both parents having

high anxiety which could be passed onto the child and leading to separation. Anxiety in turn

may not be due environment but genetics. All effects of divorce on children were considered

into early adulthood a period after which effects may be different. A more longitudinal study

would correct this.

CHILDREN OF SINGLE PARENTS 9

In conclusion, children of divorce parents have elevated mental and physical health

problems, anxiety, victimization, and delinquency with lowered education attainment. If the

parent the child was cohabiting with was their mother or they had shared custody with their

mother this seemed to have a buffering effect on long term drug use and delinquency. Closeness

to the matriarch and some ethnicities also reduced delinquency and drug abuse. Limitations

include the societies of the research and its extrapolation to North America, use of self reporting,

lack of measuring the family levels of conflict, and searching for ages at which the effects of

divorce became reduced. Future research should be more focuses on conflict variables and time

spans within North America to eliminate influence of culture and social assistance and also a

comparison study between living with Single mother family and single father family might have

different conclusions.
CHILDREN OF SINGLE PARENTS 10

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Bull. T. & Mittelmark, M. B. (2009). Work life and mental wellbeing of single and non-single

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