Other adults in the United States

Improving survey measures of youths' non-parental adult relationships

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2287458
AutoresR Brown-Weinstock (0009-0003-1180-1719, Department of Sociology Princeton University Princeton New Jersey USA, autor de correspondencia), Megan Kang (0000-0001-6814-5108, Department of Sociology Princeton University Princeton New Jersey USA), Kathryn Edin (0009-0009-2071-8339, Department of Sociology Princeton University Princeton New Jersey USA), Sarah Pachman (Center for Research and Child and Family Wellbeing Princeton New Jersey USA), Kaitlyn Bolin (0000-0003-1682-295X, Tilson Portland Maine USA)
Año2025
Volumen87
Número2
Páginas527-546
Fecha de publicación2025-04-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Marriage and the Family (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0022-2445 • E-ISSN: 1741-3737
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/jomf.13032
PMID40248262
OpenAlexW4402273997
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas1
Referencias citadas35

ObjectiveThis study uses in-depth interview data to investigate the impact of non-parental, "other adults" (OAs) on youth development and highlights the importance of better measuring OAs' contributions through the nation's survey infrastructure.BackgroundExtant survey measures of youths' social relationships were developed in an anomalous historical period of nuclear family dominance. We argue that these measures do not capture the demographic and economic shifts of the late 20th century, which likely made OAs more salient in youths' lives.MethodAnalyses draw on life history interviews with 40 youth-primary caregiver dyads sampled from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS). We triangulate interview data with questionnaires from the four major nationally representative surveys used in research on youth outcomes to compare how meaningful social ties were described by interviewees versus operationalized in surveys.ResultsWe identified four limitations of extant survey measures in capturing youth-OA relationships. Existing measures typically reproduce the nuclear family model by centering biological and stepparent relationships to the exclusion of OAs; capture OAs' financial contributions but not their socioemotional contributions; neglect harmful OA influences; and treat OAs as aggregates, missing within-group heterogeneity. We illustrated these limitations using the rich interview data.ConclusionThe FFCWS, drawing on these interviews, has added new measures capturing youth-OA relationships to its year 22 survey wave. Future studies can use these measures to better estimate the population-level effects of OAs and alternative family structures on the outcomes of youths raised in nonnuclear and disadvantaged families

Developmental psychology · Disadvantaged · Extant taxon · Neglect · Operationalization · Political science · Population · Socioemotional selectivity theory · Sociology · Survey data collection · Demography · Family Dynamics and Relationships · Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics · Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving · Psychology