Family Facts: Social Science Research on Family, Society & Religion
Featured Finding
Does Marriage Make a Difference?: Exploring the Mother-Infant Relationship
July 17, 2006
| Key
Data: Married mothers behaved more positively toward their
infants and created better home environments, as indicated by
HOME scale scores, at both 6 and 15 month assessments than cohabiting
and single mothers. ...(more) Does family structure affect child development? Moreover, are there benefits to raising a child in a family with married parents – that is, is there a case to be made for marriage? In a recent study published in the Journal of Family Psychology, researchers sought to answer these questions by exploring the mother-infant relationship in three distinct family structures: single-parent, two-parent co-habiting (unmarried mother living with a partner who is typically the biological father of the child), and two-parent married families. Researchers assessed the mother-infant relationship using four measures (mother and infant behavior toward another, the home environment, and the likelihood of infant’s attachment security). Higher scores suggest more positive behavior and home environment during the evaluation. When the infants were 6 months and 15 months old, researchers found that compared to co-habiting mothers and single mothers and their infants, married mothers and their babies on average received ratings that are statistically different and higher on all but one of the scores at both measurement times. In contrast, between the co-habiting mother-infant and the single mother-infant groups, researchers did not report any significant difference in the mean score in any of the analyses except in one case. While the authors of the study do not claim that marriage alone made the difference (mother’s education level, age and ethnicity may play a role as well), these findings suggest that variations in the mother-infant relationship are associated with family structure. The difference is not only based on the number of parents in the home but also on the marital status of the two parents. Perhaps there is something to marriage after all. |
Other
findings on the mother-infant relationship:
 Rates of serious child abuse are associated with family structure...(more) The likelihood of adolescent delinquency is associated with the marital status of the parents in the home environment...(more) Family Research Experts:
Pat Fagan William H. G. FitzGerald Research Fellow in Family and Cultural Issues Christine Kim Policy Analyst, Domestic Policy Studies Jennifer Marshall Director, Domestic Policy Studies For Interviews call Media Relations at (202) 675-1761 |
|
| The Heritage Foundation's familyfacts.org catalogs social science findings on the family, society and religion gleaned from peer-reviewed journals, books and government surveys. Serving policymakers, journalists, scholars and the general public, familyfacts.org makes social science research easily accessible to the non-specialist. | ||
View Findings by Category
Click a Category from the list:
Create Your Own Search
Enter topic, keyword or author:
Resources
Events:Religious Practice and Civic Life: What the Research Says October 4, 2007 |