Family Structure, Transitions and Psychiatric Disorders Among Puerto Rican Children

Family Structure Transitions: Prevalence and Physical Health Effects in Ethiopia, India, Peru, and Vietnam

This study aimed to identify the prevalence and physical health consequences of family structure transitions among children in Ethiopia, India, Peru, and Vietnam. In many high-income countries, family structure transitions are common, and research suggests that they can lead to worse physical health for children. However, we know little about either the prevalence or consequences of family structure transitions for children in low-and middle-income countries, who make up the vast majority of the world's children. First, we estimated the number of family structure transitions by age 12 using four rounds of Young Lives data from four low-and middle-income countries (N = 8062, Ethiopia, India, Peru, and Vietnam) and validated our prevalence estimates with another dataset from these same countries. The proportion of children experiencing a family structure transition by age 12 was: 14.8% in Ethiopia, 5.6% in India, 22.0% in Peru, and 7.7% in Vietnam. We put these estimates in context by comparing them to 17 high- and upper-middle-income countries. Second, using linear mixed models, we found that family structure transitions were not directly associated with worse physical health for children in Ethiopia, India, Peru, and Vietnam. Children in Peru experienced higher rates of family structure transitions relative to children in the other Young Lives countries, and similar rates to many of the 17 comparison countries, yet physical health was unaffected. It is possible that in low-and middle-income countries, the environment may overwhelm family stability as a determinant of physical health.

Developmental Psychopathology and Ethnicity I: The Young Adulthood Assessment of the Boricua Youth Study

OBJECTIVE

Developmental psychopathology processes pertinent to underserved ethnically diverse youths may not always coincide with those relevant to youths from nondisadvantaged groups. This article reports on the young adulthood assessment (fourth wave; April 2013 to August 2017) of the Boricua Youth Study, which includes 2 population-based samples of children of Puerto Rican background (N = 2,491) aged 5-13 years (recruited in 2000), in the South Bronx, New York, and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

METHOD

Study procedures included intensive participant tracking and in-person interviews of young adults and, when possible, their parents. Study participation rates, measures, and weights are described.

RESULTS

At Boricua Youth Study wave 4 (on average 11.3 years since last wave of participation), we reassessed 2,004 young adults (mean age = 22.9 years, range = 15-29 years; 51% women; retention rate adjusted for ineligibility = 82.7%) and available parents (n = 1,180). Nonparticipation was due to inability to locate/contact participants (8.6%); refusal (4.7%); and ineligible status (2.8%) owing to cognitive impairment, incarceration, or death. Among participants originally from Puerto Rico, 91% stayed in Puerto Rico during young adulthood. Of participants from the South Bronx, 52.4% remained in the area (85.8% within 100 miles). Most study measures had good internal consistency (Cronbach α ≥ .70).

CONCLUSION

Our results support the viability of retaining a population-based cohort of children from the same ethnic group across 2 contexts during a life stage when individuals are likely to move. Longitudinal samples that are generalizable to underserved populations can elucidate developmental processes of relevance for curtailing the risk of psychopathology in disadvantaged contexts.

Family Environment, Neurodevelopmental Risk, and the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Initiative: Looking Back and Moving Forward

The family environment, with all its complexity and diverse components, plays a critical role in shaping neurodevelopmental outcomes in children. Herein we review several domains of the family environment (family socioeconomic status, family composition and home environment, parenting behaviors and interaction styles, parental mental health and functioning, and parental substance use) and discuss how these domains influence neurodevelopment, with particular emphasis on mental health outcomes. We also highlight a new initiative launched by the National Institutes of Health, the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program. We discuss the role that ECHO will play in advancing our understanding of the impact of the family environment on children's risk for psychiatric outcomes. Lastly, we conclude with important unanswered questions and controversies in this area of research, highlighting how ECHO will contribute to resolving these gaps in our understanding, clarifying relationships between the family environment and children's mental health.