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Biomedical subjects

F F Furstenberg

Publications and source records attributed to F F Furstenberg.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

How much do we count? Interpretation and error-making in the decennial census.

Following a critique of the 1990 decennial census procedures, we conducted a field study among low-income, inner-city residents in 1991 to examine how they conceptualized and managed the civic task of census response. Interpretations about the purpose and meaning of the census, about commitment to the task, and about connection to government, singly and together with literacy skills (e.g., reading and general literacy competence), were associated with errors that are not detectable by evaluative methodologies used regularly by the Census Bureau. The validity and reliability of census data, and possibly other self-administered survey research, will be increased by greater use of knowledge about both interpretation and literacy skills in formulating data collection procedures.

Attitude↗
PubMed1998

Early sexual initiation: the role of peer norms.

OBJECTIVE: To elucidate which components of peer norms influence the process of sexual initiation for young adolescents. Design. Prospective cohort study. Setting. Fourteen elementary and middle schools in an urban public school district. Participants. The 1389 sixth-grade students who completed the questionnaire at the beginning (time 1) and at the end (time 2) of the school year comprise the study sample. Mean age at time 1 was 11.7 years. RESULTS: Of students entering the sixth grade, 30% (n = 416) reported having already initiated sexual intercourse, 5% (n = 74) reported initiating sexual intercourse during the sixth-grade school year (initiated group), and 63% (n = 873) reported not having initiated sexual intercourse by the end of the sixth-grade school year (never group). Demographic comparisons revealed that students in the initiated group were significantly more likely than students in the never group to be older (11.9 years vs 11.6 years), male (58% vs 37%), African-American (70% vs 51%), attending a poorer school (87% vs 85%), and living in an area with a high proportion of single-parent families (45% vs 41%). Self-reports and reports of peers' participation in nonsexual risk behaviors were more common for students in the initiated group. Students in the initiated group were more likely than students in the never group to perceive: 1) a high prevalence of sexual initiation among peers; 2) social gains associated with early sexual intercourse; and 3) younger age of peers' sexual initiation. Students in the never group were more likely to believe that sexually-experienced 12-year-old boys would be negatively stigmatized compared with students in the initiated group. Three predictive models were developed to test the relationship between peer norms and the process of initiation. These models demonstrate that the strongest predictor of sexual initiation in sixth grade is having high intention to do so at the beginning of sixth grade. The strongest predictor of high intention is belief that most friends have already had sexual intercourse. Perceptions of social gain and stigma for sexually-experienced 12-year-old boys act independently of intention to decrease risk of early sexual initiation. CONCLUSION: Early sexual intercourse is not an unplanned experience for many teens. Decisions about initiation are strongly bound to social context with peers playing an important role in creating a sense of normative behavior. Specific components of peer norms impact the process of sexual initiation in both positive and negative ways. Interventions aimed at delaying the onset of sexual initiation need to focus on cohort norms as well as on an individual's perceptions and behaviors.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1998

Paternal involvement with adolescents in intact families: the influence of fathers over the life course.

We measure the quality and quantity of fathers' involvement with adolescent children in intact families over time using longitudinal data from The National Survey of Children. We examine differentials in fathers' involvement by children's and family characteristics and model the long-term effects of fathers' involvement on children's outcomes in the transition to adulthood. Fathers are more involved with sons than with daughters and they disengage from adolescents with increasing marital conflict. We find beneficial effects for children of father's involvement in three domains: educational and economic attainment, delinquent behavior, and psychological well-being. The course of affective relations throughout adolescence also has a beneficial effect on delinquent behavior and psychological well-being.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1998

When will teenage childbearing become a problem? The implications of western experience for developing countries.

This article reflects on the process that leads to perceptions of teenage childbearing as a social problem and examines whether that process will occur in developing countries as it has in the United States. In postindustrial Western economies, family and adult control over young peoples' sexual behavior has loosened, while marriage rates have declined. In the United States, nonmarital births to adolescents, particularly among poor minorities who have few opportunities and reasons to delay childbearing, have become a cause for public concern. However, the economic, educational, and nuptial changes that have occurred in other postindustrial countries have not necessarily led to fertility problems among teenagers, because of a greater willingness to acknowledge their sexual activity and to provide the resources to prevent their childbearing. Although developing nations may undergo changes that result in more schooling and greater autonomy for adolescents, whether nonmarital births will come to constitute a problem will depend on many different factors; the United States provides an example of the conditions they may wish to avoid.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

The effect of divorce on intergenerational transfers: new evidence.

This paper draws on new data on intergenerational transfers of time and money that were collected in the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. We use these data to examine the effects of divorce on these transfers. We find that the timing of divorce is critical. Fathers and mothers involved in late divorces have similar levels of transfers with their adult children, while divorce during a child's childhood years increases transfers with mothers and sharply lowers them with fathers. Somewhat surprisingly, we find no evidence that divorced fathers who paid child support are more likely to be involved in intergenerational transfers than those who did not pay child support.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

History and current status of divorce in the United States.

This article explores the remarkable shift in marriage and divorce practices that has occurred in the last third of this century in the United States. Initially, information is presented on trends in divorce and remarriage; commonalities and differences between family patterns in the United States and in other industrialized nations are discussed. The author then identifies some of the factors that have transformed marriage practices in the United States and describes how changes in these practices have altered the family experiences of children. Finally, the author suggests trends in family patterns that might occur in the near future and discusses various policy initiatives and how they may influence the future of the family.

Black or African American↗
PubMed1993

Early warning signs of functional illiteracy: predictors in childhood and adolescence.

Early childhood, middle childhood, and early adolescence determinants of functional literacy in adulthood are investigated, using 20-year longitudinal data from a sample of black children of teenaged mothers from the Baltimore metropolitan area. Document literacy was assessed by a test that consisted of a subset of items of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) adult literacy test. The Baltimore sample is compared to the NAEP sample. Family environmental factors, early childhood developmental level, and educational career factors were considered as predictors of young adulthood literacy. Preschool cognitive and behavioral functioning is highly predictive of literacy in young adulthood, even when the effects of family environmental characteristics, including living arrangements, the quality of the home environment, maternal education, and income, are controlled. Grade failure in elementary school is also associated with literacy, but this effect disappears when the measure of preschool abilities is controlled. Family environmental factors that are predictive of literacy include maternal education, family size in early childhood, maternal marital status, and income in middle childhood and early adolescence. Policy implications of these findings are discussed.

Achievement↗
PubMed1993

Reevaluating the costs of teenage childbearing.

Teenage childbearing in the United States has long been regarded as an important social problem with substantial costs to teen mothers and their children. Recently, however, several researchers have argued that the apparent negative effects of teenage childbearing primarily reflect unmeasured family background rather than the true consequences of a teen birth. To distinguish the effect of teen childbearing from that of family background, we use data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and compare teen mothers with their sisters. We find that accounting for unobserved family background reduces, but does not eliminate, the estimated consequences of early childbearing. Statistically significant and quantitatively important effects of teen parenthood remain for high school graduation, family size, and economic well-being.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Longitudinal studies of effects of divorce on children in Great Britain and the United States.

National, longitudinal surveys from Great Britain and the United States were used to investigate the effects of divorce on children. In both studies, a subsample of children who were in two-parent families during the initial interview (at age 7 in the British data and at ages 7 to 11 in the U.S. data) were followed through the next interview (at age 11 and ages 11 to 16, respectively). At both time points in the British data, parents and teachers independently rated the children's behavior problems, and the children were given reading and mathematics achievement tests. At both time points in the U.S. data, parents rated the children's behavior problems. Children whose parents divorced or separated between the two time points were compared to children whose families remained intact. For boys, the apparent effect of separation or divorce on behavior problems and achievement at the later time point was sharply reduced by considering behavior problems, achievement levels, and family difficulties that were present at the earlier time point, before any of the families had broken up. For girls, the reduction in the apparent effect of divorce occurred to a lesser but still noticeable extent once preexisting conditions were considered.

Achievement↗
PubMed1991

Television viewing and early initiation of sexual intercourse: is there a link?

Using data from the National Survey of Children, this paper examines the hypothesis that the amount of time children spend viewing television and the extent to which the content viewed is sexual in nature is related to the initiation of sexual activity. Several theories that would lead to this hypothesis are reviewed. The data do not provide any strong or consistent evidence for such links. However, some aspects of the context in which television is viewed are related to sexual activity. The authors suggest ways in which the design and measures could be strengthened to provide a more rigorous test of the hypothesis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Coming of age in the era of AIDS: puberty, sexuality, and contraception.

The existing discrepancies between adolescent and societal constructions of teenage sexuality in America are further exacerbated by AIDS. Male and female teenagers receive different and often conflicting messages about sexuality from diverse sources; their parents' lack of frankness about sexual intercourse contrasts sharply with the media's emphasis on sex and with highly rationalistic discussions about sexuality in schools, complicating adolescents' decisions about entering and continuing sexual relationships. Survey research indicates that not all teenagers engaging in sexual intercourse reduce risks of HIV infection as much as they might. While AIDS has prompted many teenagers to change their sexual behavior, serious questions remain about adolescents' conceptions of the dangers of unprotected sex.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1989

Adolescent sexual behavior.

What is known about adolescent sexual behavior is reviewed. First, the onset of sexual behavior in the teenage years is considered as a function of cohort, gender, and ethnic differences. Omissions in the research on sexual behavior other than intercourse are highlighted. Possible biological, social, and social cognitive processes underlying teenage sexual behavior are then considered. Next, demographic trends in the use of contraceptives and antecedents of regular birth control use are reviewed. Finally, some of the successful program initiatives directed toward altering sexual and contraceptive practices are discussed, keeping in mind the importance and relative lack of well-designed and carefully evaluated programs.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Teenaged pregnancy and childbearing.

This article reviews recent evidence on the changing patterns of childbearing among adolescents and the impact of premature parenthood on the life course of young mothers and their children. Although adolescent mothers experience conspicuous disadvantages in educational attainment and economic well-being, over time the differences between early and later childbearing appear to diminish somewhat, at least for Blacks. The children of teenage mothers, however, are distinctly worse off throughout childhood than the offspring of older child-bearers. The reasons for this disparity are explored. The concluding section discusses a range of preventive and ameliorative strategies for reducing the cost of early child-bearing. The evidence supports the need for more integration among services and the importance of increasing the availability of services to those in need.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Race differences in teenage sexuality, pregnancy, and adolescent childbearing.

This article has examined the origin and consequences of racial differences in teen sexuality, pregnancy, and childbearing. Black/white differences in rates of early and out-of-wedlock childbearing have been declining in the past several decades though the incidence of nonmartial fertility among younger teens is still about five times as high for blacks as for whites. Early sexual behavior, irregular use of contraception, and a much lower probability of marrying prior to having a birth all contribute to the racial differential. Evidence suggests that both normative and socioeconomic differences may account for these demographic patterns. Black teens show markedly higher tolerance for childbearing before marriage. They also express much greater reservations about the viability of marriage, especially at an early age, than do whites. These views may affect their willingness to risk early pregnancy and initiate intercourse at an early age. Several types of interventions that might reduce black/white differences in teen childbearing were reviewed. The most promising of these involved simultaneously strengthening the community sanctions that discourage early parenthood while expanding social opportunities. Presently, poor, especially poor minority youth, may feel that they have little to lose by entering parenthood prematurely. Unless we are able to persuade these youth that they have a larger stake in the future, we are unlikely to see a dramatic decline in the incidence of early childbearing among blacks. This does not necessarily mean that racial differences are destined to persist. Increasingly, white youth are subject to many of the same conditions that have produced high rates of early and out-of-wedlock childbearing among blacks. Thus, racial differences may decline not because the situation of blacks is improving but because white youth are less willing to defer sexual activity or less able to marry when pregnancy occurs. This may at least change the perception of early childbearing as a "black" problem. Whatever else it is, teenage childbearing represents the inability of our society to manage the transition to adulthood effectively. This ineptitude appears to be, to a growing extent, colorblind.

Abortion, Induced↗
PubMed1985

Sex education and sexual experience among adolescents.

This paper examines the association between sex education and adolescent sexual behavior. Data from the 1981 National Survey of Children show that 15- and 16-year-olds who have been exposed to sex education are less likely to be sexually experienced, and are neither more nor less likely to discuss sex with parents at home. Retrospective or longitudinal data are needed to more directly test the casual link between sex education and experience.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Environmental differences within the family and adjustment differences within pairs of adolescent siblings.

To what extent do siblings in the same family experience different parental treatment, sibling interaction, and peer relationships? Are such within-family experiential differences related to differences in the siblings' emotional adjustment? The present study explored these questions concerning within-family environment using data from 348 families that each included 2 siblings 11-17 years of age. The results indicate that siblings in the same family experience different environments, as reported by parents and to a larger extent by the siblings themselves. The results also demonstrate that within-family environmental differences are related to differences in development between siblings. Both the parent and sibling reports of the environment converge on the finding that the sibling who is more psychologically well adjusted (as reported by parents, siblings, and teachers) also experiences more maternal closeness, more sibling friendliness, more peer friendliness, more say in family decision making, and more parental chore expectations as compared to the other sibling.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Factors associated with adolescent use of family planning clinics.

Clinic records were reviewed for a sample of 498 adolescent family planning clients to document clinic use patterns. For a subsample of 359 adolescents, relationships are explored between clinic use and contraceptive use, demographic characteristics, social relationships, and contraceptive attitudes. The average adolescent was observed for 15 months and made 3.5 visits to the clinic. Twenty-two per cent of the adolescents never returned after an initial visit. Revisits tended to occur in three-month intervals. In the first six months, the probability of making the first revisit was .70; the probability of a second revisit was .45. Adolescents whose visit patterns deviated from the routine clinic protocols were more likely to be inconsistent contraceptive users. The single significant correlate of regular clinic use was the adolescents' satisfaction with their contraceptive methods. Service providers should ensure that adolescents select a suitable contraceptive method and closely follow adolescents whose clinic use patterns deviate from standard protocols.

Adolescent↗