Primary Submission Category: Infants/children/youth
The separate and joint effects of place instability and family instability on adolescent mental health
Authors: Michelle Livings
Presenting Author: Michelle Livings*
Specific types of instability, such as residential instability and parent relationship churning, are known to relate to poor mental health and behavior problems in children and adolescents. Researchers generally focus on specific instances of instability, yet instability is a complex concept, and difficult to define in research. As different types of instability often occur simultaneously or in sequence, I anticipated that experiences of instability likely interact to produce multiplicative effects harmful to adolescents’ wellbeing.
To examine this, I used data from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study, focusing on mother-child dyads in the year-15 survey (N=2829 dyads). I created new constructs of place instability (including residential and school moves) and family instability (including mother relationship status changes and household co-residence changes). I used structural equation models to examine how place and family instability directly affect adolescents’ mental health, and whether family instability moderates the relationship between place instability and adolescent mental health.
The findings revealed significant harmful effects by both place and family instability on adolescent depressive and anxiety symptoms. Interaction models showed that family instability moderates the relationship between place instability and adolescent depressive symptoms. Specific indicators of family instability, such as changes in co-resident children, also moderate the relationship between place instability and depressive symptoms.
This study emphasizes the importance of rethinking how we define instability in research. Individual instances of instability are harmful to adolescents; adolescents who experience more place instability and more family instability are at even greater risk of poor mental health. Understanding how different instability experiences interact can inform interventions for children and adolescents with varying exposures to instability.