Balistreri, Kelly Stamper. (PI). Jennifer Van Hook (Pennsylvania State University) Demographic Analysis of SES Stability and Well-Being among Children of Immigrants. R21  Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Award, NICHD. 2 years.

This project uses the Early Child Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Cohort to examine the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES), socioeconomic instability and overweight among young children of immigrants and children of natives.  The primary aims of this study are to 1) document variation in the SES gradient in overweight among children by race/ethnicity and parental nativity; 2) assess whether such variation may be associated with the unique characteristics of immigrant families; and 3) resolve some of the inconsistencies in the literature on the socioeconomic-health gradient by assessing  whether relative levels of SES rather than absolute levels are important in determining the relationship between SES and weight status.


Brown, Susan L. (PI). Children’s Developmental Outcomes in Cohabiting Unions. K01 Mentored Research Scientist Development Award, NICHD. 5 years

In this project, I use two secondary data sources (Add Health and SPD) and qualitative data from semi-structured interviews to extend prior research on the effects of family structure on child development to include those living in cohabiting families. I consider the significance of the family environment at the person, process, and context levels for the development of youth in cohabiting families, paying special attention to the complications presented by poverty and minority status.

Giordano, Peggy C. (PI), Manning, Wendy D. and Longmore, Monica. Youthful Relationships and Sexual Risk-Taking. R01, NICHD. 5 years

The goal of this project is to investigate behaviors that put individuals at risk for exposure to sexually transmitted HIV. The primary aim of this project is two-fold: first, to identify the features of relationships that may influence variations in management of sexual risk deriving from the partner’s experiences and behaviors and one’s own involvement in risky sexual behavior. Second, to examine distinct individual trajectories of involvement in high-risk sexual behaviors. Findings from this project will lead to potential areas of social malleability in relationship choices and behaviors that can be incorporated into the design of more effective HIV prevention/intervention efforts.


Giordano, Peggy. (PI). Manning, Wendy D. and Longmore, Monica. Life Course, Relationship, and Situational Contexts of Teen Dating Violence. National Institute of Justice. 3 years.

This 3 year project investigates the scope, causes, and trajectories of intimate partner violence during the adolescent period. The research builds upon the longitudinal study of adolescent romantic and sexual relationships (The Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study-TARS) (n=1092). Planned analyses of quantitative and qualitative data collected across four waves of TARS interviews combined with new structured and in-depth interviews focused specifically on the youngest cohort of youths will provide a more comprehensive portrait of the incidence and prevalence of relationship abuse across the period of adolescence, and as young people navigate the transition to young adulthood. The study will also explore the full range of positive, negative and conceptually neutral relationship dynamics, including power and asymmetries within relationships associated with dating violence, and situational factors (e.g., drug and alcohol use, the presence of others) that serve to heighten risk. We will collect new quantitative data from the youngest cohort of respondents specifically focused on TDV [n=457] and qualitative “relationship history narratives” from youths reporting at least one experience with abuse [n=100].


Joyner, Kara (Co-PI). Timing and Circumstances of Transition to Fatherhood. R01, NICHD. 5 Years.

Men have long been excluded from studies on the transition to parenthood due to concerns about the quality of male fertility data. Joyner is a Co-Principal Investigator on an NIH-funded program project (directed by Peters at Cornell) that examines the transition to early fatherhood. As Co-PI, she has been organizing and conducting core analyses that evaluate the quality of men’s fertility data in the NLSY79, NLSY97, and 2002 NSFG. Comparing fertility rates in each survey to population rates based on the data from the National Center for Health Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau, Joyner and colleagues document how the undercount of births to men under 25 in different surveys varies according to several of their characteristics, including their age, race/ethnicity, marital status, and birth cohort. In addition, they use Monte Carlo simulations based on the NSFG data to demonstrate how birth undercounting attenuates associations between early parenthood and its antecedents; the attenuation that accompanies undercounting helps explains why background factors have generally weaker influences among men than among women. Their results suggest that the quality of male fertility data is strongly linked to survey design, and that data quality in surveys has important implications for associations between early fatherhood and other variables.


Kenney, Catherine. (PI). The Effects of Couples' Money Practices on Work-Family Outcomes: Union Dissolution and Women's Labor Force Participation. Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. 1 year.

Little quantitative research on household economic behavior in the United States examines how couples manage and control money or how such money practices influence subsequent work-family outcomes. In this project, I address two questions: 1) Does the way a couple manages and controls money affect the relationship and economic outcomes of union dissolution and women's labor force participation above and beyond the influence of each partner's income? 2) What does the direction of effect of a particular money management and control system (for example, joint accounts controlled together versus by one or the other partner) imply about partners' relative power or wellbeing within the household?


Manning, Wendy. (PI). Population Research Infrastructure Program. R24, NICHD. 5 years.


Manning, Wendy. (PI). Brown, Susan L. (Co-PI). National Center for Family and Marriage Research. DHHS-ASPE. 5 years.