Children of mothers who change partners have between 30 and 60 percent higher rates of behavioural problems than children in stable single- or two-parent families, according to a University of Queensland study.
Led by the head of the University's Anthropology and Sociology Department, Professor Jake Najman, the study greatly increases understanding of the impact various family types have on child mental health.
'With increasing rates of marital break-up and partner change, there is a concern with the impact of such changes on the mental health of the children involved. Simply put, what are the consequences for a child of different marital situations such as having a single parent, having parents who are in frequent conflict or living in a family where there have been one or more changes of parent?" Professor Najman said.
The long-term follow-up study of parents and their children recently published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry addresses these questions.
The study found that children in families characterised by instability and conflict exhibited two to three times the rate of child behaviour problems when compared with children in stable families.
Child behavioural problems included internalising (for example, anxiety, depression and sleep complaints), externalising (for example, delinquent, aggressive and antisocial) and attentional difficulties.
The research team also involved Brett Behrens from the University's Psychology Department, Margaret Anderson and Associate Professor Gail Williams from the University's Social and Preventive Medicine Department, Dr William Bor from the Enoggera Child and Youth Mental Health Service and Dr Michael O'Callaghan from the Mater Childrens' Hospital.
For the study, 8556 pregnant women were surveyed for five years at four stages - when they were 18 weeks pregnant, three to five days after the birth of their child, when the child was six months old and then aged five.
Data for the study were taken from mothers' own reports at each study phase using a shortened version of the Child Behaviour Check List developed by the research team. Of the study group, 76 percent of mothers reported they were married to the same partner at all four study phases, five percent reported being single at each phase while 19 percent were classified as having had a marital change at some stage in the study.
The study found that the rate of child behaviour problems appeared to be directly related to the mother's marital status changes.
Women who remained married to the same partner or who had no partner at all (remained single throughout) reported the lowest rates of behaviour problems in their children.
Increased rates of child behaviour problems however were experienced by mothers who reported more than one partner over the study period and those who reported a poor relationship with their partners.
The study was funded by a three-year, $275,000 National Health and Medical Research Council grant, a two-year, $50,000 Queensland Health grant and a $45,000 Australian Institute of Criminology grant.
The study also found:
- Single mothers who had no partners during the study period had children with similar low rates of behavioural problems to those experienced by mothers in stable two-parent relationships.
'The implication here is that marital status is less important than marital stability in determining whether children develop behavioural problems,' Professor Najman said.
- Mothers who remain with the same partner but who experience conflict report a similar level of child behavioural problems to mothers who change partners;
'This finding questions whether couples in a poor quality relationship should remain together ?for the sake of the child',' Professor Najman said.
- Boys are more affected by parental changes than girls. However, boys and girls experience similarly high rates of behavioural problems when there is conflict within the home.
- Consistent conflict was associated with three times the rate of externalising behaviour problems and more than twice the rate of internalising and attentional problems, the study found.
For more information, contact Professor Najman (telephone 07 3365 3152).
