Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne
Brown, Brett V.
Duncan, Greg J.
Moore, Kristin Anderson
Child Development in the Context of Family and Community Resources: An Agenda for National Data Collections
In: Integrating Federal Statistics on Children: Report of a Workshop. Committee on National Statistics and Board on Children and Families, ed. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1995: pp. 27-97.
Also: http://www.nap.edu/books/0309052491/html/
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: National Academy Press
Keyword(s): Child Development; Overview, Child Assessment Data;

In this paper we suggest specific national data collection projects that could improve research on child and adolescent development. Our explicit aim is to encourage continued expansion of both the outcome domains covered and the explanatory variables measured, to enhance the richness and quality of the data obtained, and to improve the representativeness of the samples that are drawn. These improvements would serve both the policy and academic research communities in their efforts to specify and estimate causal models of child, adolescent, and young adult behavior.

Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne
Crane, Jonathan
Duncan, Greg J.
Klebanov, Pamela Kato
Phillips, Meredith
How Might Genetic Influences on Academic Achievement Masquerade as Environmental Influences?
Smart Library on Children and Families, 2003.
Also: http://www.children.smartlibrary.org/NewInterface/segment.cfm?segment=2606
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: Qontent
Keyword(s): Cognitive Development; Educational Attainment; Ethnic Differences; Family Background; Family Environment; Family Income; Genetics; I.Q.; Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Racial Differences; Socioeconomic Background; Test Scores/Test theory/IRT;

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This article reports on Phillips et al.'s study of the effects of families on black and white children's test scores. This abstract comes from the article's description of the researchers' methodology:

"Part of the problem in determining "how much" of the black-white achievement gap results from heredity versus environment is that a person's genes and environment influence each other in complicated ways. It is often difficult to tell what part of a person's situation is influenced by their genetic makeup and what part is shaped by their environment."

"Phillips and her colleagues sought to determine the relative importance of a wide range of family characteristics for children's vocabulary test scores. They did this by running statistical models in which they would factor in different influences and examine how the included variables changed the differences in black and white children's test scores."

Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne
Duncan, Greg J.
The Effects of Poverty on Children
The Future of Children: Children and Poverty 7,2 (Summer/Fall 1997): 55-71.
Also: http://www.princeton.edu/futureofchildren/publications/docs/07_02_03.pdf
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs - Princeton - Brookings
Keyword(s): Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Birthweight; Children; Children, Home Environment; Family Income; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Poverty; School Completion;

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Although hundreds of studies have documented the association between family poverty and children's health achievement and behavior few measure the effects of the timing depth and duration of poverty on children, and many fail to adjust for other family characteristics (for example, female headship, mother's age, and schooling) that may account for much of the observed correlation between poverty and child outcomes. This article focuses on a recent set of studies that explore the relationship between poverty and child outcomes in depth. By and large, this research supports the conclusion that family income has selective but, in some instances, quite substantial effects on child and adolescent well-being. Family income appears to be more strongly related to children's ability and achievement than to their emotional outcomes. Children who live in extreme poverty or who live below the poverty line for multiple years appear, all other things being equal, to suffer the worst outcomes. The timing of poverty also seems to be important for certain child outcomes. Children who experience poverty during their preschool and early school years have lower rates of school completion than children and adolescents who experience poverty only in later years. Although more research is needed on the significance of the timing of poverty on child outcomes, findings to date suggest that interventions during early childhood may be most important in reducing poverty's impact on children.

Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne
Duncan, Greg J.
Britto, Pia Rebello
Are Socioeconomic Gradients for Children Similar to Those for Adults?: Achievement and Health of Children in the United States?
In: Developmental Health and the Wealth of Nations: Social, Biological, and Educational Dynamics. D. Keating and C. Hertzman, eds., New York: Guilford Press, 1999: 94-124
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Guilford Publications
Keyword(s): Child Health; Children, Poverty; Family Income; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); Motor and Social Development (MSD); Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Poverty;

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Excerpt from chapter: The data reported for the three age groupings are in part based on a 1995 conference entitled "Growing Up Poor," which was sponsored by the NICHD Research Network on Child and Family Well-being and the Russell Sage Foundation (Duncan & Brooks-Gunn, 1997a). Longitudinal data from almost a dozen developmental studies were examined to understand the extent to which childhood poverty influences life chances. All of the research teams were asked to conduct "replication" analyses in which the same set of measures were included in regression models. These measures were family income, maternal schooling, family structure, and--if multiple race/ethnic groups were included--race/ethnicity. Our goal was to provide an estimate of income effects independent of the most common poverty cofactors (parental education, marital structure). Almost all of the studies had at least three annual observations of family income; consequently, the estimates of income-to-needs ratios are based on multiple years (since family income is known to vary from year to year, multiple year estimates yield more stable estimates.

Our data demonstrate the existence of income gradients during chilldhood. These gradients are seen in the earliest years of life--starting with low birth weight (and other complications at birth), including physical growth and exposure to lead and other toxins in the first few years of life), and moving to cognitive ability by the end of the toddler stage of development (Brooks-Gunn & Duncan, 1997). The gradients do not seem to be reduced by the advent of school. We suspect that schools tend to reinforce existing disparities in children's outcomes rather than reducing them, although some recent data suggest that the primary reason for continuing disparities has to do with stimulating experiences in the home rather than school (Gamoran, Mane, & Bethke, 11998). And the gradients are much more pronounced for school achievement and growth th an for behavior problems.

Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne
Klebanov, Pamela Kato
Smith, Judith R.
Duncan, Greg J.
Lee, Kyunghee
The Black-White Test Score Gap in Young Children: Contributions of Test and Family Characteristics
Applied Developmental Science 7,4 (2003): 239-252.
Also: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1207/S1532480XADS0704_3
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Birthweight; Ethnic Differences; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); I.Q.; Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Racial Differences; Test Scores/Test theory/IRT;

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This study examined Black-White test score gaps in young children. Scores from a receptive verbal test (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised [PPVT-R]) and 2 full-scale intelligence tests (Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale and Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence [WPPSI]) were examined in 2 samples: (a) the Infant Health and Development Program: 315 premature, low birth weight 3- and 5-year olds; and (b) the National Longitudinal Study of Youth-Child Supplement: 2,220 3- to 4-year-olds and 1,354 5- to 6-year-olds. Questions addressed by the study included the following: Would similar test score gaps be seen on both tests and at both ages? Would gaps be reduced by controlling for family conditions and home environment? Would similar gaps be seen for the different tests? Fifteen- to 25-point differences in Black-White test scores were seen at both ages. The addition of demographic conditions reduced the disparities to 9 to 17 points. Including home environment measures further reduced the disparities to 4 to 13 points. Test score gaps were 11/2 to 3 times larger for the PPVT-R than for the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale and the WPPSI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Duncan, Greg J.
Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne
Income Effects Across the Life Span: Integration and Interpretation
In: Consequences of Growing Up Poor. G. Duncan and J. Brooks-Gunn, eds., New York: Russell Sage Foundation, May 1997: 596-610
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation
Keyword(s): Family Income; Family Structure; General Assessment; Mothers, Education; Poverty;

One in five American children now live in families with incomes below the poverty line, and their prospects are not bright. Low income is statistically linked with a variety of poor outcomes for children, from low birth weight and poor nutrition in infancy to increased chances of academic failure, emotional distress, and unwed childbirth in adolescence. To address these problems it is not enough to know that money makes a difference; we need to understand how. Consequences of Growing Up Poor is an extensive and illuminating examination of the paths through which economic deprivation damages children at all stages of their development...

Based on their findings, the editors and contributors to Consequences of Growing Up Poor recommend more sharply focused child welfare policies targeted to specific eras and conditions of poor children's lives. They also weigh the relative need for income supplements, child care subsidies, and home interventions. Consequences of Growing Up Poor describes the extent and causes of hardships for poor children, defines the interaction between income and family, and offers solutions to improve young lives. (Source: http://www.russellsage.org/publications/titles/consequences_growing.htm. Russell Sage Foundation.)

Duncan, Greg J.
Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne
Consequences of Growing Up Poor
New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation, May 1997.
Also: http://www.russellsage.org/publications/titles/consequences_growing.htm
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation
Keyword(s): Birthweight; Child Health; Children, Well-Being; Cognitive Ability; Cognitive Development; Educational Attainment; Fertility; Gender Differences; High School Completion/Graduates; Intergenerational Patterns/Transmission; Motor and Social Development (MSD); Parental Influences; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Poverty; Pre-natal Care; Pre/post Natal Behavior; Pre/post Natal Health Care; Racial Differences; Self-Esteem; Siblings; Verbal Memory (McCarthy Scale); Wealth;

Eighteen papers examine the consequences and correlates of growing up poor as well as the mechanisms through which poverty influences children. Papers discuss the effects of poverty for the prenatal period and infancy, early childhood, late childhood, and adolescence; poverty trends; whether parent absence or poverty matters more; trends in the economic well-being and life chances of America's children; the effects of long-term poverty on the physical health of children in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth; poverty and patterns of child care; consequences of living in poverty for young children's cognitive and verbal ability and early school achievement; economic resources, parental practices, and children's well-being; psychosocial morbidity among poor children in Ontario; family economic hardship and adolescent adjustment; the influence of poverty on children's classroom placement and behavior problems; the role of family income and sources of income in adolescent achievement; poverty during adolescence and subsequent educational attainment; childhood poverty and adolescent schooling and fertility outcomes; race, sex, and the intergenerational transmission of poverty; the effects of parents' income, wealth, and attitudes on children's completed schooling and self-esteem; whether poverty in adolescence affects the life chances of high-school graduates; and income effects across the life span. ISBN: 0-87154-143-2.

Duncan, Greg J.
Dowsett, Chantelle J.
Claessens, Amy
Magnuson, Katherine A.
Huston, Aletha C.
Klebanov, Pamela Kato
Pagani, Linda S.
Feinstein, Leon
Engel, Mimi
Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne
Sexton, Holly
Duckworth, Kathryn
Japel, Crista
School Readiness and Later Achievement
Presented: Atlanta, GA, Society for Research in Child Development, Biennial Meetings, April 10, 2005.
Also: http://www.cpc.unc.edu/training/Duncan_SchoolReadiness_04253.pdf
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD)
Keyword(s): Behavior Problems Index (BPI); British Cohort Study (BCS); Children, Academic Development; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); School Entry/Readiness;

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Using six longitudinal data sets, we estimate links between three key elements of school readiness—school-entry academic, attention, and socioemotional skills—and later school reading and math achievement. In an effort to illuminate how naturally occurring changes in these early skills are associated with children's subsequent learning, most of our regression models control for cognitive, attention and socioemotional skills measured prior to school entry.

Across all six studies, the strongest predictors of later achievement are school-entry math, reading, and attention skills. A meta-analysis of the results shows that early math skills have the greatest predictive power, followed by reading skills and then attention. By contrast, measures of socioemotional behaviors, including internalizing and externalizing problems and social skills, were generally insignificant predictors of later academic performance, even among children with relatively high levels of problem behavior. Patterns of association were similar for boys and girls and for children from high and low socioeconomic backgrounds.

Duncan, Greg J.
Dowsett, Chantelle J.
Claessens, Amy
Magnuson, Katherine A.
Huston, Aletha C.
Klebanov, Pamela Kato
Pagani, Linda S.
Feinstein, Leon
Engel, Mimi
Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne
Sexton, Holly
Duckworth, Kathryn
Japel, Crista
School Readiness and Later Achievement
Developmental Psychology 43,6 (November 2007): 1428-1446.
Also: http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/dev/43/6/1428/
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Keyword(s): Behavior Problems Index (BPI); British Cohort Study (BCS); Children, Academic Development; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); School Entry/Readiness;

Using 6 longitudinal data sets, the authors estimate links between three key elements of school readiness—school-entry academic, attention, and socioemotional skills—and later school reading and math achievement. In an effort to isolate the effects of these school-entry skills, the authors ensured that most of their regression models control for cognitive, attention, and socioemotional skills measured prior to school entry, as well as a host of family background measures. Across all 6 studies, the strongest predictors of later achievement are school-entry math, reading, and attention skills. A meta-analysis of the results shows that early math skills have the greatest predictive power, followed by reading and then attention skills. By contrast, measures of socioemotional behaviors, including internalizing and externalizing problems and social skills, were generally insignificant predictors of later academic performance, even among children with relatively high levels of problem behavior. Patterns of association were similar for boys and girls and for children from high and low socioeconomic backgrounds. (Copyright 2007 by the American Psychological Association)

Duncan, Greg J.
Kalil, Ariel
Mayer, Susan E.
Tepper, Robin L.
Payne, Monique R.
The Apple Does Not Fall Far from the Tree
In: Unequal Chances: Family Background and Economic Success. S. Bowles, H. Gintis, and M. O. Groves eds. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2008: pp. 23-79
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Behavior Problems Index (BPI); CESD (Depression Scale); Cognitive Ability; Depression (see also CESD); Deviance; Economic Well-Being; Genetics; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); Intergenerational Patterns/Transmission; Parental Influences; Parenting Skills; Parents, Behavior; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Pearlin Mastery Scale; Risk-Taking; Role Models; Socioeconomic Status (SES); Well-Being;

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Duncan, Greg J.
Kalil, Ariel
Mayer, Susan E.
Tepper, Robin L.
Payne, Monique R.
The Apple Does Not Fall Far from the Tree
Working Paper WP-02-17, Institute for Policy Research, Chicago IL, March 16, 2002.
Also: http://www.northwestern.edu/ipr/publications/papers/2002/WP-02-17.pdf
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Institute for Policy Research - Northwestern University - (formerly Center for Urban Affairs and Policy Research)
Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Behavioral Problems; CESD (Depression Scale); Cognitive Ability; Depression (see also CESD); Economic Well-Being; Genetics; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); Intergenerational Patterns/Transmission; Parental Influences; Parenting Skills; Parents, Behavior; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Pearlin Mastery Scale; Risk-Taking; Role Models; Socioeconomic Status (SES); Well-Being;

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

We use data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY), the Children of the NLSY, and from a study in Prince George's County, Maryland, to assess the relationship between 17 characteristics of mothers measured during adolescence and the same characteristics of their children, also measured during adolescence. We find positive correlations between specific characteristics of parents and children. But we also find that few parental characteristics predict characteristics of children other than the same one that is measured in parents. Four mechanisms might explain such correlations — socioeconomic resources, parenting practices, genetic inheritance, and role modeling. These four mechanisms make varying predictions about which parental traits will be correlated with which child traits; whether the traits of fathers or mothers should be more important to sons or daughters; and to what extent parental socioeconomic characteristics, parenting behaviors, and children's identification with their parents account for the observed correlations. Our evidence provides little support for the SES and parenting explanations, but more substantial support that role modeling may account for some of the intergenerational correlations, and genetic factors may account for others.

Duncan, Greg J.
Magnuson, Katherine A.
The Nature and Impact of Early Achievement Skills, Attention and Behavior Problems
Presented: Washington, DC, Brookings Institution Conference, "Rethinking the Role of Neighborhoods and Families on Schools and School Outcomes for American Children", November 19-20, 2009
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79 Young Adult
Publisher: Brookings Institution
Keyword(s): Adolescent Behavior; Baltimore Beginning School Study (BSS); Behavior Problems Index (BPI); College Enrollment; Crime; Delinquency/Gang Activity; Depression (see also CESD); Dropouts; GED/General Educational Diploma/General Equivalency Degree/General Educational Development; High School Completion/Graduates; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); School Completion; Temperament;

Our chapter sheds light on the Perry and many other school entry puzzles by turning to theory as well as other empirical studies investigating links between young children's skills and behaviors and their later attainments. We begin with a conceptual framework for understanding the early skills. We argue that the skill categories of “cognitive” and “non-cognitive” used by many economists are both too simplistic and inaccurate. “Cognitive” skills mix together mental acuity (i.e., IQ) with concrete achievement skills such as knowing letters, beginning word sounds and numbers. “Noncognitive” skills encompass a wide variety of diverse capacities such as paying attention (an inherently cognitive task!), getting along with classmates and teachers, and good mental health. We propose and defend the early-skill trichotomy of: achievement, attention and problem behavior and mental health, while at the same time acknowledging that each of these broad categories are related, and can be broken down further into more narrowly defined component parts.

Duncan, Greg J.
Magnuson, Katherine A.
The Nature and Impact of Early Achievement Skills, Attention Skills, and Behavior Problems
In: Whither Opportunity? Rising Inequality, Schools, and Children's Life Chances. R. Murnane and G. Duncan, eds., New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2011
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79 Young Adult
Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation
Keyword(s): Achievement; Attention/Attention Deficit; Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Behavioral Problems; Crime; Delinquency/Gang Activity; Educational Attainment; Family Background; Family Characteristics; High School Completion/Graduates; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); Intergenerational Patterns/Transmission; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); School Completion; Temperament;

Duncan and Magnuson argue that the domains of achievement, attention, and behavior are useful for organizing the most important children’s skills and behaviors. Upon entering kindergarten, children from low-income families have weaker academic and attention skills, on average, and a higher probability of demonstrating antisocial behavior than children from higher-income families. None of these gaps shrinks over the course of elementary school.

Duncan, Greg J.
Magnuson, Katherine A.
Can Family Socioeconomic Resources Account for Racial and Ethnic Test Score Gaps?
The Future of Children 15,1 (Spring 2005): 35-54
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs - Princeton - Brookings
Keyword(s): Family Background; Family Characteristics; Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); School Entry/Readiness; Socioeconomic Background; Socioeconomic Factors; Test Scores/Test theory/IRT;

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This article considers whether the disparate socioeconomic circumstances of families in which white, black, and Hispanic children grow up account for the racial and ethnic gaps in school readiness among American preschoolers. It first reviews why family socioeconomic resources might matter for children's school readiness. The authors concentrate on four key components of parent socioeconomic status that are particularly relevant for children's well-being—income, education, family structure, and neighborhood conditions. They survey a range of relevant policies and programs that might help to close socioeconomic gaps, for example, by increasing family incomes or maternal educational attainment, strengthening families, and improving poor neighborhoods.

Their survey of links between socioeconomic resources and test score gaps indicates that resource differences account for about half of the standard deviation—about 8 points on a test with a standard deviation of 15—of the differences. Yet, the policy implications of this are far from clear. They note that although policies are designed to improve aspects of "socioeconomic status" (for example, income, education, family structure), no policy improves "socioeconomic status" directly. Second, they caution that good policy is based on an understanding of causal relationships between family background and children outcomes, as well as cost-effectiveness.

They conclude that boosting the family incomes of preschool children may be a promising intervention to reduce racial and ethnic school readiness gaps. However, given the lack of successful large-scale interventions, the authors suggest giving only a modest role to programs that address parents' socioeconomic resources. They suggest that policies that directly target children may be the most efficient way to narrow school readiness gaps.

Duncan, Greg J.
Magnuson, Katherine A.
The Nature and Impact of Early Achievement Skills, Attention and Behavior Problems
RWJ Lecture Series, The Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholars Program, March 11, 2011
Also: http://www.sph.umich.edu/rwjhssp/lectures/DuncanGary.mov
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79 Young Adult
Publisher: Robert Wood Johnson Fondation
Keyword(s): Adolescent Behavior; Behavior Problems Index (BPI); CESD (Depression Scale); Crime; Delinquency/Gang Activity; Depression (see also CESD); High School Completion/Graduates; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); School Completion; Temperament;

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Slides only, available at: http://www.sph.umich.edu/rwjhssp/lectures/Duncan.ppt

Our chapter sheds light on the Perry and many other school entry puzzles by turning to theory as well as other empirical studies investigating links between young children's skills and behaviors and their later attainments. We begin with a conceptual framework for understanding the early skills. We argue that the skill categories of “cognitive” and “non-cognitive” used by many economists are both too simplistic and inaccurate. “Cognitive” skills mix together mental acuity (i.e., IQ) with concrete achievement skills such as knowing letters, beginning word sounds and numbers. “Noncognitive” skills encompass a wide variety of diverse capacities such as paying attention (an inherently cognitive task!), getting along with classmates and teachers, and good mental health. We propose and defend the early-skill trichotomy of: achievement, attention and problem behavior and mental health, while at the same time acknowledging that each of these broad categories are related, and can be broken down further into more narrowly defined component parts.

Duncan, Greg J.
Morgan, James N.
Andrisani, Paul J.
Sense of Efficacy and Subsequent Change in Earnings - A Replication
Journal of Human Resources 16,4 (Fall 1981): 649-666.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/145240
Cohort(s): Older Men, Young Men
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
Keyword(s): Attitudes; Earnings; Internal-External Attitude; Labor Force Participation; Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID); Racial Differences;

In a recent article, Paul Andrisani, using data from the NLS panels of Young and Older Men, found internal- external attitudes related to the level of and subsequent changes in their economic status. An attempt is made here to replicate part of Andrisani's analysis and is limited to an analysis of the effects of initial efficacy on subsequent change in economic status. The replication indicated somewhat smaller effects of initial efficacy on subsequent changes in earnings in Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) data than in the NLS data but produced larger effects when the time period was extended. However, the evidence did not support Andrisani's conclusion that an attitudinal change among whites and blacks with external attitudes would result in greater initiative and a more successful labor market experience. In a reply, Andrisani contends that Duncan and Morgan's PSID findings are inconsistent with the evidence. Further, Andrisani finds the replication questionable and points out that it ignored about 92% of the data.

Duncan, Greg J.
Wilkerson, Bessie
England, Paula A.
Cleaning up Their Act: The Impacts of Marriage, Cohabitation and Fertility on Licit and Illicit Drug Use
IRP Working Paper 03-02, Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, August 25, 2003.
Also: http://www.northwestern.edu/ipr/publications/papers/2004/duncan/CleaningUpAct.pdf
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Institute for Policy Research - Northwestern University - (formerly Center for Urban Affairs and Policy Research)
Keyword(s): Alcohol Use; Childbearing, Premarital/Nonmarital; Cigarette Use (see Smoking); Cohabitation; Fertility; Gender Differences; Risk-Taking; Substance Use;

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

An earlier version of this paper was presented in Minneapolis, MN, at the Population Association of America Annual Meeting, May 2003.

Mounting evidence suggests that health risk behaviors such as illicit drug use change in response to marriage, childbirth and other demographic events (Bachman, Wadsworth, OMalley, Johnston, and Schulenberg, 1997; Umberson, 1987; 1992). However, much of this evidence is either cross-sectional or fails to track longitudinal changes surrounding the actual occurrence of a life event. Our study uses data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to relate changes in smoking, binge drinking, marijuana use and cocaine use to the first occurrence of cohabitation, marriage, nonmarital and marital births. Preliminary results indicate that all four life events are linked to substantial decreases in at least some of the risk behaviors. Illicit behaviors appear more responsive to events than do licit behaviors, changes are much more pronounced for marital than nonmarital births and somewhat more pronounced for marriage than for cohabitation. Women's responses are stronger than mens for several of the behaviors.

Duncan, Greg J.
Wilkerson, Bessie
England, Paula A.
Cleaning Up Their Act: The Effects of Marriage and Cohabitation on Licit and Illicit Drug Use
Demography 43,4 (November 2006): 691-710.
Also: http://www.springerlink.com/content/q3547p0538418771/
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): Cohabitation; Drug Use; Health/Health Status/SF-12 Scale; Illegal Activities; Marital Dissolution; Marriage; Smoking (see Cigarette Use); Substance Use;

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

We use data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to estimate changes in binge drinking, marijuana use, and cigarette smoking surrounding young adults' first experiences of cohabitation and marriage. Both marriage and cohabitation are accompanied by decreases in some risk behaviors, but reductions surrounding marriage are larger and most consistent, particularly for men. Binge drinking and marijuana use respond to these events, especially marriage, but smoking does not.

Kowaleski-Jones, Lori
Duncan, Greg J.
Effects of Participation in the WIC Food Assistance Program on Children's Health and Development: Evidence from NLSY Children
Discussion Paper No. 1207-00, Institute for Research on Poverty, 2000.
Also: http://www.irp.wisc.edu/publications/dps/pdfs/dp120700.pdf
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP), University of Wisconsin - Madison
Keyword(s): Birthweight; Child Health; Children, Health Care; Modeling, Fixed Effects; Motor and Social Development (MSD); Pre/post Natal Behavior; Siblings; Temperament;

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This study investigates the effects of maternal participation in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) on birth weight, motor and social skills, and temperament for a national sample of children born between 1990 and 1996 to women participating in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Sibling fixed effect models are used to account for persistent differences in difficult to measure characteristics of mothers that affect participation in the program. Results indicate that prenatal WIC participation has positive effects on infant birth weight. Fixed effect, but not OLS, estimates suggest that prenatal WIC participation is associated with more positive child temperament.

Kowaleski-Jones, Lori
Duncan, Greg J.
The Effects of WIC on Children's Health and Development
Poverty Research News, 5,2, (March-April 2001): 6-7
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Joint Center for Poverty Research
Keyword(s): Birthweight; Child Health; Motor and Social Development (MSD); Siblings; Temperament; Welfare;

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Kowaleski-Jones and Duncan address some of the limitations of prior research by using a national sample of children and siblings born to relatively older mothers. Specifically, they compare siblings whose mothers used WIC with one sibling but not the other. In addition to birth weight, they also examine two measures of infant development: temperament and motor and social skills. Their research supports the positive findings on infant birth weight, and finds a small, positive effect on temperament, but no established link to improved motor or social skills.

Kowaleski-Jones, Lori
Duncan, Greg J.
The Structure of Achievement and Behavior across Middle Childhood
Child Development 70,4 (July-August 1999): 930-943.
Also: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-8624.00067/abstract
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Keyword(s): Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Gender Differences; Heterogeneity; LISREL; Modeling; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Racial Differences; Test Scores/Test theory/IRT;

This research uses data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) to describe and model developmental trajectories across middle childhood. Our sample consists of approximately 1,000 children of NLSY women who were age 6-7 in either 1986 or 1988. Assessments of PIAT math and reading scores and the mother-reported Behavior Problem Index in 1986, 1988, 1990 and 1992 provide data for middle-child trajectories of children age 6-7 in 1986. Assessments in 1988, 1990, 1992 and 1994 provide data for children age 6-7 in 1988. We use the raw-score form of these data to estimate LISREL-based models of their autoregressive structure. As with other samples, average math and reading achievement trajectories are parabolic for NLSY children, with scores increasing at a decreasing rate over this period. Average behavior-problem trajectories are flat. Behind these average shapes is extreme diversity in level, and in some cases, slopes, of individual trajectories, and a pronounced tendency for above average changes between two adjacent assessments to be followed by opposite-signed changes in the subsequent period. Estimates from our structural models showed great heterogeneity in the average level of achievement and behavior for all three outcomes and heterogeneous slopes for reading scores as well. Boys but not girls were found to have heterogeneous slopes for math and behavior problems, while girls but not boys showed a significantly higher degree of persistence if "shocked" off of their expected trajectories.

Kowaleski-Jones, Lori
Duncan, Greg J.
Effects of Participation in the WIC Program on Birthweight: Evidence from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth
American Journal of Public Health 92,5 (May 2002): 799-804.
Also: http://ajph.aphapublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/92/5/799
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: American Public Health Association
Keyword(s): Birthweight; Child Health; Children, Health Care; Modeling, Fixed Effects; Motor and Social Development (MSD); Pre/post Natal Behavior; Program Participation/Evaluation; Temperament;

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Objectives. This study sought to estimate the impact on birthweight of maternal participation in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).

Methods. WIC estimates were based on sibling models incorporating data on children born between 1990 and 1996 to women taking part in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth.

Results. Fixed-effects estimates indicated that prenatal WIC participation was associated with a 0.075 unit difference (95% confidence interval [Cl]=-0.007, 0.157) in siblings' logged birthweight. At the 88-oz (2464-g) low-birthweight cutoff, this difference translated into an estimated impact of 6.6 oz (184.8 g).

Conclusion. Earlier WIC impact estimates may have been biased by unmeasured characteristics affecting both program participation and birth outcomes. Our approach controlled for such biases and revealed a significant positive association between WIC participation and birthweight. Copyright © 2002 Institute for Scientific Information

Kowaleski-Jones, Lori
Duncan, Greg J.
Effects of Participation in Food Assistance Programs on Children's Health and Development: Evidence from NLSY Children
Presented: Washington, DC, USDA/Institute for Research on Poverty Food Assistance Small Grants Conference, October 1999.
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Keyword(s): Aid for Families with Dependent Children (AFDC); Birthweight; Child Health; Hispanics; Motor and Social Development (MSD); Temperament; Welfare;

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This study investigates the effects of WIC participation on birth weight, motor and social skills, and temperament for a national sample of children. Sibling fixed effect models are used to account for potential unmeasured heterogeneity among the mothers of children in this sample. Specifically, the sample contains children born between 1990 and 1996 to women from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Results from this study indicate that prenatal WIC participation has positive effects on infant birth weight using both OLS and fixed effect regression techniques. Fixed effect estimates also suggest that prenatal WIC participation is associated with lower scores on measures of difficult temperament.

The data is drawn from the 1996 and earlier survey waves of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, a nationally representative sample of men and women. The youth cohort were 14 to 21 years of age when interviewed in 1979, making them 31 to 38 in 1996. The original sample over represented black, Hispanic, and economically disadvantaged white youth. This cohort, of whom the mothers of the children we study are members, has been interviewed every year since 1979. Beginning in 1986, interviewers administered an extensive set of assessment instruments to the children of all the female respondents. These assessments include information about cognitive, socio-emotional, and psychological aspects of the child=s development as well as about the quality of the home environment (Baker et al, 1993). These same children were interviewed again in 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, and in 1996.

Kowaleski-Jones, Lori
Duncan, Greg J.
Income, Family Structure, and the Dynamics of Achievement and Behavior in Middle Childhood
Presented: Chicago, IL, Population Association of America, Annual Meeting, April 1998
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): Behavior; Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Divorce; Family Characteristics; Family Income; Family Resources; Family Structure; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Poverty;

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

As with equation (1), the achievement/behavior level model (equation 6a) presumes that initial age-6 achievement or behavior is a product of the accumulated amount of the financial resources available to the family; time spent in family structures between birth and age 6; and a set of fixed individual and family characteristics. All in all, the level formulation does not differ appreciably from that adopted in the now voluminous literature on achievement and behavior models based on the NLSY data. The slope (equation 6b) and acceleration (equation 6c) models focus on dynamic elements of resources and family conditions across the period of middle childhood. In line with the previous discussion, we allow for the achievement and behavior slopes between ages 6 and 12 to be affected both by conditions prior to age 6 as well as conditions and events occurring between ages 6 and 12. We hypothesize that inter-individual differences in the acceleration or deceleration in achievement and behavior scores (ma) will be influenced by income and family structure events as well. For example, the deceleration in math scores and the acceleration of behavior problems are hypothesized to increase in the case of a child whose parents undergo divorce, experience the addition of new siblings in the household, or whose family experiences a bout of poverty. These are the IncEvent and FamEvent variables in equation 6c. Even if we suspect that events affect acceleration, it is unclear what the timing of the effects would be. Since behavior problems are likely to be influenced more quickly by these kinds of changes, we expect shorter lags between events and their effects on the acceleration or deceleration of behavior than for achievement.

Magnuson, Katherine A.
Duncan, Greg J.
Kalil, Ariel
Contribution of Middle Childhood Contexts to Adolescent Achievement and Behavior
In: Developmental Contexts in Middle Childhood: Bridges to Adolescence and Adulthood. A. Huston and M. Ripke, eds., New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006: 150-172.
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Keyword(s): Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Child Self-Administered Supplement (CSAS); Family Characteristics; Family Structure; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); Household Structure; Neighborhood Effects; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Poverty; School Characteristics/Rating/Safety; Schooling; Temperament;

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Our chapter seeks to assess the extent to which the diverse contexts experienced during middle childhood matter for children's subsequent well-being. Given the established importance of genetic factors and pre-school family background conditions, the extent to which contexts during the middle childhood years play a role in shaping – the achievement and behavior trajectories established during the preschool years is far from clear.

We address three specific questions. First, how much variation in adolescents' academic achievement and problem behaviors are uniquely explained by the contexts they experience in middle childhood? Second, to the extent that middle childhood contexts matter, which contexts matter the most? And third, are the effects of contexts in middle childhood on early adolescents' outcomes different for boys and girls and for poor and middle class children?

Our answers to these questions are based on an analysis of data from a national sample of over 2,000 children followed from birth until adolescence. Family poverty, structure and home environments are measured throughout this time, enabling us to both describe the stability of contexts between early and middle childhood and assess the extent to which middle childhood contexts add to the explanation of adolescent achievement and behavior over and above early environments.

Magnuson, Katherine A.
Duncan, Greg J.
Kalil, Ariel
Contribution of Middle Childhood Contexts to Adolescent Achievement and Behavior
Working Paper, Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, June 2003
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: Institute for Policy Research - Northwestern University - (formerly Center for Urban Affairs and Policy Research)
Keyword(s): Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Child Self-Administered Supplement (CSAS); Family Characteristics; Family Structure; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); Household Structure; Neighborhood Effects; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Poverty; School Characteristics/Rating/Safety; Schooling; Temperament;

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

We address three specific questions. First, how much variation in adolescents' academic achievement and problem behaviors are uniquely explained by the contexts they experience in middle childhood? Second, to the extent that middle childhood contexts matter, which contexts matter the most? And third, are the effects of contexts in middle childhood on early adolescents' outcomes different for boys and girls and for poor and middle class children?

Our answers to these questions are based on an analysis of data from a national sample of over 2,000 children followed from birth until adolescence. Family poverty, structure and home environments are measured throughout this time, enabling us to both describe the stability of contexts between early and middle childhood and assess the extent to which middle childhood contexts add to the explanation of adolescent achievement and behavior over and above early environments.

Magnuson, Katherine A.
Duncan, Greg J.
Lee, You-Geon
Metzger, Molly
Early School Adjustment and High School Dropout
Working Paper, Foundation for Child Development, December 2011.
Also: http://fcd-us.org/resources/early-school-adjustment-and-high-school-dropout?destination=resources%2Fsearch
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79 Young Adult
Publisher: Foundation for Child Development
Keyword(s): Baltimore Beginning School Study (BSS); Behavior Problems Index (BPI); College Enrollment; Dropouts; Educational Attainment; GED/General Educational Diploma/General Equivalency Degree/General Educational Development; High School Completion/Graduates; High School Dropouts; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Temperament;

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Although school attainment is a cumulative process combining mastery of both academic and behavioral skills, most studies have offered only a piecemeal view of the associations between early childhood capacities and subsequent schooling outcomes. Using two large longitudinal datasets, this study describes the relative contribution of children’s problem behaviors and academic skills to their long-term educational outcomes. After adjusting for family and individual background measures, we find that age 7 or 8 skills and behaviors are modestly and often inconsistently predictive of high school completion, attending college, and completed years of schooling. Neither reading nor math is consistently more predictive of high school completion than the other. Antisocial behavior predicts high school completion, but the associations are consistently significant only after about age 10. In contrast, attention problems do not predict adolescent and early-adult school attainment. We also investigate whether persistently high behavior problems or low achievement during the early elementary years matter for later attainment. We find that persistent reading, math, and antisocial behavior problems, but not attention problems, prior to age 10 predict at least some of our attainment outcomes.

Mayer, Susan E.
Duncan, Greg J.
Kalil, Ariel
Tepper, Robin L.
Like Mother Like Daughter: Does SES Account for the Similarity between Mothers and Daughters?
Presented: Chicago, IL, Joint Center for Poverty Research, "Family Investments in Children's Potential", Research Conference, September 2002.
Also: http://www.jcpr.org/conferences/SRI_2002/mayer.pdf
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Joint Center for Poverty Research
Keyword(s): Adolescent Behavior; CESD (Depression Scale); Child Self-Administered Supplement (CSAS); Depression (see also CESD); Intergenerational Patterns/Transmission; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Pearlin Mastery Scale; Self-Esteem; Shyness; Socioeconomic Status (SES);

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

[This paper assesses the importance of maternal income and education to daughters' adolescent characteristics that are associated with her own future economic success. The analysis looks beyond socio-economic status to account for the strong correlations between parents' and children's educational achievement, psychological and personality characteristics, attitudes, interests, and highrisk behaviors, such as smoking, early pregnancy, or antisocial behavior. Although their findings are preliminary, they suggest a lesser role for socioeconomic status than previously thought.

Specifically, the authors find that mothers' own characteristics, measured when she herself was an adolescent, can predict her future income and education, and the latter, in turn, predict her daughter's adolescent characteristics, which presumably predict the daughter's future income and education. These findings are important for research and policy on several levels. In short, the authors argue that the importance of socioeconomic status will be overstated if researchers omit a mother's own adolescent characteristics in their measurement models.

Phillips, Meredith
Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne
Duncan, Greg J.
Klebanov, Pamela Kato
Crane, Jonathan
Family Background, Parenting Practices, and the Black-White Test Score Gap
In: The Black-White Test Score Gap. C. Jencks, and M. Phillips, et al., eds. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 1998: pp. 103-145.
Also: http://brookings.nap.edu/books/0815746091/html/103.html
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: Brookings Institution
Keyword(s): Birthweight; Cognitive Development; Educational Attainment; Ethnic Differences; Family Background; Family Environment; Family Income; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); I.Q.; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Preschool Children; Racial Differences; School Quality; Socioeconomic Status (SES); Test Scores/Test theory/IRT;

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Chapter: Surveyed recent data from 2 samples of children to investigate R. J. Herrnstein and C. Murray's (see record 1994-98748-000) claims about the association between family background and young children's cognitive skills. The authors examine the contribution of parental education and income to the test score gap among 5- and 6-yr-olds. They then look at a much larger set of family environment indicators, including grandparents' educational attainment, mothers' household size, high school quality, and perceived self-efficacy, children's birth weight, children's household size, and mothers' parenting practices. Most of the analyses use data from the Children of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, focusing on 1,626 African-American and European- American 5- and 6-yr olds. Data on 315 children from the Infant Health and Development Program were used to supplement the analyses. Even though traditional measures of SES account for no more than a third of the test score gap, results show that a broader index of family environment may explain up to two-thirds of it. The results help to identify the family characteristics that matter most for the gap. They suggest that eliminating environmental differences between Black and White families could help to eliminate the test score gap. ((c) 1998 APA/PsycINFO, all rights reserved)