The Well-Being of Adolescents in Households With No Biological Parents

On the basis of a large, nationally representative sample of 19,071 American middleschool students, the current study compares adolescents living with neither biological parent with their peers in five other family structures on a wide range of outcome measures. The results reveal some overall disadvantages of living with neither parent, although the disadvantages relative to nontraditional families are limited. Differences in family resources either partially or completely account for outcome differences between non-biological-parent and other family structures. Further, boys and girls in non-biological-parent families appear to fare similarly. Finally, measurement problems and their implications are discussed.