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The Effects of Divorce andRemarriage on the AcademicAchievement of High SchoolSeniorsBarry D. Ham PhD a ba University of Colorado , Colorado Springs, USAb Colorado Christian University , USAPublished online: 04 Oct 2008.
To cite this article: Barry D. Ham PhD (2004) The Effects of Divorce and Remarriageon the Academic Achievement of High School Seniors, Journal of Divorce &Remarriage, 42:1-2, 159-178, DOI: 10.1300/J087v42n01_08
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The Effects of Divorce and Remarriageon the Academic Achievement
of High School Seniors
Barry D. Ham
ABSTRACT. Divorce and remarriage rates in the United States haveclimbed at an astounding rate during the past several decades. Conse-quences of this change in family structure have impacted millions ofchildren in a variety of ways. This study assessed the impact of divorceand remarriage in relation to student’s academic achievement. Two hy-potheses were introduced reflecting expectations suggested by previ-ous studies. High school seniors from a middle class school in a RockyMountain State served as the population for this study. The results sug-gest that family structure impacts both the grade point average and at-tendance of high school students. Adolescents from intact families out-perform students from other family structures. The differences betweenstudents from single-parent families and remarried families were lessclear. However, what was clear was that results were most pronounced forfemales. Females were more negatively impacted by family structures re-sulting from divorce and remarriage than were males. [Article copies avail-able for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-HAWORTH.E-mail address: <[email protected]> Website: <http://www.HaworthPress.com> © 2004 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.]
Barry D. Ham, PhD, is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in private practicein Colorado Springs, CO. He is a member of the adjunct faculty at The University of Col-orado, Colorado Springs, and Colorado Christian University. He also works with theAcademy School District.
Address correspondence to: Barry D. Ham, PO Box 63241, Colorado Springs, CO80962.
Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, Vol. 42(1/2) 2004http://www.haworthpress.com/web/JDR
© 2004 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.Digital Object Identifier: 10.1300/J087v42n01_08 159
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KEYWORDS. Divorce, intact-family, remarriage, single-parent fam-ily, academic-achievement, family-structure, attendance, gender, highschool students
INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND
During the early 1960s, nearly 90% of children lived their first 18years in homes with two biological, married parents (Hetherington &Stanley-Hagan, 1999). However, during the past 40 years, that percent-age has diminished at an alarming rate. By 1995, it has been reported,18.9 million children under the age of 18 lived with one parent (“Sin-gle-parent kids,” 1997). This reflects the fact that 45% of all first mar-riages in the United States result in divorce within 14 years (Lamb,Sternberg, & Thompson, 1997).
The current status of divorce is relatively new. Not that long ago di-vorce was rare and unacceptable in society. In the 1920s, approximately100 women per thousand married each year. The divorce rate at thattime was about 10 per thousand. However, the picture changed dramati-cally over the next 70 years. By 1990, the first marriage rate of womenhad actually dropped to about 80 per thousand each year, while the di-vorce rate had increased to 40 per thousand (Shiono & Quinn, 1994). Inother words, the number of women getting married for the first time haddecreased by 20%; yet, the divorce rate had increased by 300%.
Looking back even further, approximately 5% of marriages in theUnited States ended in divorce just after the Civil War. This increased to10% by the 1920s (as shown above), to 36% of 1964, and to 50% by1990 (Furstenberg, 1994). Furstenberg refers to this extraordinary in-crease in the divorce rate as being a result of the “divorce revolution.”From 1865 to 1990, a span of only 125 years, the divorce rate in thiscountry increased by 900%.
According to the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, in one ofevery seven weddings, either the bride or groom, or both are making atleast a third trip down the aisle (“Multiple marriages,” 1997). The centeralso reports that almost 25% of all marriages are the second time aroundfor either the bride or groom. Two-thirds of women that divorce eventu-ally remarry and most consider having additional children (“A profile,”1996). Of these second and third marriages, failure rates are even higherthan they are for first marriages and typically end two years sooner thanfirst marriages do (”Multiple marriages,” 1997). The increased failureof remarriages leads many children to experience a series of changes in
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family structures and expectations. Of these children from divorce, 40%will not have seen their father in the past year (Waldman, 1996).
This seemingly unabated rise in the number of children from di-vorced households and blended families generates concern among edu-cators, mental health professionals, researchers, and society as a whole.With schools and teachers faulted for lower test scores and grades bystudents, one wonders what role changes in family structure may play inthese academic measures. If the rising divorce and remarriage rateshave an impact upon student academic achievement, then parents andeducators both may need to reexamine their roles in meeting the needsof these students.
Divorce affects children and adolescents in a variety of ways. Onearea that is of particular interest to this study is academic achievement.Numerous studies have observed that children from divorced familiesare impacted negatively in relationship to school performance. Frum(1996) stated that children who are raised with only one of their biologi-cal parents are twice as likely to drop out of school than are childrenfrom two-parent families. He also noted that these children demonstratepoorer school attendance and are less likely to attend college.
McManus (1993) emphatically states:
Compared to an American child, a Japanese child is four timesmore likely to be reared by both parents, according to the U.S.Census Bureau. The stability of Japanese families and the chaos ofAmerican families is a major reason that Japanese students are somuch more successful in school than are American children–and amajor reason for the success of the Japanese economy. (pp. 27-28)
Jeynes (1997) concludes in his research that there is a parallel be-tween the divorce rate in the U.S. and what has been perceived as the de-cline of education. He clearly states:
There has been a great deal of public criticism of the public schoolsystem due largely to: (1) declining standardized test scores duringthe 1963-1980 period; (2) consistently poor performances on in-ternational comparison tests; and (3) soaring rates of juvenilecrime in the schools. The tendency has often been for the public toblame the schools for these problems. And certainly, the schoolsdeserve some portion of the blame. But the results of this studycontribute some credence to the notion that the decreasing percent-age of children coming from intact families exerts a downward
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pressure on the average academic achievement of American chil-dren. It is probably far more than coincidence that the U.S. divorcerate which had been in a slow decline during the 1948-1962 pe-riod, rose sharply in 1963 and continued to rise sharply after thatduring almost exactly the same period as the standardized testscore decline. (pp. 226-227)
Jeynes (1997) concluded in his research, using data from the Na-tional Education Longitudinal Study (NELS), that “the further a familystructure was from the intact two-part family, the more negative an im-pact that the family structure had on academic achievement” (pg. 225).
Using the same NELS data, Pong and Ju (2000), reported that highschool dropout rates were significantly lower for students who residedwith both parents than for adolescents of single parents. Interestingly,they discovered that any disruption to the two-parent family increasedthe odds of dropping out. It didn’t matter whether the child was movingfrom an intact family to a mother-only family, a father-only family, astep-family, or a guardian family. The dropout rate was approximatelydouble for any student in a family type other than an intact, two-parentfamily.
Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLYS),two different studies (Wojtkiewicz, 1993; Sandefur, McLanahan, &Wojtkiewicz, 1992) took particular interest in the living arrangementsof these individuals from birth to the age of 19. What they discoveredwas significant. Any child who lived in a non-intact family, during anyyear of that time, experienced a decreased chance of graduation.
Two arguments are consistently made for the benefits of remarriage.The strongest one is financial. Following a divorce, both parties, espe-cially the mother, will experience a decrease in income (Teachman &Paasch, 1994). The loss of income can have a tremendous effect on ev-erything from the ability to purchase educational resources to determin-ing in what neighborhood a family will reside. Maternal remarriage hasbeen thought to solve the problem of the loss of socioeconomic status(SES). The income of a new husband (or new wife) will compensate forwhat was lost when the ex-spouse was removed from the financial pic-ture. Indeed, if the SES is the real reason for a student’s academic de-cline, then this should hold true. However, the research in this area doesnot bear this out (Jeynes, 1998). Secondly, there is the argument that astepparent will provide a replacement role model in the home. This newparent can also help with household and parenting responsibilities. Thenew parent will help to fill a void.
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Earlier in this review, a study by Jeynes analyzed the data from theNELS. Within that study he also examined the effects of reconstitutedfamilies on adolescent academics. He found that children from thesefamilies performed no better than did children from single-parenthouseholds (Jeynes, June, 1999; Jeynes, 1998). While the addition ofanother person’s income should certainly help a family’s financial situ-ation, it would appear that there are other factors at work besides justdollars. The effect of increased SES is apparently negated by other dy-namics. This may be the result of the psychological distress of living ina home with only one biological parent and having the introduction of astepparent into the home. This can present new stressors: turf issues,loyalty issues between the natural parent and the child, new expecta-tions, and other complications in adjustment. Jeynes points out that insome cases children from single-parent families actually outperformthose from reconstituted families, when it comes to academic achieve-ment.
One final study is mentioned in this section regarding school perfor-mance. In discussing school performance, some researchers reportachievement by examining the scores from standardized achievementtests, while others report school grades. Smith (1995) stated that themethod used makes a difference. He contends that family structure andparental involvement would have a greater effect upon school gradesthan upon standardized achievement. Grades seemed to be more influ-enced by effort, parental availability, and other social factors than stan-dardized scores. He analyzed data from 1,688 seventh and ninth gradersfrom 14 public schools in Columbia, South Carolina. His research re-sults supported his hypothesis. He found that the grades of childrenfrom divorced families were negatively impacted much more than theywere for children from stable intact families. However, the differencesin standardized scores were much smaller. This is an important differ-ence in accurately measuring the effect of divorce on educational per-formance. Using this study as a foundation, this writer’s own researchwill examine school grades as opposed to achievement test scores.
The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship betweenremarriage and the academic achievement of adolescents. This studywill include an examination of the grade point averages (GPAs) of highschool seniors from intact, single-parent, and reconstituted families.The research will also include a review of the attendance of these samestudents. As the results of this study are analyzed, differences will beexamined in relation to student gender and ethnicity.
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This study will test two hypotheses: (1) that the grade point averagesand attendance figures of high school seniors will be found to be lowerfor students from reconstituted and single-parent families than for stu-dents from intact families, and (2) that no differences will be found inGPA or attendance figures between high school seniors from remarriedhouseholds and high school seniors from single-parent households.
METHODS AND DATA SOURCES
Population
The subjects for this study were students drawn from the AcademySchool District located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. This school dis-trict is situated in the northern- most part of the city and is comprised ofpredominately middle-class and upper middle-class families. At thetime of this study, Academy School District consisted of approximately17,500 students. Of this number, nearly one-third were high school stu-dents, representing four schools.
For the purposes of this research, the determination was made to ex-amine data specifically related to high school seniors. There were ap-proximately 1,150 seniors in this district. Attempting to randomlysample students from all four high schools was logistically unwieldy.Therefore, a cluster sampling technique was used instead. One of thefour high schools was selected; Rampart High School, and all of the se-niors from that school were enlisted for this study. This included poten-tially 318 seniors.
However, there were guidelines that eliminated some seniors fromparticipation. Only first semester seniors were allowed as a part of thisstudy. In other words, fifth year seniors, or those who should have grad-uated the previous year, were not included. The obvious reason for thiswas to aid in limiting the age range. Fifth year seniors would be a yearolder than first semester seniors.
Secondly, seniors in the study needed to be taking at least three coreacademic classes during the first semester, but no more than five. Coreacademic classes include those in the English, math, science, socialstudies, or foreign language departments. Taking fewer than threeclasses could lead to an easier academic schedule resulting in a higherGPA than might result from a regular academic load. Conversely, tak-ing a load of greater than five classes could increase academic difficulty
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leading to a lower GPA. Restricting the academic load limited the im-pact that this could have upon results.
Finally, students who are classified as ESL (English as a Second Lan-guage), SPED (Special Education), and foreign exchange were not in-cluded. These populations have special needs and their academics aremore greatly affected by factors beyond those measured here.
Of the 318 seniors enrolled, 265 were eligible for the study basedupon the above criteria.
Instrument
The instrument that was used for gathering independent variable datawas a demographic questionnaire. This tool asked for specific factualinformation concerning the students’ current living situation.
The first three items of the questionnaire asked for the student’s I.D.number, his or her gender, and ethnic origin. The I.D. number was usedinstead of the individual’s name to aid in protecting confidentiality.
Item number four inquired about the size of the participant’s family,particularly the number of children. The following item requested infor-mation regarding each parent’s level of completed education. Thiscould range from less than high school to college completion. Theseitems were included in an attempt to control for other variables thatmight also impact academic achievement.
Family structure was the subject of the next question. Students indi-cated their current family arrangement. This could be a family in whichboth of their natural parents were married (intact family), a sin-gle-mother household, single-father household, joint custody arrange-ment, remarried household, living with neither parent, or other. Thiswas very important, as the hypotheses of this study were based uponfamily structure.
As this study is quasi-experimental (it does not manipulate its sub-jects or even inquire about perceptions) the tool that is used simply gath-ers data that best describes current status.
Family Structure Variables
Using dummy variables, intact family was coded as 0 and other struc-tures as 1.
Families in which the student lived with the natural mother, and therewas no father in the home, are referred to as single-mother families andwere coded as 0 with others as 1.
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Arrangements in which the natural father had primary custodialrights were single-father families and were coded as 0. Those in otherstructures were coded as 1.
In recent years, parents agreeing to a joint-physical custody arrange-ment has become more common. This is one in which the child spendsapproximately equal time living with both parents. Those in a joint-physical custody arrangement were coded 0 with all others coded as 1.
If a student lived with a natural parent who had remarried this was codedwith 0. Students not living in a reconstituted family were coded as 1.
Occasionally, a student will live with neither parent. This could bedue to death of a parent, high conflict, or any number of reasons. Thestudent may be living with a grandparent or other relative, with a friend,or even independently. Living with neither parent was coded 0 with allother arrangements being coded as 1.
The final current family structure variable is labeled as “other.” Thiscould be any living arrangement that is not listed above. It frequently in-dicates that parents are cohabiting and are not married. “Other” wascoded 0 with remaining designations coded 1.
Other Independent Variables
Gender–was coded with the value of 0 for males and 1 for females.This variable allowed for the consideration of differences in scores be-tween females and males.
Ethnicity–white was coded 0 and non-white was coded 1. Hispanicstudents were coded as 0 with non-Hispanics receiving a designation of 1.All other categories reported numbers that were extremely small. There-fore, they were combined into a category simply called ‘other.’ All thosein this group were coded as 0 with all whites and Hispanics coded as 1.This variable allowed for the controlling of ethnicity as a factor in familystructure score differences.
Family Size–to control for the influence of family size, families in whichthe student was an only child were coded as 0, families with 2-3 childrenwere coded as 1, and families of 4 or more children were coded as 2.
Mother’s Level of Education–was coded as 0 if she completed lessthan high school, 1 if she only completed high school, 2 if she attendedsome college, and 3 if she completed college. This variable allowed forthe consideration of differences in scores based upon the mother’s educa-tion.
Father’s Level of Education–was coded as 0 if he completed less thanhigh school, 1 if he only finished high school, 2 if he attended some col-
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lege, and 3 if he completed college. This variable allowed the examina-tion of differences based upon the father’s level of education.
Academic Achievement Dependent Variables
Grade Point Average–This was the average of the grades that were re-ported from the student’s academic core classes for the first semester oftheir senior year. Grades were reported and recorded in January 2001.Numerical values assigned in this school district for high school classesand for this study are on what is referred to as a 5.0 scale. This is a tradi-tional 4.0 scale that adds in weighted grades for more difficult classes. Allof the academic classes at the high school were college preparatoryclasses. However, advanced level classes were also offered. These ad-vanced level classes fell into one of three categories: AP (AdvancedPlacement), Honors (also known as talented and gifted), and IB (Interna-tional Baccalaureate). Therefore, depending on the class, the numericalvalue of the grade could vary. The values for the regular college prepara-tory academic classes were as follows: “A” = 4, “B” = 3, “C” = 2, “D” =1, and “F” = 0. The numerical value for the grades received in the AP,Honors, and IB classes were: “A” = 5, “B” = 4, “C” = 3, “D” = 2, and“F” = 0.
Attendance–Absences were calculated based upon the number of sin-gle-period unexcused absences recorded by the attendance office duringthe first semester of school.
Frequently, when outside influences impact a student’s atten-dance, it can show up as absences only in the morning classes oronly in the afternoon classes. Therefore, measuring single-periodattendance was more accurate than simply recording full-day ab-sences.
Data Gathering Procedures
In the fall semester of the 2000-2001 school year, seniors were giventhe parent information letter along with the parent permission slip re-garding student participation in this study. Following the return of thepermission slips, the demographic questionnaire was administered tothese students. Of the 265 eligible students, 199, or 75.1% completedand returned the questionnaire.
Once the first semester data was compiled by the school staff in Janu-ary of 2001, the grade and attendance data were gathered.
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Data Analysis
In analyzing the data collected, several different statistical methodswere used. First, tables were created for each dependent and independ-ent variable. A chi-square test was then used to determine whether ornot the row categories were independent of the column categories. Sec-ondly, a correlation coefficient was calculated for each independent cat-egory versus each dependent category from the tables. Finally, twolinear regression models were used. The first model simply examinedthe current family structure and its effects on academic achievement.The second model took into account the other independent family vari-ables. In each equation, the dependent variable is predicted by the com-bination of the independent variables.
RESULTS
Chi-square tables were performed examining student GPAs in rela-tion to gender, ethnicity, family size, mother’s level of education, andfather’s level of education. Table 1 shows the results of the only cate-gory reporting any statistical significance. For the purposes of thechi-square test, students’ GPAs were collapsed into the categories asseen below. This was necessary due to the wide range of reported stu-dent GPAs.
In general, females appear to outperform males in the area ofgrades at a significant level.
Chi-square tests were also conducted on tables examining students’attendance in relation to the independent variables mentioned above.
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TABLE 1. GPA and Gender. The Number Below the Count Line is the Percent-age of Students in Each Category. (N = 199)
0-.99 1.00-1.99 2.00-2.99 3.00-3.99 4.00-5.00
Males 4 8 23 39 19
4.30 8.60 24.73 41.94 20.43
Females 0 8 14 46 38
0 7.55 13.21 43.40 35.89
Chi-square = 12.302, DF = 4, P-Value = 0.015.
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While the gender variable approached significance, no statistical signif-icance was found with any of these variables.
In examining the current family structures, the reported numbers inthe categories of ‘joint custody,’ ‘neither parent,’ and ‘other’ were ex-tremely small. Therefore, these categories were discarded, as they wereunlikely to produce any meaningful results. Instead, chi-square testswere performed examining ‘intact,’ ‘single-mother,’ ‘single-father,’and ‘remarried’ families in relation to GPA and attendance.
Table 2 demonstrates that those students from intact families outper-form those students from the single-parent and remarried familiesacross all categories. When chi- square tables were performed on theGPA data, the numbers approached significance for all students (with aP-value of .198), were not significant for males alone, and approachedgreater significance when examining females only (with a P-value of.061).
Similar results were seen in relation to attendance. The chi-squaretest approached significance for all students (P-value .067) no signifi-cance for males only, but a P-value of .045 when examining only fe-males.
The differences in GPA and attendance figures are most significantwhen gender is controlled. Females appear to be more greatly impacted
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TABLE 2. Reports the Mean GPAs and Attendance Figures. Mean GPAsof Current Family Structures for All Students from Intact, Single-Mother,Sin-gle-Father, and Remarried Families and for Males and Females, Separately.The Number of Students Is in Parenthesis. (N-189)
GPA-All GPA-Males GPA-Females
Intact 3.4088 (133) 3.2334 (58) 3.5444 (75)
Single-Mother 2.9056 (27) 2.3780 (10) 3.2159 (17)
Single-Father 2.8836 (11) 2.6688 (8) 3.4567 (3)
Remarried 2.8594 (18) 2.9577 (13) 2.6040 (5)
Attendance-All Attendance-Males Attendance-Females
Intact 5.827 (133) 6.524 (58) 5.280 (75)
Single-Mother 9.370 (27) 13.600 (10) 6.882 (17)
Single-Father 13.000 (11) 14.375 (8) 9.333 (3)
Remarried 10.722 (18) 9.154 (13) 14.800 (5)
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by the difference in family structure, and this is most noticeable in re-constituted families.
Following the chi-square tests, the correlation coefficients for eachindependent variable were calculated in relation to the dependent vari-ables. The results of this are found in Table 3.
These coefficients would appear to indicate significance when GPAis correlated with current family structure, gender, and mother’s educa-tion. The coefficients appear to indicate the two factors that mostgreatly impact students’ attendance are current family structure and eth-nicity. In looking at specific data, the significance of ethnicity appearsto be that ‘Whites’ have fewer absences than do both ‘Hispanics’ and‘Other.’
The multiple regression model 1 examined the current family struc-ture in relation to GPA and attendance. This was used to determine thepredictive value of these independent variables in relation to the stu-dents’ two academic dependent variables. Table 4 notes the importanceof the variables.
This table identifies the current family structure as playing a signifi-cant role in the regression equation for predicting a student’s GPA andattendance. In order to identify which factor was most impacting, a
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TABLE 3. Correlation Coefficients of GPA, Attendance, and Each IndependentVariable. (N = 189)
GPA Attendance
Current Family Structure–Combined �.218** .176*
Intact vs. Non-Intact �.244*** .184*
Single-Mother vs. Non .146* �.075
Single-Father vs. Non .094 �.123
Remarried vs. Non .131 �.098
Gender .166* �.043
White �.096 .167*
Hispanic .042 .012
Other .029 .006
Family Size �.118 .060
Mother’s Education .200** �.091
Father’s Education .060 �.053
*p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001, ****p < .0001
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step-wise regression was performed on each of the current family struc-ture variables. This process found that the most significant factor waswhether or not a student was in an intact family.
The second regression model encompassed the other independentvariables. When first using a step-wise multiple regression formula,only two of the independent variables indicated significance for GPA:current family structure and gender. This can be seen in Table 5. Per-forming the regression formula with all of the independent variables, re-sults in a value of P = .004. After running it again using only the twoindependent variables mentioned, the significance with respect to GPAis even greater with of value of P = .001.
Contained in the same table are the results of the model 2 regressionperformed for attendance in relation to the other independent variable.Again, a step-wise regression was used, which indicated that the onlytwo significant variables in the formula influencing attendance were thecurrent family structure and ethnicity-white. The P value for the model2 formula for attendance is .020. When the regression is conducted
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TABLE 4. Coefficients from Multiple Regression Model 1–Current Family Struc-ture: Specifically Intact, Single-Mother, Single-Father, and Remarried. (N = 189)
GPA Attendance
Current Family Structure �.2197** 2.1183*
*p < .05, **p < .01
TABLE 5. Coefficients from Multiple Regression Model 2–Current FamilyStructure, Gender, Ethnicity, Family Size, Mother’s Level of Education, andFather’s Level of Education. (N = 169)
GPA Attendance
Current Family Structure �0.1562* 1.9590*
Gender 0.3327* �1.910
Mother’s Education 0.1614 .178
Family Size �0.1448 .332
Ethnicity–White �0.0321 2.0042**
Father’s Education �0.0104 .008
*p < .05, **p < .01,
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again using only the two variables mentioned, the result indicates evengreater significance of predictability with P = .001.
Results from the above analyses would suggest support for the firsthypothesis. The chi-square tables demonstrate that aside from the sig-nificant impact of gender, the family structure is next in importance inaddressing GPA and attendance. Adolescents from intact families out-performed students from either ‘single-parent’ families, 17.6% higher,or from ‘remarried’ families, 19.2%, in relation to GPA. Even when thecurrent family structure and GPAs were examined by gender, thosefrom intact families outscored students from the other two family struc-tures by percentages ranging from 9.3-28.9%.
Attendance data also supported this hypothesis. Students from sin-gle-parent families missed an average of 78.8% more class periods thanstudents from intact families. For those from reconstituted householdsthe number increased slightly to 84%. Again, when examined by gen-der, students from intact families continued to have fewer absences incomparison to the other two categories, ranging from 40% to 180%.
The correlation coefficients also support the significance that familystructure seems to have on student’s GPA and attendance. Gender, eth-nicity, and mother’s education are possible influences as well.
Family structure and gender again appear to strongly influence GPAwhen examined using the two regression formulas. Both the formulawith only the family of origin structures as well as the formula includingthe other independent variables seem to be meaningful predictors of stu-dents’ academic GPA. The regression also supports better predictivevalue for females in relation to GPA than for males.
The step-wise regression formula suggests that current family struc-ture and ethnicity were the two most significant independent variablesrelating to attendance. Both the model 1 and model 2 regressions in-cluding the other independent variables indicate that these factors weresignificant in predicting student absences. However, when examinedspecifically in relation to ethnicity, apparently membership in a groupother than ‘white’ greatly reduces the formula’s predictive value.
However, the above data does not indicate support for the second hy-pothesis. The expectation was that students from reconstituted familieswould show no significant differences in GPA or attendance from stu-dents in single-parent families. However, this was only partially thecase. Table 2 reported the mean GPAs of the students. Even when thesingle-mother and single-father categories are combined, the resultingGPA of 2.8992 is only slightly higher than the remarried category,which reported 2.8594. Yet, differences reported between genders are
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significant, but confusing. When examining males, students from re-married families have significantly higher GPAs, 17.9%, than studentsfrom single-parent families. A Chi-Square test results in a P value of.000. When females are examined, the results are completely reversed,with those from single-parent families having a 24.9% higher GPA, alsoresulting in P value of .000.
Attendance figures offered a similar picture. When the two sin-gle-parent categories are combined, the mean number of single-periodabsences is 10.421. This is close in number to the students from remar-ried household’s mean number of 10.722. However, again, when sepa-rated by gender, the numbers are dramatic. Males in single-parenthouseholds experience significantly greater absences, 52.3%, thanmales in reconstituted families. For females, the numbers are again re-versed, with those from remarried households experiencing a 104% in-crease in single-period absences over those from single-parent families.
This contradiction seems to indicate that it is more beneficial tomales when there is a second parent in the household, even if it is not thebiological one. On the other hand, females appear to perform betterwhen they reside with a single-parent. When a step-parent is in the fam-ily, indications are that the female does not perform nearly as well.
DISCUSSION
Research results suggest that current family structure plays a signifi-cant part in adolescents’ grades and attendance. The findings supportthe hypotheses that adolescents from intact homes perform better aca-demically and maintain better school attendance than do those studentsfrom either single-parent or remarried homes. In conducting the statisti-cal measures, the one factor that consistently showed significance wasfamily structure. Students from intact families outperformed studentsfrom the other family structures with GPAs in excess of 17% higher.Similarly, when examining single-period unexcused absences, the highschool seniors from non-intact households missed over 78% more classperiods than did those from intact families.
Findings from this research which suggest that family structure canbe a contributing factor to a student’s academic performance, provideadditional support to the earlier reported studies of Frum (1996), Jeynes(1997), Pong and Ju (2000), as well as Gunning (1998). Those studentsresiding with their two biological parents appear to be given an in-
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creased chance to excel educationally over those students from anyother measured family structure.
Controlling for other variables produced some interesting results.The multiple regression model suggested that a mother’s level of educa-tion might be a predictive factor in a student’s GPA. Yet, the chi-squaretable indicated that the numbers might be too small to actually be mean-ingful.
Demo and Acock (1996) discussed the relationship of the mother’swell-being and her child’s academic success. This current study impliesa possible similar connection. There appears to be some correlation be-tween a mother’s level of education and the education of her adolescent.The further she has progressed in her own formal education, the betterher student seems to perform, supporting the findings of Garasky(1995). However, it is interesting to note that the same results were notfound when examining the father’s level of education. This is in con-trast to the findings of those who discovered a more pronounced effectwhen the father’s level of education was examined in relation to theirstudent’s own level of attainment (Berends, Grissmer, Kirby, & Wil-liamson, 1999). One possible explanation for this result is that the moth-ers of the students in this study came with a broader range of levels ofacademic achievement. While almost all of the mothers had completedhigh school, only about a quarter of them attended some college and alittle less than half finished college. It was more difficult to find thiskind of variance in order to measure impact with the fathers. Approxi-mately 85% of the fathers attended college with nearly 70% graduating.This is not surprising when it is considered that the students in this highschool come from an upper middle class community. A less affluentarea quite possibly would have presented a greater variety of data alongwith more pronounced results. Thus a mother’s level of education isworthy of future investigation.
Controlling for gender produced some surprising trends. Consistentwith the work of Neighbors, Forehand, and Armistead (1992), thisstudy found that males from non-intact families had lower GPAs thanmales from intact families. The same results were found in relation tofemales.
However, the most confusing results were in relation to males and fe-males in single-parent versus remarried households. With males and fe-males combined, this study found that children in remarried householdsperformed no better than children in either single-mother or single-fa-ther families. This is consistent with the work of Jeynes (1998, and1999). Yet, when separated out by gender, the results were vastly differ-
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ent. The results would suggest that when a stepparent is brought into thehome, the males somehow benefit from the influence of this additionaladult. Most children from divorced families live in a single-motherhousehold prior to remarriage (Furr, 1998 and Garis, 1998). This wouldimply that in most cases a stepfather joins the family unit. This addi-tional male figure appears to bolster the performance of the male stu-dent. This is possibly the result of several factors. Czarnecki (1995)states that boys are prone to more externalizing behavior than are girls.If this is the case, another adult figure, another role model, another per-son to assist in monitoring and discipline, may be exactly what the malestudent needs to stay on track. Yet, the needs may be quite different forthe female student.
Males appear to have a closer relationship with their dads than girlsdo in most circumstances (Neighbors et al., 1992). Booth (1996) dis-covered that following a divorce the father’s affection for his children isdiminished. One suggestion is that since the father and son may possessa stronger initial connection, even following a divorce, they are in abetter position to continue a relationship or at least have something tobuild upon. If the daughters have a weaker relationship with their fa-thers before the parents separate, the diminished attachment followingdivorce may be all that is needed to completely distance the two individ-uals.
Most therapists recognize the importance of the father-daughter con-nection. Young women derive a significant degree of their self-esteemfrom their relationship with their father (Coley, 1998). If a daughterfeels that she has lost this important relationship, a new male figurebrought into the family may only intensify the loss. Developing trust inthis man may be difficult, as she has been hurt or felt abandoned before.She also tends to have greater internalized needs that this new male maynot be adept at addressing. This being the case, a new stepfather mightonly complicate emotional matters for this young woman. Therefore,she may continue to perform much better academically and emotion-ally, if her mother just remains single. Possibly that the daughter findsthis arrangement to be safer, more predictable, and more comfortable. Itseems logical that in this situation females might experience greater ac-ademic success.
Since one of the most significant findings of this study is related tothis increased impact that family structure appears to have on femalesover males, this would be an important result to replicate as well as toexamine further. Working to discover more specific reasons for the dif-
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ference in impact could help further efforts to reduce the negative con-sequences for these young women.
Another possibility for future study would be to conduct a longitudi-nal study with high school students. This might provide even more valu-able and accurate information. The data gathered for this study wasproduced over the period of one semester. For those students who haveresided in family structures other than intact, following them throughtheir entire four years of high school would have been interesting. Bydoing so, one could observe both processing patterns as well as morecumulating effects.
The ethnic breakdown and socio-economic status of the majority ofstudents in this school district were fairly constant. Therefore, the find-ings of this study could be appropriately generalized to other seniorswithin this district as well as applied to students of schools in other loca-tions with similar ethnic and socio-economic make-up. However, theywould not necessarily be reflective of students in other locations with agreater variety of demographics.
One final suggestion is that additional study be conducted regardingwhat is working to reduce the negative impact of divorce and remar-riage on students in this country. Any program that can help to reducenegative impact on children is worthy of research.
Naturally, if successful methods were found to help families in crisis,it would be necessary to validate their success and then make themavailable to people on a widespread basis. The ultimate goal should notbe just to do research for the sake of scholarly achievement. It should befor the purpose of helping to better lives of both children and their par-ents.
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Berends, Mark, Grissmer, David W., Kirby, Sheila, Nataraj, & Williamson, Stephanie(1999). The changing American family and student achievement trends. Researchin Sociology of Education and Socialization, 12, 67-101.
Coley, Rebekah Levine (1998, Feb.). Children’s socialization experiences and func-tioning in single-mother households: The importance of fathers and other men.Child Development, 69 (1), 219-230.
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Czarnecki, Craig A. (1995). Relationship of age, time since parental separation, and re-marriage with academic adjustment in children. (Hofstra University). DissertationAbstracts International, 57-02A.
Demo, David, H., & Acock, Alan C. (1996). Family structure, family process, and ado-lescent well-being. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 6 (4), 457-488.
Frum, David (1996, Feb.). The social cost of single parenthood. Reader’s Digest, Cana-dian Edition, 148 (886), 29-30.
Furr, L. Allen (1998, Fall). Father’s characteristics and their children’s scores on col-lege entrance exams: A comparison of intact and divorced families. Adolescence, 33(131), 533-542.
Furstenberg, Frank, F. Jr. (Spring, 1994). History and current status of divorce in theUnited States. The Future of Children, 4 (1), 29-41.
Garasky, Steven (1995, Jan.). The effects of family structure on educational attain-ment: Do the effects vary by the age of the child? American Journal of Economics &Sociology, 54 (1), 89-105.
Garis, Dalton (1998, Dec.). Poverty, single-parent households, and youth at-risk be-havior: An empirical study. Journal of Economic Issues, 32 (4), 1079-1105.
Gunning, Carryl (1998). Academic achievement in adolescents of divorce: A study ofstudent performance in an eighth grade science curriculum. Unpublished master’sthesis, Miami University, Oxford, OH.
Hetherington, E. Mavis, & Stanley-Hagan, Margaret (1999, Jan.). The adjustment ofchildren with divorced parents: A risk and resiliency perspective. Journal of ChildPsychology & Psychiatry & Allied Disciplines, 40 (1), 129-140.
Jeynes, William Hettich (1997, March). Assessing socio-economic theory’s explanationfor the effects of divorce and remarriage on academic achievement. Unpublisheddoctoral dissertation, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL.
Jeynes, William H. (1998). Does divorce or remarriage have the greater negative im-pact on the academic achievement of children? Journal of Divorce & Remarriage,29 (1/2), 79-101.
Jeynes, William H. (1999). Effects of remarriage following divorce on the academicachievement of children. Journal of Youth & Adolescence, 28 (3), 385-393.
Lamb, Michael E., Sternberg, Kathleen J,. & Thompson, Ross A. (1997, Oct.). The ef-fects of divorce and custody arrangements on children’s behavior, development,and adjustment. Family & Conciliation Courts Review, 35 (4), 393-404.
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critical stressor for young adolescents? Grade point average as a case in point. Ado-lescence, 27 (107), 639-646.
Pong, Suet-Ling, & Ju, Dong-Beom (2000, March). The effects of change in familystructure and income on dropping out of middle and high school. Journal of FamilyIssues, 21 (2), 147-169.
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