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Author: Pollitt, Amanda
Resulting in 3 citations.
1. Johnston, Carol A.
Crosnoe, Robert
Mernitz, Sara E.
Pollitt, Amanda
Two Methods for Studying the Developmental Significance of Family Structure Trajectories
Journal of Marriage and Family published online (4 December 2019): DOI: 10.1111/jomf.12639.
Also: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jomf.12639
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79 Young Adult
Publisher: Blackwell Publishing, Inc. => Wiley Online
Keyword(s): Alcohol Use; Family Structure; Methods/Methodology; Modeling, Latent Class Analysis/Latent Transition Analysis

Objective: The objective of this research note is to use both sequence analysis (SA) and repeated‐measures latent class analysis (LCA) to identify children's family structure trajectories from birth through age 15 and compare how the two sets of trajectories predict alcohol use across the transition from adolescence into young adulthood.

Method: The authors used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth-Child and Youth Cohort (N = 11,515) to identify clusters (using SA) and classes (using repeated‐measures LCA) that represented children's family structure trajectories from birth through age 15. Using two multiple‐group random slope models, the authors predicted alcohol use across adolescence and young adulthood (ages 16-24) among the clusters (Model 1) and classes (Model 2).

Results: The SA identified five clusters, but the LCA further differentiated the sample with more detail on timing and identified eight classes. The sensitivity to timing in the LCA solution was substantively relevant to alcohol use across the transition to young adulthood.

Bibliography Citation
Johnston, Carol A., Robert Crosnoe, Sara E. Mernitz and Amanda Pollitt. "Two Methods for Studying the Developmental Significance of Family Structure Trajectories." Journal of Marriage and Family published online (4 December 2019): DOI: 10.1111/jomf.12639.
2. Mernitz, Sara E.
Pollitt, Amanda
Same-Sex Union Formation During the Transition to Adulthood
Presented: Denver CO, Population Association of America Annual Meeting, April 2018
Cohort(s): NLSY97
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): Cohabitation; Gender; Marriage; Transition, Adulthood

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

Romantic unions (i.e., cohabitation and marriage) during the transition to adulthood are critical for young adult development, yet little is known about same-sex unions. Evidence on sexual minority youth suggests that youth commonly form both different- and same-sex relationships but it is unclear if similar patterns occur in romantic unions. We used the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 to identify young adults who formed same-sex unions and predicted timing to entrance into a first union and demographic and socioeconomic predictors of this timing. We found that, among young adults who ever form a same-sex union, women who first enter different-sex unions enter these unions faster than men who first form different-sex unions and women and men who first form same-sex unions. Women who first form same-sex unions were slowest to form unions. Demographic and socioeconomic differences in timing to first union, whether same- or different-sex, were concentrated among men.
Bibliography Citation
Mernitz, Sara E. and Amanda Pollitt. "Same-Sex Union Formation During the Transition to Adulthood." Presented: Denver CO, Population Association of America Annual Meeting, April 2018.
3. Pollitt, Amanda
Mernitz, Sara E.
The Influence of Religiosity on Alcohol Use Among Sexual Minority Youth in Same- and Different-Sex Unions
Presented: Denver CO, Population Association of America Annual Meeting, April 2018
Cohort(s): NLSY97
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): Alcohol Use; Cohabitation; Discrimination, Sexual Orientation; Religious Influences; Unions

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

Sexual minority youth and young adults (SMY) are at higher risk for alcohol misuse compared to heterosexual youth. Stigma-based stressors, such as discrimination and internalized homophobia, potentially explain these alcohol use disparities. Sexual minority status is particularly visible when SMY are in same-sex unions and SMY may enter different-sex unions to reduce stigma at the expense of their health and wellbeing. Religious SMY may be most at-risk for minority stressors as they face additional pressure from religious communities, increasing their risk for heavy alcohol use. We use the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 to examine how religiosity moderates binge drinking among SMY in same- and different-sex unions. Results show few differences in binge drinking between SMY in same- and different-sex unions at low levels of religiosity. At high levels of religiosity, women and men in different-sex unions had reported increased binge drinking, suggesting negative stigma experiences among religious SMY.
Bibliography Citation
Pollitt, Amanda and Sara E. Mernitz. "The Influence of Religiosity on Alcohol Use Among Sexual Minority Youth in Same- and Different-Sex Unions." Presented: Denver CO, Population Association of America Annual Meeting, April 2018.