Search Results

Author: Thomeer, Mieke Beth
Resulting in 10 citations.
1. Reczek, Rin
Stacey, Lawrence
Thomeer, Mieke Beth
Parent-Adult Child Estrangement in the United States by Gender, Race/Ethnicity, and Sexuality
Journal of Marriage and Family published online (1 December 2022): DOI: 10.1111/jomf.12898.
Also: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jomf.12898
Cohort(s): NLSY79, NLSY79 Young Adult
Publisher: Blackwell Publishing, Inc. => Wiley Online
Keyword(s): Gender; Parent-Child Relationship/Closeness; Racial Differences; Sexual Identity

Objective: To provide nationally representative estimates of parent-adult child estrangement.

Background: Population-level research on parent-adult child estrangement is needed to understand the full range of family dynamics in the U.S.

Methods: We estimate logistic regression models using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 and accompanying Child and Young Adult supplement to determine estimates of estrangement (and subsequent unestrangement) from mothers (N = 8495) and fathers (N = 8119) by children's gender, race/ethnicity, and sexuality. We then estimate hazards of first estrangement from mothers (N = 7919) and fathers (N = 6410), adjusting for adult child's and parents' social and economic characteristics.

Results: Six percent of respondents report a period of estrangement from mothers, with an average age of first maternal estrangement of 26 years old; 26% of respondents report estrangement from fathers, with an average age of first paternal estrangement of 23 years old. Results further show heterogeneity by gender, race/ethnicity, and sexuality; for example, daughters are less likely to be estranged from their mothers than are sons, Black adult children are less likely than White adult children to be estranged from their mothers but more likely to be estranged from fathers, and gay, lesbian, and bisexual adult children are more likely than heterosexuals to be estranged from fathers. The majority of estranged adult children become unestranged from mothers (81%) and fathers (69%) in subsequent waves.

Bibliography Citation
Reczek, Rin, Lawrence Stacey and Mieke Beth Thomeer. "Parent-Adult Child Estrangement in the United States by Gender, Race/Ethnicity, and Sexuality." Journal of Marriage and Family published online (1 December 2022): DOI: 10.1111/jomf.12898.
2. Thomeer, Mieke Beth
Brantley, Mia
Reczek, Rin
Cumulative Disadvantage or Strained Advantage? Remote Schooling, Paid Work Status, and Parental Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic
American Sociological Association published online (26 February 2024).
Also: https://doi.org/10.1177/00221465241230505
Cohort(s): NLSY97
Publisher: American Sociological Association
Keyword(s): COVID-19/Coronavirus Pandemic; Depression (see also CESD); Health Disparities; Health Outcomes; Health, Mental/Psychological; Job Separation/Loss; Parenthood; Parents, Single; Race/Ethnicity; Schooling/Education, Remote; Unemployment; Work Disruption

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

During the COVID-19 pandemic, parents experienced difficulties around employment and children’s schooling, likely with detrimental mental health implications. We analyze National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 data (N = 2,829) to estimate depressive symptom changes from 2019 to 2021 by paid work status and children’s schooling modality, considering partnership status, gender, and race-ethnicity differences. We draw on cumulative disadvantage theory alongside strained advantage theory to test whether mental health declines were steeper for parents with more disadvantaged statuses or for parents with more advantaged statuses. Parents with work disruptions, without paid work, or with children in remote school experienced the greatest increases in depressive symptoms, with steepest increases among single parents without paid work and single parents with children in remote school (cumulative disadvantage), fathers without paid work (strained advantage), and White parents with remote school (strained advantage). We discuss the uneven impacts of the pandemic on mental health and implications for long-term health disparities.
Bibliography Citation
Thomeer, Mieke Beth, Mia Brantley and Rin Reczek. "Cumulative Disadvantage or Strained Advantage? Remote Schooling, Paid Work Status, and Parental Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic." American Sociological Association published online (26 February 2024).
3. Thomeer, Mieke Beth
Reczek, Corinne
Intergenerational Coresidential Patterns by Young Adult's and Their Mother's Mental Health and Substance Use
Journal of Family Issues 41,9 (September 2020): 1498-1524.
Also: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0192513X19894348
Cohort(s): NLSY79, NLSY79 Young Adult
Publisher: Sage Publications
Keyword(s): Alcohol Use; Coresidence; Depression (see also CESD); Residence, Return to Parental Home/Delayed Homeleaving; Smoking (see Cigarette Use)

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

Intergenerational coresidence is at a 30-year high. Studies find that economic, familial, and demographic factors shape the likelihood of this arrangement. We use NLSY79 and NLSY79YA data (2000-2014; N = 3,092) to examine how the mental health and substance use of both adult children and their mothers matter for coresidential biographies, estimating risks of moving out of and returning to their mothers' households. Adult children who drink, smoke, or have more depressive symptoms, or whose mothers drink or smoke, are more likely to leave their mother's household; adult children with more depressive symptoms and who smoke are more likely to return. Our findings show that children's and mothers' health are key determinants of coresidential patterns, suggesting that it is not just family arrangements that impact health but health that impacts family arrangements. As intergenerational coresidence increases, researchers should continue to look beyond economic, familial, and demographic determinants of coresidence to health dynamics.
Bibliography Citation
Thomeer, Mieke Beth and Corinne Reczek. "Intergenerational Coresidential Patterns by Young Adult's and Their Mother's Mental Health and Substance Use." Journal of Family Issues 41,9 (September 2020): 1498-1524.
4. Thomeer, Mieke Beth
Reczek, Rin
Life Course Patterns and Predictors of the Relationship Between Adult Children and Their Mothers
Innovation in Aging 7,IS1 (21 December 2023): 567.
Also: https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igad104.1858
Cohort(s): NLSY79, NLSY79 Young Adult
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Keyword(s): Childbearing; Children; Children, Home Environment; Family History; Family Studies; Life Course; Motherhood; Mothers; Parent-Child Interaction; Parent-Child Relationship/Closeness

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

Studies demonstrate that the content and quality of the parent-child tie is highly variable across the life course and that multiple social factors predict different aspects of that relationship. Separate research shows that childbirth experiences (e.g., age at birth) matter for the well-being of both the mother and child. However, limited research considers how the mother’s childbearing history is associated with adult child relationships at mid-life and beyond—namely contact and emotional closeness. We use Sequence Analysis on two linked datasets—the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79) and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-Young Adults (NLSY79YA) (N=1,953) to identify life course patterns of closeness and contact between adult children and their mothers. We identify six unique sequences: (1) mixed quality/contact (9.9%), (2) distant (10.0%), (3) close with decreasing contact (13.2%), (4) increasing emotional closeness with high contact (16.4%), (5) mostly close with high contact (23.2%), and (6) always close with high contact (27.3%). We use regression analysis to estimate how different aspects of the childbearing biography are associated with each category. Relationships characterized by “always close with high contact” were associated with more siblings/childbirths and older age at birth. Relationships associated with “emotionally distance” were associated with births characterized as “mistimed,” being a middle or older child, and younger age at birth. Future analysis will consider selection factors such as family histories. This project demonstrates the need for life course perspectives on the child-mother relationship, recognizing the role of childbearing histories and the important diversity within and between individuals.
Bibliography Citation
Thomeer, Mieke Beth and Rin Reczek. "Life Course Patterns and Predictors of the Relationship Between Adult Children and Their Mothers." Innovation in Aging 7,IS1 (21 December 2023): 567.
5. Thomeer, Mieke Beth
Reczek, Rin
Ross, Clifford
Childbearing Biographies and Midlife Women's Health
Journal of Aging and Health published online (3 February 2022): DOI: 10.1177/08982643211070136.
Also: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/08982643211070136
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Sage Publications
Keyword(s): Age at First Birth; Births, Repeat / Spacing; Childbearing; Family Size; Health/Health Status/SF-12 Scale; Modeling, Latent Class Analysis/Latent Transition Analysis; Socioeconomic Status (SES)

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

Objectives: We introduce a "childbearing biography" approach to show how multiple childbearing characteristics cluster in ways significant for midlife health.

Methods: We analyze the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79; N = 3992) using mixed-mode Latent Class Analysis with eight childbearing variables (e.g., age at first birth, parity, birth spacing, and mistimed births) to identify how childbearing biographies are associated with midlife health, adjusting for key covariates--including socioeconomic status (SES) and relationship history.

Results: We identify six childbearing biographies: (1) early compressed, (2) staggered, (3) extended high parity, (4) later, (5) married planned, and (6) childfree. Childbearing biographies are strongly associated with physical health but not mental health, with differences primarily explained by SES.

Bibliography Citation
Thomeer, Mieke Beth, Rin Reczek and Clifford Ross. "Childbearing Biographies and Midlife Women's Health." Journal of Aging and Health published online (3 February 2022): DOI: 10.1177/08982643211070136.
6. Thomeer, Mieke Beth
Reczek, Rin
Ross, Clifford
Bijou, Christina
Sequencing of Births by Wantedness: Implications for Changes in Mid-Life Health Among Aging NLSY79 Women
Journal of Gerontology Series B 78, 11 (November 2023): 1881-1891.
Also: https://academic.oup.com/psychsocgerontology/article/78/11/1881/7234546?login=true
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Gerontological Society of America
Keyword(s): Age at Birth; Birth Preferences/Birth Expectations; Birth, Unwanted; Births, Repeat / Spacing; Childbearing; Childbearing, Adolescent; Demography; Health Disparities; Life Course; Mothers, Adolescent; Pregnancy, Adolescent; Pregnancy, Unwanted; Womens Health

Objectives: As life course frameworks highlight and gerontological studies confirm, the health implications of early birth timing (e.g., adolescent births) and unplanned births (e.g., unwanted or mistimed births) extend years after those births into mid and later life. Yet past research often overlooks the considerable diversity in sequencing and timing of unplanned births even within the same individual (e.g., having both wanted and unwanted births), which are likely fundamental for women's long-term health trajectories. We develop a holistic understanding of birth timing and wantedness to provide insight into when and how childbearing histories matter for aging women's health.

Methods: We use sequence analysis with hierarchical cluster method and estimate regression models using the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (N = 3,231) to examine how timing and patterning of births by wantedness are associated with changes in physical and mental health from ages 40 to 50.

Results: We identify 7 clusters of childbearing sequences. Of those 7 clusters, respondents with sequences characterized by wanted births in their 20s and 30s had the smallest declines in health in mid-life, whereas respondents with sequences with mainly unwanted births at any age or with mainly mistimed births beginning in adolescence had the greatest health declines. Adjusting for social and economic variables accounted for some, but not all, health differences across childbearing clusters.

Discussion: This project demonstrates the need for comprehensive life course perspectives on long-term health implications of birth wantedness and timing, recognizing diversity within and between individuals.

Bibliography Citation
Thomeer, Mieke Beth, Rin Reczek, Clifford Ross and Christina Bijou. "Sequencing of Births by Wantedness: Implications for Changes in Mid-Life Health Among Aging NLSY79 Women." Journal of Gerontology Series B 78, 11 (November 2023): 1881-1891.
7. Thomeer, Mieke Beth
Reczek, Rin
Stacey, Lawrence
Childbearing Biographies as a Method to Examine Diversity and Clustering of Childbearing Experiences: A Research Brief
Population Research and Policy Review published online (18 January 2022): DOI: 10.1007/s11113-022-09699-2.
Also: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11113-022-09699-2
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Springer
Keyword(s): Age at First Birth; Childbearing; Childbearing, Premarital/Nonmarital; Family Size; Heterogeneity; Marital Status

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

Due to increasing heterogeneity in if, when, and under what conditions women have children, the timing, spacing, and other demographic aspects of childbearing have drastically changed in the US over the past century. Existing science tends to examine demographic aspects of childbearing separately, creating an incomplete understanding of how childbearing patterns are distributed at the population level. In this research brief, we develop the concept of childbearing biographies to emphasize that multiple childbearing characteristics cluster together. We analyze nationally representative US data from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79; N = 4052). Using eight childbearing variables (e.g., age at first birth, number of children, whether unmarried at any birth), we use Mixed-Mode Latent Class Analysis (MM-LCA) and identify five classes, or childbearing biographies: (1) early compressed childbearing, (2) staggered childbearing, (3) extended high-parity childbearing, (4) later childbearing, and (5) married planned childbearing. A childbearing biography approach highlights the increasingly heterogeneous contexts of parenthood today, showing how women with similar characteristics around one aspect of childbearing (e.g., early age at first birth) can also be highly divergent from each other when taking into consideration other childbearing characteristics. In showing this complexity, we highlight that a childbearing biography approach has the potential to shed new light on widening inequality among contemporary midlife women, with implications for aging and population health and well-being.
Bibliography Citation
Thomeer, Mieke Beth, Rin Reczek and Lawrence Stacey. "Childbearing Biographies as a Method to Examine Diversity and Clustering of Childbearing Experiences: A Research Brief." Population Research and Policy Review published online (18 January 2022): DOI: 10.1007/s11113-022-09699-2.
8. Thomeer, Mieke Beth
Ross, Clifford
Reczek, Rin
Hossain, Monir
Women's Childbearing Histories and Their Alcohol Use at Midlife
Journal of Woman and Aging published online (09 October 2023).
Also: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08952841.2023.2266961
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Haworth Press, Inc.
Keyword(s): Alcohol Use; Births, Repeat / Spacing; Childbearing; Latent Class Analysis; Women; Women at Mid-Life

There has been increased alcohol use among mid-life women in recent decades. Given the association between alcohol use and childbearing earlier in life and the centrality of childbearing for other aspects of mid-life women's health, we examined how multiple components of childbearing histories were associated with mid-life alcohol use. Our analysis included 3,826 women from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79). We estimated how nine components of childbearing were associated with women's alcohol use at age 50. We investigated these components independently and also created six childbearing profiles using Mixed-Mode Latent Class Analysis (MM-LCA). The most alcohol was consumed by women without any childbirths, with older ages at first birth, with low parity, and with the same or fewer births than expected. Women with older ages at first and last birth and more childbirths were less likely to abstain from alcohol compared to women with younger ages at first and last birth and fewer childbirths. Our MM-LCA demonstrated that women with multiple childbirths over a long period of time consumed the least alcohol compared to other groups. Binge drinking at mid-life was generally not associated with childbearing histories in our models. In summary, childbearing histories mattered for women's drinking behaviors at mid-life. Given that an increasing number of women do not have children, the age at first birth continues to trend older, and parity is decreasing, we may expect mid-life women's alcohol use to continue to increase in line with these observed fertility trends.
Bibliography Citation
Thomeer, Mieke Beth, Clifford Ross, Rin Reczek and Monir Hossain. "Women's Childbearing Histories and Their Alcohol Use at Midlife." Journal of Woman and Aging published online (09 October 2023).
9. Wolfe, Joseph D.
Thomeer, Mieke Beth
Divorce, Economic Resources, and Survival among Older Black and White Women
Journal of Marriage and Family 83,1 (February 2021): 173-190.
Also: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jomf.12702
Cohort(s): Mature Women
Publisher: Blackwell Publishing, Inc. => Wiley Online
Keyword(s): Divorce; Economic Well-Being; Home Ownership; Mortality; Net Worth; Racial Differences

Objective: This study identifies which midlife economic resources reduce the association between divorce and mortality risk among older Black and White women.

Method: Fractional logistic regression and Gompertz proportional hazards models were estimated with data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Mature Women (N = 4,668; nlsinfo.org) to examine the associations between divorce, economic resources, and mortality among older Black and White women (born 1923-1937).

Results: Divorced White women had significantly less housing and financial wealth than their continuously married counterparts, and both Black and White divorcees had less vehicle wealth and higher probabilities of indebtedness. With respect to survival, net worth and housing wealth accounted for the largest reductions in marital and racial differences in survival.

Bibliography Citation
Wolfe, Joseph D. and Mieke Beth Thomeer. "Divorce, Economic Resources, and Survival among Older Black and White Women." Journal of Marriage and Family 83,1 (February 2021): 173-190.
10. Wolfe, Joseph D.
Thomeer, Mieke Beth
Bauldry, Shawn
Twentieth Century Change in the Educational Costs of Adolescent Childbearing
American Journal of Sociology published online (2023).
Also: https://doi.org/10.1086/729819
Cohort(s): Mature Women, NLSY79, NLSY97, Young Women
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Keyword(s): Childbearing, Adolescent; Education; Educational Attainment; Educational Costs; Millennials; Schooling; Women

Although studies observe heterogeneity in the effects of adolescent childbearing on schooling, we currently know little about when this pattern emerged or how it changed across cohorts of women who lived in distinct periods of U.S. history. This article identifies the potential origins of effect heterogeneity in the educational costs of adolescent childbearing and extends recent advances in causal inference to detect group differences in heterogeneity. The analysis applies this approach to four cohorts of women from the National Longitudinal Surveys (NLS) who entered adolescence before, during, and after expansive economic, demographic, and cultural change in the twentieth century. Results suggest that the educational costs of adolescent childbearing, as well as heterogeneity in those costs, increased for women in the latter half of the twentieth century, especially for Millennial women born 1980 to 1984. We conclude that midcentury social changes fundamentally altered the educational costs of adolescent childbearing for women.
Bibliography Citation
Wolfe, Joseph D., Mieke Beth Thomeer and Shawn Bauldry. "Twentieth Century Change in the Educational Costs of Adolescent Childbearing." American Journal of Sociology published online (2023).