The Relationship Context of Early Transitions to Parenthood: The Influence of Arrest.

In the U.S., many young adults who have had contact with the criminal justice system are parents. Using the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (n = 1321), we drew on family demography and criminology literatures to examine the association between arrest, an understudied indicator of contact with the criminal justice system, and transitions to early parenthood. We also distinguished transitions to parenthood that occurred within four different relationship contexts: (1) single; (2) dating; (3) cohabiting; and (4) married. Using event history analyses, we found that young men and women who experienced an arrest transitioned to parenthood earlier than their counterparts who were not arrested. Further, men with an arrest, compared to men who had not been arrested, were more likely to report that they were dating the biological mother of their first child around the time of birth. In contrast, women with an arrest had an increased likelihood of having their first birth while cohabiting with the biological father. Our results highlighted the importance of a prior arrest for early transitions to parenthood and are relevant for understanding the intergenerational transmission of disadvantage and the diverging destinies of children and parents. Furthermore, the gender differences in the results illustrated the importance of including women in criminal justice analyses and men in fertility analyses.

Measuring Cohabitation in U.S. National Surveys.

Cohabitation is one of the fastest growing family forms in the United States. It is widespread and continues to increase but has not been consistently measured across surveys. It is important to track the quality of data on cohabitation because it has implications for research on the correlates and consequences of cohabitation for adults and children. Recent rounds of the Current Population Survey (CPS), National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY-97), and National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) provide an opportunity to contrast estimates of cohabitation status and experience using nationally representative data sets and assess the quality of data on cohabitation in these data sets. Results demonstrated that the surveys provide similar estimates of current cohabitation status, except the CPS resulted in lower estimates. In terms of cohabitation experience (i.e., having ever cohabited), Add Health produced higher estimates, whereas both the NSFG and NLSY-97 produced lower estimates. We documented a strong education gradient across all surveys, with lower levels of current cohabitation and cohabitating experience and with increases in educational attainment. Racial/ethnic differences in cohabitation were inconsistent across surveys. We discuss aspects of sampling and measurement that potentially explain differences in estimates. Our findings have implications not only for survey design but also for the interpretation of results based on these four national surveys.

The Qualities of Same-Sex and Different-Sex Couples in Young Adulthood.

OBJECTIVE: Recognition of sexual minorities in social science research is growing and this study contributes to knowledge on this population by comparing the qualities of same-sex and different-sex relationships among young adults. BACKGROUND: The findings of studies on this topic cannot be generalized to young adults because they are limited to coresidential unions and based on convenience samples. This study extends prior research by examining multiple relationship qualities among a nationally-representative sample of males and females in "dating" and cohabiting relationships. METHOD: The authors compare young adults in same-sex and different-sex relationships with respect to relationship quality (commitment, satisfaction, and emotional intimacy) and sexual behavior (sexual frequency and sexual exclusivity). Drawing on the fourth wave of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (http://www.cpc.unc.edu/projects/addhealth), they use multiple regression to compare: male respondents with different-sex partners, male respondents with same-sex partners, female respondents with different-sex partners, and female respondents with same-sex partners. RESULTS: Consistent with previous research, the authors find that respondents in same-sex relationships experience similar levels of commitment, satisfaction, and emotional intimacy as their counterparts in different-sex relationships. They also corroborate the finding that male respondents in same-sex relationships are less likely than other groups of respondents to indicate their relationship is sexually exclusive. CONCLUSION: This study provides an empirical basis for understanding the relationships of sexual minority young adults.

Gender and the Stability of Same-Sex and Different-Sex Relationships Among Young Adults.

Most research on the stability of adult relationships has focused on coresidential (cohabiting or married) unions and estimates rates of dissolution for the period of coresidence. Studies examining how the stability of coresidential unions differs by sex composition have typically found that same-sex female couples have higher rates of dissolution than same-sex male couples and different-sex couples. We argue that the more elevated rates of dissolution for same-sex female couples are a by-product of the focus on coresidential unions. We use data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health to compare rates of dissolution based on the total duration of romantic and sexual relationships for same-sex male couples, same-sex female couples, and different-sex couples. Results from hazard models that track the stability of young adult relationships from the time they are formed demonstrate that male couples have substantially higher dissolution rates than female couples and different-sex couples. Results based on models restricted to the period of coresidence corroborate the counterintuitive finding from earlier studies that female couples have the highest rates of dissolving coresidential unions. This study underlines the importance of comparisons between these couple types for a better understanding of the role that institutions and gender play in the stability of contemporary relationships.

Trading Youth for Citizenship? The Spousal Age Gap in Cross-Border Marriages.

Prior studies concerning patterns of intermarriage among immigrants have primarily focused on how factors such as race/ethnicity, educational attainment, and country of origin shape the choice of a spouse. Moreover, they have focused on intermarriage patterns among immigrants who are already in the US. Using the 2010-2014 American Community Survey (ACS), we focus on immigrants who were not US citizens at the time of their marriage and highlight patterns of status exchange, specifically, the exchange of youth for citizenship. Towards this end, we compare the age gap between spouses across four different groups of respondents: 1) non-citizens married to a citizen before or upon arrival to the US; 2) non-citizens married to a citizen after arrival to the US; 3) non-citizens married to a non-citizen before or upon arrival to the US; and 4) non-citizens married to a non-citizen after arrival in the US. We document the fact that a large fraction of marriages between citizens and non-citizens occurred before or upon arrival to the US. We also provide evidence that immigrants who migrate to the US after marrying a US citizen, particularly women, tend to be partnered with much older spouses, signaling an exchange of youth for citizenship.

Relationship Involvement Among Young Adults: Are Asian American Men an Exceptional Case?

Asian American men and women have been largely neglected in previous studies of romantic relationship formation and status. Using data from the first and fourth waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), we examine romantic and sexual involvement among young adults, most of who were between the ages of 25 to 32 (N=11,555). Drawing from explanations that focus on structural and cultural elements as well as racial hierarchies, we examine the factors that promote and impede involvement in romantic/sexual relationships. We use logistic regression to model current involvement of men and women separately and find, with the exception of Filipino men, Asian men are significantly less likely than white men to be currently involved with a romantic partner, even after controlling for a wide array of characteristics. Our results suggest that the racial hierarchy framework best explains lower likelihood of involvement among Asian American men.

The dubious assessment of gay, lesbian, and bisexual adolescents of add health.

In this essay, we argue that researchers who base their investigations of nonheterosexuality derived from reports of romantic attractions of adolescent participants from Wave 1 of Add Health must account for their disappearance in future waves of data collection. The high prevalence of Wave 1 youth with either both-sex or same-sex romantic attractions was initially striking and unexpected. Subsequent data from Add Health indicated that this prevalence sharply declined over time such that over 70 % of these Wave 1 adolescents identified as exclusively heterosexual as Wave 4 young adults. Three explanations are proposed to account for the high prevalence rate and the temporal inconsistency: (1) gay adolescents going into the closet during their young adult years; (2) confusion regarding the use and meaning of romantic attraction as a proxy for sexual orientation; and (3) the existence of mischievous adolescents who played a "jokester" role by reporting same-sex attraction when none was present. Relying on Add Health data, we dismissed the first explanation as highly unlikely and found support for the other two. Importantly, these "dubious" gay, lesbian, and bisexual adolescents may have led researchers to erroneously conclude from the data that sexual-minority youth are more problematic than heterosexual youth in terms of physical, mental, and social health.

Prevalence and stability of self-reported sexual orientation identity during young adulthood.

Based on date from Wave 3 and Wave 4 from National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health (N=12,287), known as Add Health, the majority of young adults identified their sexual orientation as 100% heterosexual. The second largest identity group,''mostly heterosexual,''was larger than all other nonheterosexual identities combined. Comparing distributions across waves, which were approximately 6 years apart, stability of sexual orientation identity wasmore common than change. Stability was greatest among men and those identifying as heterosexual. Individuals who identified as 100% homosexual reported nearly the same level of stability as 100% heterosexuals. The bisexual categorywas themost unstable, with one quarter maintaining that status at Wave 4. Bisexual men who changed their identity distributed themselves among all other categories; among bisexual women, themost common shiftwas toward mostly heterosexual. Reflecting changes in identity, the proportion of heterosexuals decreased between the two waves.

The quality of male fertility data in major U.S. surveys.

Researchers continue to question fathers' willingness to report their biological children in surveys and the ability of surveys to adequately represent fathers. To address these concerns, this study evaluates the quality of men's fertility data in the 1979 and 1997 cohorts of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79 and NLSY97) and in the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG). Comparing fertility rates in each survey with population rates based on data from Vital Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau, we document how the incomplete reporting of births in different surveys varies according to men's characteristics, including their age, race, marital status, and birth cohort. In addition, we use Monte Carlo simulations based on the NSFG data to demonstrate how birth underreporting biases associations between early parenthood and its antecedents. We find that in the NSFG, roughly four out of five early births were reported; but in the NLSY79 and NLSY97, almost nine-tenths of early births were reported. In all three surveys, incomplete reporting was especially pronounced for nonmarital births. Our results suggest that the quality of male fertility data is strongly linked to survey design and that it has implications for models of early male fertility.

Social Exchange and The Progression of Sexual Relationships in Emerging Adulthood.

Research has extensively examined matching on race and other characteristics in cohabitation and marriage, but it has generally disregarded sexual and romantic relationships. Using data from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth and the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we examine the tempo of key transitions in the recent relationships of young adults aged 18 to 24. We focus on how the racial mix of partners in relationships is associated with the timing to sex, cohabitation, and marriage. We find evidence that relationships between white men and minority women proceed more rapidly than relationships involving other racial combinations from romance to sexual involvement and from sexual involvement to cohabitation. Our findings have important implications for social exchange perspectives on mate selection.

Justice and the Fate of Married and Cohabiting Couples.

Are cohabiting couples more likely than married couples to break up in response to perceptions that their relationship is not fair? Based on social psychological perspectives on intimate relationship stability, in addition to empirical research contrasting cohabitation with marriage, I hypothesize that cohabiting couples will be more likely than married couples to separate in response to perceived breaches of justice. To test this hypothesis and others, I examine the influence of both male and female partners'perceptions of fairness on the stability of married and cohabiting couples using two waves of couple-level data from the National Survey of Families and Households. The results of Cox proportional hazards models suggest that cohabiting couples, but not married couples, are increasingly likely to separate as levels of male or female underbenefiting increase. The conclusion discusses the implications of these findings for social psychological perspectives and future studies on the role of distributive justice in the stability of intimate relationships.