Testing the family stress model across diverse family structures in the United States.

Abstract

The family stress model (FSM) posits that socioeconomic status affects child developmental outcomes through parental mental health and parenting practices. Although the FSM has been validated in various contexts, there is limited research on its applicability across diverse family structures in the United States. This study uses multigroup structural equation modeling to test the FSM across three family types: biologically connected/adopted two-parent families (T-B/A), stepfamilies (ST), and single-parent families (SP) among a representative sample of children in the United States (N = 28,234; Mage = 12.5 years; 13,671 females and 14,563 males). The results show that family structure moderates three of the nine pathways in the FSM. Specifically, the association between socioeconomic status and parental mental health and the association between parental aggravation and children's grades are stronger in T-B/A families than in ST and SP families. The association between parental aggravation and children's mental health is similar between T-B/A families and ST but weaker for SP families. The remaining associations in the FSM are consistent across the three family structures. Overall, these findings confirm the theoretical utility of the FSM across common family structures and also highlight the need to incorporate family structure-related variables, such as stressors unique to ST and SP families. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).