The Longitudinal Effects of Mother and Father Absence on Adolescent School Engagement

Holly E. Heard, Arizona State University

This paper uses a life course framework to examine the influence of family structure throughout childhood on three measures of adolescent school achievement (grades, college expectations, and being suspended or expelled). I use measures of family structure status, duration of exposure to parental figures, and changes in parental roles to model the family structure trajectory. I also investigate whether mother absence or father absence is more detrimental to children’s education. I find that adolescents living without biological mothers are most disadvantaged, but that stepmothers can compensate for the negative consequences of mother loss on adolescent grades. In addition, the time lived without the biological mother and the number of mother changes explain much of the disadvantages faced by adolescents living in households without biological mothers.