Turbulence during Childhood

Kristin Moore, Child Trends
Sharon Vandivere, Child Trends
Akemi Kinukawa, Child Trends

Researchers have regularly found that turbulence is related to poorer development among children. For example, repeated changes in child care arrangements, family structure, income, residence and schooling have all been linked to poorer outcomes for children. This paper will examine measures of turbulence in children's lives through age 12 in schooling, residence, and parental marriage from Round 1 of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1997 cohort. In addition, traumatic events, such as seeing a shooting, being bullied repeatedly, or experiencing a break-in, will be examined, along with social and demographic control variables, to assess the importance of turbulence over and above background factors and life stressors. Implications for behavior problems and delinquency will be examined. Analyses will assess whether turbulence matters, net of control variables, whether types of turbulence are cumulative or redundant, and whether some types of turbulence are more critical than others.