Childhood well-being is dependent upon the development of positive interpersonal and intrapersonal relationships and the maturation of stage-appropriate capacities throughout an individual’s youth and adolescence (Raghavan & Alexandrova, 2015). Further, the development and maturation of features of childhood well-being is conditioned by the social ecology in which a child is raised, itself significantly influenced by family structure and parental perceptions of self-efficacy as a provider, teacher, or nurturer (Raghavan & Alexandrova, 2015). Research indicates that married-couple households, having enhanced means for human capital investment in children, cultivate social ecologies most conducive to integral childhood development, while other structures, such as single-mother households, are correlated with greater frequency of inferior outcomes among indicators as well-being and reduced human capital investment capacity (Wilcox et al., 2024; Dufur et al., 2022; Nieuwenhuis & Maldonado, 2018; Kerney & Levine, 2017). Further, when an individual experiences anxieties regarding their efficacy as a parent, notwithstanding their actual capacities, relationships between parents and children may be marked by tension and inferior outcomes may result (Nomaguchi & Milkie, 2020; Chau & Giallo, 2015).
National Marriage Week: A Time for Reflection
Feb. 7 marked the beginning of National Marriage Week, a period dedicated to the celebration of the joys and benefits of happy and healthy marriages. Since its inception in 1996 in the United Kingdom and its adoption in 2002 in the United States, each annual National Marriage Week has focused on a specific theme central...