Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: There is a wealth of literature which focuses on the relationship between family structure and teenage sexual behavior, however very few have examined the differences between single-mother and single-father families. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health (Add Health) which consists of a nationally representative sample of adolescents from 80 U.S. high schools and 52 middle schools, this study explores the possible differences between single-parent families and their effects on age of first sexual intercourse among teens. There is a familiar point of departure in this study in that effects of single-parent families on age at first sexual intercourse are examine using socialization, parental support model and parental control model. My findings are consistent with the parental support model and parental control model, but provide little support for the socialization perspective.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper is part of a larger study that focuses on how today’s community college students are paying for their education. Analysis of the data collected for this study shows that students who cohabit display distinctly different characteristics than single, divorced and married students. These include such things as being more likely to have no immediate family with a college degree, and being more likely to work more than 20 hours per week while studying than other unmarried students. This paper brings the particular difficulties with funding and academics faced by cohabiting students at a large urban community college in the south into sharper focus by contrasting their situations with married, divorced, and single students.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Research on family structure has led some pundits and scholars to claim important sex-based differences exist in parenting. Recent research suggests that any existing differences might be explained by the absence of a second parent rather than specific sex-typed parenting. However, little research has examined potential differences in sexual outcomes between children in single-mother and single-father families. This paper presents individualist and structuralist perspectives for potential differences in adolescent sexual activity and outcomes. We test these explanations by comparing single mothers and single fathers in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N=2,181 mothers and 230 fathers) and the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1997 (N=2,154 mothers and 257 fathers). Preliminary results suggest no significant differences across the sexual outcomes comparing youth in single-mother and single-father families, providing support for the structuralist perspective.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Since their inception in the early 1990s, online dating sites have increased in popularity among the singles population in the United States, providing an opportunity to meet singles through computer mediated communication. The online dating process generally involves the construction of a profile detailing characteristics both offered and sought in a mate or date. The purpose of this paper is to discuss how these constructions reinforce and challenge traditional gender roles for men and women seeking heterosexual companionship. A content analysis of 80 profiles on the online dating web site Match.com provided results suggesting that although traditional roles were challenged in some respects, they tended to be reinforced and perpetuated through the construction of profiles on this particular web site.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Research on non-marital fertility has focused almost exclusively on unmarried mothers, due in part to a lack of fertility information for men. The availability of a new dataset that contains fertility histories for both men and women, Cycle 6 of the National Survey of Family Growth, now allows exploration of non-marital fertility among both genders. We begin with a brief descriptive comparison of the characteristics of unmarried first-time mothers and fathers. We then use event history techniques to model second birth hazards for parents whose first birth is non-marital and multinomial logit analysis to examine the distribution of men’s and women’s second births across types of relationships. Our analysis is motivated by theories of mate selection and the “relationship” market, specifically the hypothesis that non-marital fertility is more detrimental to women’s than to men’s status in the relationship market. We find mixed support for this hypothesis.