Journal Article

Variation in Associations Between Family Dinners and Adolescent Well-Being

Meier, Ann, Musick, Kelly

2014

Overview

Empirical evidence and conventional wisdom suggest that family dinners are associated with positive outcomes for youth. Recent research using fixed-effects models as a more stringent test of causality suggests a more limited role of family meals in protecting children from risk. Estimates of average effects, however, may mask important variation in the link between family meals and well-being; in particular, family meals may be more or less helpful based on the quality of family relationships. Using 2 waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N = 17,977), this study extended recent work to find that family dinners have little benefit when parent–child relationships are weak but contribute to fewer depressive symptoms and less delinquency among adolescents when family relationships are strong. The findings highlight the importance of attending to variation when assessing what helps and what hurts in families.

• Publisher: Wiley Subscription Services, Inc,The National Council on Family Relations,Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subject: Adolescents / Brief Reports / Causality / Child development / Child psychology / child well-being / Children / Depression (Psychology) / Depressive disorders / Dinners / Families & family life / family demography / Family Environment / Family life / Family meals / Family members / Family relations / Family roles / Family Work Relationship / Health / Individual & family studies / Juvenile delinquency / Longitudinal studies / Marriage / Meals / Mental depression / Mothers / National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health / Parent child relations / parental investment/involvement / Parents / Personal relationships / Public health / Quality of Health Care / Risk / Well Being / Wellbeing / Youth