EXTENDED SINGLE-PARENT HOUSEHOLDS AND CHILDRENS BEHAVIOR

This study examines the ''additional adult'' hypothesis for children l iving with single mothers. Using data from the National Survey of Fami lies and Households, we formed three groups: married mothers, single m others with no other adults in the household, and single mothers with one or more additional adults in the household. Single mothers' rating s of their children's behavior did not vary with the presence of an ad ditional adult, in general. Among adolescents, however, living with an additional adult of the same sex was associated with comparatively po sitive ratings. Living with grandparents was associated with more posi tive ratings for adolescents but more negative ratings for children in middle childhood.