Single parenthood and social competence in children of color

Increases in divorce and nonmarital childbearing have dramatically altered the family lives of children in the United States. The increasing number of children residing in single-parent households often has been linked to man y of the nation's most serious social problems, including delinquency, teen aged pregnancy and welfare dependency; in fact, it is widely believed that single-parent families represent a risk factor for children's development T here are several methodological weaknesses in the research used to document the negative effects of single-parent families on children. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between single-parent family sta tus and children's gender and social skills, utilizing a predominantly ethn ic minority sample, while controlling for family socioeconomic status (SES) . It was hypothesized that after controlling SES, there would be no differe nces between children (boys and girls) from single- and two-parent homes on measures of social skills and conflict management This was a secondary ana lysis of data that were collected in a larger study focusing on child-paren t relationships and conflict management. Sixty-eight preschool-aged childre n and their parent(s) residing in a large urban area in the southeastern Un ited States participated in this study Teachers of children in the study co mpleted a social skills rating scale on the children, and parents provided necessary demographic information. Results indicated that there was no diff erence between boys and girls from single-parent and two-parent families on their social skills, including conflict management Also discussed are the implications for practitioners and others who work with children from singl e parent homes.