Concurrent Sessions 1 - (NBCC CE Credit: #1 hr and Conference Attendance Credit: #1 hr)

110-01: A Scoping Review of Research on Well-Being Across Diverse Family Structures: Rethinking Approaches For Understanding Contemporary Families
Todd Jensen, Caroline Sanner

110-02: Family Structure Diversity and Well-Being: Comparing Mean-Level Differences to Overlapping Distributions
Jonathon Beckmeyer, Kevin Shafer

110-03: Mother-Child Relationships and Children's Academic Achievement in Married and Cohabiting Stepfamilies: A Multigroup Analysis
Luke T. Russell, Chang Su-Russell

110-04: A Latent Profile Analysis of Mother-Child Relationships and Children's Academic Achievement and Persistence in Married and Cohabiting Stepfamilies
Kwangman Ko, Youngjin Kang, Luke T. Russell, Chang Su-Russell  

Discussant: Lawrence Ganong
Chair: Todd Jensen


Summary
The purpose of this symposium is to highlight promising approaches to studying well-being across diverse family structures. We draw from the transactional model, which posits that family composition influences well-being through its ability to (a) shape family processes and (b) yield economic change and stress when family structure shifts. Following the presentation of findings and recommendations from a scoping literature review of past research on this topic, three methodological approaches will be illustrated: (a) a distribution-overlap approach, (b) analyzing family structure as a moderator of linkages between family processes and well-being, and (c) finite mixture modeling to identify family-process patterns and associations with family structure and well-being. Facilitated by an expert in this field, we will discuss the strengths and limitations of these methodological approaches.

Objectives
-- To identify and reflect on the limitations of past and current approaches to studying well-being across diverse family structures.
-- To illustrate underutilized and promising methodological approaches to studying well-being across diverse family structures.
-- To highlight how future research can bolster alignment between methodological approaches and practical utility (i.e., inform practice and policy) in the area of well-being across diverse family structures.

Subject Codes: family structure, well-being
Population Codes: marital status, relational status, and family structure or identity
Method and Approach Codes: systematic literature review, path analysis, latent variable modeling