The Implications of Parents’ Romantic Involvement on Children’s Health Outcomes

Loretta E. Bass, University of Oklahoma
M. Nicole Warehime, University of Oklahoma

Using a sample of 4,898 cases from the Fragile Families data, this research address three questions: 1) Is there a health advantage to having romantically involved parents over the first three years? 2) does parents’ romantic involvement pattern child’s type of insurance coverage? 3) Does parents’ romantic involvement pattern whether a child uses a doctor’s office or the ER/clinic/or home generally for health care? Our preliminary findings are that romantic involvement alone does not explain health insurance type and that Hispanic and Black children are less likely than white children to see health care in a doctor’s office, and more likely to seek health care in an ER, clinic or at home.