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Crosnoe, R. & Cooper, C.E. (2010). Economically Disadvantaged Children’s Transitions Into Elementary School: Linking Family Processes, School Contexts, and Educational Policy. American Educational Research Journal, (47)2, 258-291.

Working from a core perspective on the developmental implications of economic disadvantage, this study attempted to identify family-based mechanisms of economic effects on early learning and their potential school-based remedies. Multilevel analysis of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten Cohort revealed that the accumulation of markers of economic disadvantage reduced math and reading testing gains across the primary grades. Such disparities were partially mediated by corresponding differences in children’s socioemotional problems, parenting stress, and parents’ human capital investments. These patterns appeared to be robust to observed and unobserved confounds. Various teacher qualifications and classroom practices were assessed as moderators of these family mediators, revealing teacher experience in grade level as a fairly consistent buffer against family-based risks for reading.

Mmari, K., Roche, K.M., Sudhinaraset, M., & Blum, R. (2009). When a Parent Goes Off to War: Exploring the Issues Faced by Adolescents and Their Families. Youth & Society, (40)4, 455-475.

The objectives of this study were (1) to explore the consequences of parental deployment for adolescents and their families and (2) to identify potential strategies that may help adolescents cope with a parent's deployment. Eleven focus groups were conducted among adolescents in military families, military parents, and school personnel in military-impacted schools at five military bases. Findings reveal that one of the most prominent sources of stress for families is adjusting and readjusting to new roles and responsibilities. Notably, this stress was primarily felt after the deployed parent returned. School personnel also commented that many teachers and counselors are not prepared to deal with deployment issues among the military students. These findings suggest that parents need to be better prepared to handle the stresses after a deployed parent returns. School personnel also need special training, and military-impacted schools need to offer additional opportunities for students to discuss deployment issues.

Wyn, J., Lantz, S., & Harris, A. (2012). Beyond the ‘transitions’ metaphor: Family relations and young people in late modernity. Journal of Sociology, (48)1, 3-22.

Against the backdrop of an emerging literature about significant change in family formation in late modernity, this article argues that youth studies over the last 20 years has tended to ignore the significance of family relationships to young people. It critiques the traditional youth-as-transition metaphor that dominates youth sociology, arguing that the assumptions of linear trajectories and of independence obscure the changing nature of family relationships and their significance for youth. Drawing on empirical evidence from a study of Australian youth aged 15–18, this article highlights the significance of family as a site for civic and citizenship enactments. It also highlights young people’s understandings of inter-dependence within a family context, as they contemplate the complexity of transitions in late modern life. The article concludes that it is timely to bring family back into focus in youth studies.