Peer-reviewed article
Introducing the <i>Future of Families Third Generation (FFG3)</i> Study.
Teitler JO, Neckerman KM, Fuenmayor RB, Gonzalez A, Reichman NE ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001The Future of Families Third Generation (FFG3) study follows the children of young adults from an original 1998-2000 birth cohort study. Researchers collected health and socioeconomic data from 349 mothers (second generation) and 558 of their children (third generation) born around 25 years after the original study began. The recent cohort of mothers and their infants show worse physical and mental health outcomes compared to the original cohort generation, with higher rates of unknown paternity and persistent economic disadvantage.
Key points
- Third generation cohort shows greater disadvantage than original 1998-2000 cohort
- Physical and mental health of second-generation mothers was worse than first-generation mothers
- Infant health outcomes for third generation were worse than second generation
- Marital birth rates remained stable at around 11-12% across generations
- Unknown paternity reported by 15% of G2 mothers versus 1% of G1 mothers
Limitations
This is a study design and description paper, not an intervention evaluation, so it does not measure causal effects or the impact of any specific program. The paper does not provide detailed analysis of the mechanisms driving intergenerational health disparities or solutions to address them.
Abstract
Objective To describe the research design and sample of the Future of Families Third Generation (FFG3) study, which is collecting data on the third generation of the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing (FF) study. Background Research on the intergenerational transmission of health and socioeconomic status (SES) has been limited by a paucity of prospective multigenerational studies with infant health in two generations. Method The FFG3 study is enrolling children of the original 1998-2000 FF birth cohort, who are now young adults (second generation, G2), and collecting perinatal data and biological samples. We provide background, describe the research design and sample, and present data on 349 G2 mothers who had children by age 26 and 558 of their G3 children. We compare characteristics of this recent cohort to those of the previous generation of early childbearing mothers (G1) and their G2 children. Results The recent cohort of mothers and their children born ~25 years after the original study began is much more disadvantaged than the original cohort. Physical and mental health of G2 mothers was worse than that of the G1s, as was the health of their infants. The proportion of marital births has not changed appreciably across generations (11% in FFG3, 12% in FF), but a much higher proportion of G2 mothers reported that the other parent was unknown (15%, versus 1%). Conclusion The FFG3 study will facilitate novel and important analyses of intergenerational transmission of health and SES.