Behavior linked to family income.

• Position: Offspring - Brief article

Behavior problems in children of separated parents are far more prevalent in high- as opposed to low-income families, according to Rebecca M. Ryan, assistant professor of psychology at Georgetown (Ky.) College, whose study also found that moving from a single-parent family into a step-parent family improves children's behavior in higher-income families but not in lower-income ones.

"Our findings suggest that family changes affect children's behavior in higher-income families more than children's behavior in lower-income families--for better and for worse," Ryan says.

The study examined how such family changes related to behavior problems of children between ages three and 12. It also compared the effects of parents' separation and remarriage or repartnering on behavior problems of children five years old or younger versus ages six to 12.

"Changes in family structure affected the behavior of children from...