LOTS of very interesting snippets at the Marriage Movement blog about a new Swedish study: “Children growing up in single-parent families are twice as likely as their counterparts in two-parent families to develop serious psychiatric illnesses and addictions later in life, a Swedish study has found.”

Scroll around for brief analyses and links, including these bits: “[T]heir findings stood even when they adjusted for socioeconomic status and other confounding factors such as parental addiction or mental illness.”

“Some may say that because this research was done in Sweden, it may not apply to families in the United States. Actually, it is almost more striking because it comes from Sweden. Opponents of marriage advocates often argue that the problem is not single-parent families, but the lack of government supports for single mothers. These people inevitably point to Sweden as a country whose policies the U.S. should emulate. While greater supports for single mothers may well improve child well-being, this research indicates that even generous government support can’t replace the benefit of having two, married parents.”

“[Dr. Stephen Scott] said that in previous studies, once researchers have adjusted their results to eliminate the influence of bad parenting, any increased risk of emotional problems shrinks markedly. This, he said, indicates it is not so much single parenthood but the quality of parenting that is at issue.

”’The kind of people who end up as single parents might not have done well by their kids, even if they hadn’t ended up alone. They tend to be more critical in their relationships, more derogatory toward other people,’ Scott said, adding that it is also harder to be a warm, non-critical parent when you’re bringing up a child alone.

“Who’s stigmatizing single parents now? But look at this logic: It is not so much single parenthood but the quality of parenting that is at issue. But it is also harder to be a warm, non-critical parent when you’re bringing up a child alone.

“If being a single parent makes it harder to be warm and supportive, how can single parenthood not be an issue?”

And more.