Journal of Family Issues 34(7) 952–974 © The Author(s) 2012 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0192513X12447054 jfi.sagepub.com 47054JFI 34 7 10.1177/0192513X12447054Frei hscheinJournal of Family Issues s) 2012 ermissions: ournalsPermissions.nav 1 University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Corresponding Author: Joshua Freistadt, Department of Sociology, University of Alberta, 5-21 Tory Building, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6G 2H4. Email: joshua.freistadt@ualberta.ca Family Structure Differences in Family Functioning: Interactive Effects of Social Capital and Family Structure Joshua Freistadt 1 and Lisa Strohschein 1 Abstract This study investigated family structure differences in family functioning, evaluated whether extra-familial social capital accounted for any observed differences, and tested whether the influence of extra-familial social capi- tal on family functioning varied by family structure. Using the first wave of the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (n = 6,223), analysis revealed significantly lower family functioning levels within stable cohabiting two-biological-parent households and stable single- biological-mother households relative to stable married two-biological- parent households, even after sociodemographic controls. Higher levels of social involvement and neighborhoodcohesion were associated with increased family functioning, but did not mediate family structure differ- ences in family functioning. The effect of neighborhood cohesion on family functioning depended on family type such that the benefits of neighborhood cohesion for family functioning were magnified at high levels of neighbor- hood cohesion for both married and cohabiting households but had much less influence on family functioning within single-mother households. Keywords family functioning, family structure, social capital, single motherhood, cohabitation Article at UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA LIBRARY on November 29, 2015 jfi.sagepub.com Downloaded from