Fragile Families and the Transition to Adulthood

PROJECT Summary: The Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Birth Cohort Study (FFCWS) is following a stratified,multistate probability sample of approximately 4,900 children born in large US cities (populationsof 200,000 or more) between 1998 and 2000. Interviews were conducted with mothers and fathersat birth and again when children were 1, 3, 5, 9, and 15 years old. Children wereassessed/interviewed at ages 3, 5, 9, and 15. The parent grant for this AdministrativeSupplement facilitates another round of FFCWS interviews focused on outcomes for thefocal children as young adults, at age 22.The parent grant includes interviews with the FFCWS young adults and complementary interviewswith the person who was the young adult's primary caregiver (PCG) at the time of the Year 15interview, providing contextual and triangulated information about the young adults' experiences.The specific aims of the parent grant are to: (1) collect new data on the health and wellbeingof FFCWS young adults; (2) collect new data on the social, economic, and physicalenvironments of FFCWS young adults; and, (3) collect saliva samples from FFCWS youngadults to be used to measure DNA methylation and telomere length.Due to the widespread impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, additional funding for supplementarydata collection is necessary to address the parent grant's specific aims 1 and 2. The pandemicand related social and economic conditions directly affect the central domains about which theparent grant collects new data, specifically the health, wellbeing, and social, economic, andphysical environments of FFCWS young adults. Because these young adults aredisproportionately Black (49%) and Latinx (25%), and part of immigrant (13%) and low-income(59% below 200% federal poverty line (FPL)) families, they may be particularly vulnerable to theeffects of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this Administrative Supplement, we are requesting$200,000 in additional funds to cover the cost of expanding the parent grant surveys tocollect new data specific to FFCWS young adults' health, wellbeing, and environments inthe context of the pandemic.