Discrepancy between expected and actual child support payments: predicting the health and health-related quality of life of children living in low-income, single-parent families

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Although the amount and frequency of child support payments received by single parents are often erratic and fluctuate, no study to date has quantitatively explored how the discrepancy between expected and actual payments relates to child health. This study aims to examine whether the discrepancy between expected and actual child support payments predicts a range of child health outcomes, including global health, health-related quality of life, involvement in activities and parental psychological distress. METHODS: This study used results from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, which included a sample of parents of children aged 4-5 years (n = 4983). The questionnaire ..