Delinquency More Likely in Broken Homes, Study Says

STANFORD — Children from broken homes are more likely to get into trouble than those who come from families where both parents are present, a Stanford University study has concluded.

“We found a general tendency of children in step-families and single-parent families to have higher rates of deviance, no matter what measure we used,” Stanford sociology professor Sanford Dornbusch said Friday.

He said that the conclusions seemed to hold true regardless of family education, income or race. According to the study, children from broken homes were more likely to run away from home, skip school, smoke, date at a young age and get into trouble with the law.

Divorce Climbing

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, if divorces continue at the present rate, half of all children born in the late 1970s will experience the breakup of their parents’ marriage by age 16.

Dornbusch said he is working with Bay Area school administrators to determine what can be done to improve stepparent relationships with their children.