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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2015 Nov 25.
Published in final edited form as: Med Care. 2015 Feb;53(2):191–198. doi: 10.1097/MLR.0000000000000290

Table 1.

Family structure variables and definitions

Single parent family One or more children living with a single adult
(male or female, related or unrelated to the
child(ren))
Unmarried biological/adoptive family One or more children living with two parents
who are not married to one another and are each
biological or adoptive parents to all children in
the family
Blended family One or more children living with a biological or
adoptive parent and an unrelated step-parent
who are married to one another
Cohabiting family One or more children living with a biological or
adoptive parent and an unrelated adult who are
cohabiting with one another
Extended family One or more children living with at least one
biological or adoptive parent and a related adult
who is not a parent (e.g., grandparent, adult
sibling)
Other family One or more children living with related or
unrelated adults who are not biological or
adoptive parents (e.g., children being raised by
their grandparents; foster children)
Nuclear family One or more children living with two parents
who are married to one another and are each
biological or adoptive parents to all children in
the family