Stefania Molina

Stefania Molina

PhD Candidate at DYNAMICS RTG

Research

Peer-reviewed journal article

Molina, S. (2025) Unmarried Motherhood and Infant Health: The Role of Intimate Partner Violence in Colombia. Demographic Research, 52(6), 141-178. doi: 10.4054/DemRes.2025.52.6

Molina, S., Wagner, L. & Kreyenfeld, M. (2025). Women’s economic independence and physical intimate partner violence (IPV) during separation. PLoS One, 20(6): e0326529. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0326529

Book chapter

Hipp, L., Schlüter, C. & Molina, S. (2022). The Role of Employers in the Implementation of Parental Leave Policies. In Alison Koslowski, Ivana Dobrotic, Sonja Blum (Eds.), Research Handbook on Leave Policy: Parenting and Social Inequalities in a Global Perspective (p.338-352). Edward Elgar Publishing. doi: 10.4337/9781800372214.00036

Work in Progress

Divorce and Mental Health: Is Late Divorce Particularly Harmful for Women with Low Earnings?
with Enrique Alonso-Perez and Michaela Kreyenfeld

Abstract This paper examines the relationship between divorce and mental health, with a focus on how this association is stratified by sex, age, and individual income. In particular, we test the hypothesis that divorce at advanced ages (50-59) is particularly harmful for women with insufficient personal earnings. Data is drawn from German register data, which includes marital histories of divorcees and diagnosed health outcomes. The analytical sample includes persons aged 30-59 in 2015 (n=23,426,639). The outcome is the annual incidence of mental disease diagnosis which is examined from an intersectional approach by drawing on MAIHDA (Multilevel Analysis of Individual Heterogeneity and Discriminatory Accuracy). Our findings indicate that women are at a higher risk of receiving a mental health diagnosis than men. Divorce significantly amplifies this risk. Additionally, low income poses a heightened risk for both womenand men, particularly when divorce occurs at advanced ages.

What Differences Does It Make? Parental Relationship Quality and Child Wellbeing in Step- and Nuclear Families
with Lena Wagner, Michaela Kreyenfeld, and Enrique Alonso-Perez
Working Paper

Abstract A large body of research addresses whether and how parental partnership quality affects child wellbeing. While much of this research has focused on nuclear families, less is known about patterns in stepfamilies. This study adopts a dyadic perspective to explore how parental partnership quality relates to the wellbeing of children living with both biological parents versus those with a biological parent and a stepparent. We apply multivariable linear regression and a mediation analysis on longitudinal data from the German Panel Analysis of Intimate Relationships and Family Dynamics (pairfam) to understand the relationship between family structure, step- and biological parent’s partnership quality and children’s self-reported wellbeing, operationalised over the Strength and Difficulties questionnaire (SDQ-scores). The analytical sample includes children who live in heterosexual couple households (n=1,781). We differentiate two separate dimensions of parental partnership quality, namely the frequency of conflict and esteem between the (step-)parents. Results show that children living with a stepparent exhibit higher total difficulties score compared to children living with both their biological parents. However, parental conflict occurs less and esteem more frequently in stepfamilies than in nuclear families. Mediation analysis indicates that partnership quality partially mediates the impact of family structure on SDQ scores. Our analysis suggests that the negative effect of living with stepparents on children’s socio-emotional wellbeing is slightly mitigated by increased parental esteem and lower conflict in these unions.

Union Dissolution, Partnership Quality, and Parental Mental Health: A Gender Perspective
with Michaela Kreyenfeld and Julie O´Sullivan

Abstract This paper examines parental mental health over the separation process and raises the question how it varies by gender and prior partnership quality. Low mental health of single parents is a public health concern. Few studies have examined how patterns develop over the separation process and whether they differ for mothers and fathers. Using data from the German Family Panel (N=1,409 non-separated and 466 separated parents), this paper examines the relationship between separation and parental mental health, spanning the period from three years before to two years after separation. As a method, it combines exact matching and fixed-effects methods. While depression levels of separated parents are higher compared to the control group of parents in partnerships, we do not find any substantial increases in depression across the separation process, spanning from three years prior to two years post-separation. However, we find that patterns strongly differ by pre-partnership quality. Mothers and fathers in low-quality partnerships experience low mental well-being before separation but are likely to see improvement afterward. A longitudinal perspective on mental health trajectories is crucial for understanding the well-being of divorced and separated parents. Often, it is not the separation itself but the pre-existing conflict and stress that lower mental health. In such cases, union dissolution may be a pathway to improved mental well-being.