Absent fathers Adolescent girls Psychosocial well-being o p s o m m i n gDaar is bevind dat baie kinders in Suid-Afrika sonder die betrokkenheid van 'n biologiese vader, grootword. Die afwesigheid van 'n ouer binne die gesinsisteem bring 'n vakuum in die ouerskapsrol mee en oefen 'n negatiewe invloed uit op 'n gesin se vermo€ e om doeltreffend te funksioneer. Met hierdie studie is die impak van afwesige vaders op die welstand van adolessente dogters ondersoek. Die studie is in twee fases verdeel. Tydens die eerste fase is semi-gestruktureerde onderhoude gevoer met ses dogters by wie die vader afwesig was. Die deelnemers se persoonlike menings van die impak wat hulle vaders se afwesigheid op hulle lewens gehad het, is in temas uiteengesit. Die kwalitatiewe data wat uit die onderhoude verkry is, is benut deurdat veranderlikes geïdentifiseer is wat in die tweede fase getoets kon word. Vir die tweede fase het 30 adolessente vraelyste ingevul. Hierdie bevindings is statisties weergegee. Die twee stelle bevindings is met mekaar vergelyk. Dit wil voorkom of die adolessente dogters 'n groot aantal onvervulde behoeftes het wat aan die afwesigheid van hulle vaders toegeskryf kan word. Hulle het behoefte daaraan om tyd saam met hulle vaders deur te bring en om 'n hegte band met hom op te bou. Die deelnemers het genoem dat hulle moeders beide die rol van moeder en vader vervul en deels vergoed vir die afwesigheid van hulle vaders. Die data wat deur hierdie studie ingesamel is, sal vaders help om 'n beter idee te kry van hulle waarde binne die gesinstruktuur. a b s t r a c tIt was found that many children in South Africa grow up without a biological father's involvement. The absence of a parent within a family system causes a vacuum in the parenthood role and has a negative influence on a family's ability to function efficiently.The impact of absent fathers on the well-being of adolescent girls is investigated in this study. The study was done in two phases. During the first phase semi-structured interviews were conducted with six girls where the father was absent. The participants' personal opinions of the impact their fathers' absence has on their lives were set out in themes. The qualitative data obtained from the interviews was used in that variables * Corresponding author.E-mail addresses: 10589686@nwu.ac.za (F.E. Freeks), corinne.strydom@nwu.ac.za (C. Strydom), elretha.bartlett@gmail.com (E. Bartlett). Peer review under responsibility of Johannesburg University. H O S T E D BYh e a l t h s a g e s o n d h e i d 2 0 ( 2 0 1 5 ) 4 5 e5 8http://dx

were identified that could be tested during the second phase. For the second phase, 30 adolescents completed questionnaires. These findings were reported in statistical form.The two sets of findings were compared with each other. It seems that the adolescent girls have a huge number of unfulfilled needs that can be ascribed to the absence or their fathers. They have a need for spending time with their fathers and to bond closely with him. The participants mentioned that their mothers fulfilled both the role as the mother and as the father and partly compensate for the absence or their fathers. The data collected through this study will assist fathers in forming a better idea of their value within the family structure.