Fathering and Adolescent Adjustment: Variations by Family Structure and Ethnic Background

Abstract

The current study investigated how fathering behaviors (acceptance, rejection, monitoring, consistent discipline, and involvement) are related to preadolescent adjustment in Mexican American and European American stepfamilies and intact families. Cross-sectional data from 393 7th graders, their schoolteachers, and parents were used to examine links between different dimensions of fathering and adolescent outcomes. Following an ecological multivariate model, family SES, marital satisfaction, and mothers’ parenting were included as controls. In all contexts, fathering had significant effects on adolescent adjustment. Both mothers’ parenting and adolescent gender moderated the associations, and we uncovered some provocative nonlinear relations between fathering and adolescent outcomes. The importance of ethnicity and family structure in studies of fathering are highlighted.

Fathers in the Dorm Room: The Unique Influence of Fathers and Mothers on Young Adult Functioning

“…In a sample with younger children, Richaud de Minzi observed that fathers' indifference accounted for more than half of the variance in children's depression scores. Other work has also revealed an inverse relationship between father acceptance and adolescent depression (Leidy et al, 2011;Liu, 2008). This study revisits this association and examines whether perceived mothers' and fathers' acceptance and rejection exert unique or combined influences on the depressive symptoms of young adults.…”

"She's My Baby": How Recently Incarcerated Fathers Experience Their Relationship with Their Daughters

“…Scholarship on father involvement and paternal impact on children has expanded significantly over the last 30 years (Brotherson, Yamamote, & Acock, 2003;Flouri & Buchanan, 2003;Lamb, ed., 2010;Leidy et al, 2011;Lewis & Lamb, 2003;Vuori, 2009;Williams & Kelly, 2005). The notion of responsible fathering has become a conceptual staple for both research and programming (Doherty, Kouneski, & Erickson, 1998;Marsiglio, Amato, Day, & Lamb, 2000).…”

“…The notion of responsible fathering has become a conceptual staple for both research and programming (Doherty, Kouneski, & Erickson, 1998;Marsiglio, Amato, Day, & Lamb, 2000). Studies suggest that father involvement promotes healthier adolescent adjustment and well-being (Brotherson et al, 2003;Fluori, 2006;Flouri & Buchanan, 2003;Leidy et al, 2011), less risk-taking behaviors for adolescents (Goncy & van Dulmen, 2010), higher self-esteem (Bulanda & Majumdar, 2009), enhanced pro-social behavior in children (Fluori, Buchanan, & Bream, 2002;Fluori, 2006;King & Sobolweski, 2006) and higher success in adult intimate relationships (Van Schaick & Stolberg, 2008).…”

Parenting and later substance use among Mexican-origin youth: Moderation by preference for a common language.

“…We included two parenting dimensions negatively associated with substance use among Latino families: consistent discipline (Leidy et al, 2011) and monitoring (Strunin et al, 2013). Although measures of language proficiency were not available in the current study, we included a behavioral assessment of language preference, which is correlated with language proficiency (Ayers, 2010).…”

“…We controlled for several variables that could account for the hypothesized moderation including socioeconomic status (Conger & Donnellan, 2007), family structure (Amato, 2005), and cultural values (Marsiglia & Holleran, 1999). Some studies of Mexican origin families show mother and father parenting to have similar associations with developmental outcomes (Parke et al, 2004) whereas other studies show differences (Leidy et al, 2011). Therefore, we made no hypothesis about possible differences in the association between parenting on changes to adolescent alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana across mothers and fathers.…”