Maternal Kinship Involvement and Father Identity in Fragile Families

Abstract

Research has shown that nonresident versus resident fathers are less involved with their biological children and involvement may be a function of father identity. Research also has shown that maternal kin play a central caregiving role in families. This paper examines the extent to which maternal family involvement is associated with father identity. Data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 1836) showed that, net of a number of confounding factors, maternal family involvement was associated negatively with father identity, although nonresident fathers were significantly likely to feel less good about themselves as fathers regardless of maternal family involvement. Overall, results suggested that the extended family context in which parents (of young children) are embedded may contribute to how men identify as fathers.

Predictors of Maternal Participation in Fatherhood Intervention Research With African American Nonresident Fathers

“…The role of the extended family is more pronounced in AA families, particularly for single mothers (Parke & Cookston, 2019).This may be particularly so when maternal grandmothers or other female relatives provide social support to co-parents. There is evidence that mothers' relatives can play a significant role in moderating the relationship between estranged parents, particularly if the mother is younger or the child's grandmother perceives that the father is not living up to his responsibilities as a father (Ho ¨gna ¨s & Williams, 2017;Perry, 2009). Overall, literature supports the notion that fathers who report having more cooperative co-parenting relatives in their networks also report having higher parenting self-efficacy and father-child closeness (Fagan et al, 2016).…”

“…It is likely that single mother-headed households include extended maternal and/or paternal kin. The role of extended kin in fostering effective co-parenting relationship is important to explore and may also help to shed light on father's participation in fatherhood interventions (Ho ¨gna ¨s & Williams, 2017).…”

Ten Years of Marriage and Cohabitation Research in the Journal of Family and Economic Issues

“…The Maclean et al ( 2016 ) research took place in Australia, while Cantillon et al ( 2016 ) took place in Ireland. Finally, Addo ( 2017 ), Högnäs and Williams ( 2017 ), and Jamison ( 2018 ) focused on low-income couples.…”

“…Högnäs and Williams ( 2017 ) assessed fatherhood identity among non-resident low-income men. A negative association existed between their partners’ extended family involvement and the strength of men’s fatherhood identity.…”

Lower-Income Nonresident Fathers’ Self-Perceptions About Their Parenting Quality and Relationships With Children

“…To date, just a handful of studies have used fathers' self-reports to examine how they perceive themselves as parents. Evidence from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study (formerly the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study), for example, indicates that the majority of fathers, both resident and nonresident, view themselves as "good," "very good," or "excellent" fathers, with only about 1 percent reporting that they are "not a very good father" (Högnäs & Williams, 2017). Similarly, evidence from the National Survey of Family Growth suggests that about two thirds of fathers appraise their parenting quality as "very good" or "good," about a quarter as "okay," and about a fifth as "not very good" or "bad" (Martinez et al, 2006).…”