The Role of Boomerang Fathers in Adolescent Female Depression

Abstract

Data from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth were employed to explore the association between boomerang fathering from birth to age 18 on adolescent depressive symptomatology (N = 3,731). We examined the effects of experiencing a biological father exiting and entering the home because of breaking up and repartnering with an adolescent's mother (i.e., “boomerang fathering”) when compared with other father residential patterns on adolescent depression. Findings suggest that boomerang fathering is more beneficial than harmful. Adolescent females exposed to boomerang fathering, as well as those exposed to fathers who resided with them from birth to age 18, reported significantly lower depressive symptoms when compared with females exposed to fathers who exited the household and never returned. Boomerang fathering was not significantly associated with male adolescent depressive symptomatology. Providing greater family support during times of instability may assist in unifying families and be an indirect source of mental health prevention.

Parental Relationship Churning and Adolescent Well‐Being: Examining Instability Within Families

“…In keeping with previous research that examined the association between cohabiting parents' relationship churning and 9‐year‐old children's outcomes (Nepomnyaschy & Teitler ), we did not see differences between adolescents with churning parents and adolescents with stably together parents once we accounted for demographic and socioeconomic characteristics associated with parental relationships. Our findings contrast with a study of an earlier cohort of churning parents, in which girls (but not boys) in churning families reported fewer depressive symptoms than those in families in which parents stably broke up (Hernandez et al, ). We did not find gender differences in our more recent sample, and we found that it is youth whose parents stably separate who show more positive outcomes than those from churning families.…”

“…Second, another study using a sample of teens born predominantly in the 1980s finds that teenage girls (but not boys) in stably together or churning families reported a lower incidence of depressive symptoms when compared with those in other family forms (Hernandez et al, ). We extend this research by using a contemporary data source with a more racially/ethnically and socioeconomically heterogeneous sample and by considering a wider range of outcomes.…”

“…Research examines how instability in parental romantic relationships affects well‐being among children and adolescents (Bronte‐Tinkew, Horowitz, & Scott, ; Carlson & Furstenberg, ; Cavanagh, ; Cavanagh & Huston, , ; Cooper, McLanahan, Meadows, & Brooks‐Gunn, ; Fomby & Cherlin, ; Fomby & Osborne, ; Gennetian, ; Halpern‐Meekin & Tach, ; Lee & McLanahan, ; Magnuson & Berger, ; Osborne & McLanahan, ). Although this research advances our understanding of the consequences of family instability, it has largely neglected instability and transitions that occur within, rather than between, relationships (for exceptions, see Hernandez, Pressler, & Dorius, ; Nepomnyaschy & Teitler, ). Indeed, a substantial minority of youth experience parental separation and reunification, with one estimate showing that at least 16% of children experience parental relationship churning by age 5 (Halpern‐Meekin & Turney, ).…”

Parenting in On/Off Relationships: The Link Between Relationship Churning and Father Involvement

“…This heightened parenting stress, therefore, could be due to the fact that more-intensive parenting efforts are occurring in the context of a more ambiguous and volatile “package deal.” Churning could have a protective effect in terms of keeping fathers involved longer or more intensively than they would be if the couple had broken up and started relationships with new partners (rather than reuniting with each other). Moving beyond father involvement, future research should examine whether and how this relationship form—churning—has implications for parental and child well-being (see, for example, Hernandez et al 2016). …”

Union Status, Educational Attainment, and Body Mass Index Among Emerging Adults

“…Yet it is important that studies continue to distinguish between marital and cohabiting unions in their analyses because as cohabitation becomes more commonplace, especially among emerging adults, it may become more or less distinguishable from marriage. Recent research also emphasizes the importance of considering past cohabitations/marriages in analyses of union status and body weight (Hernandez, Pressler, & Dorius, 2011), as only counting current status misses past transitions that may have had lasting effects on body weight and/or that may alter behavior in subsequent cohabitations/marriages.…”