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Journal Article The article presents a study conducted in the United States that examines variation in the effects of nonresident father involvement on child well being. The data for this analysis was taken from the child supplement to the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY). In addition to annual interviews with the respondents, data on the children of the NLSY women were collected in 1986 and 1988. The study focuses on children who we living in households with their mothers and had a father living elsewhere in 1988. The children who were assessed tend to be born to younger mothers, and this is…
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Journal Article Using data from the child supplement to the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, a series of multivariate regression models were tested to determine whether father visitation or the payment of child support are significantly associated with several measures of child wellbeing. The results indicate that there is limited evidence to support the hypothesis that nonresident father involvement has positive benefits for children. The strongest evidence is for the effect of child support in the domain of academics. (Author abstract)
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Journal Article The article discusses the quality of co-parental relationships after divorce. Research on the effects of divorce indicates that the relationship between ex-spouses is a crucial, albeit often overlooked. The degree of interdependence is a central concept in understanding the way relationships are constructed and maintained and is based on mutual contingency. Innovations in custody arrangements and increasing involvement of fathers in child rearing serve as links requiring divorced parents to engage in frequent interactions. Research focusing on the co-parental relationship from the…
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Journal Article Six fathers and four spouses were interviewed for this qualitative study to determine whether contemporary fathers are more involved with their children than previous generations. The questions addressed role expectations, role attitudes, role involvement, and role satisfaction. The men reported positive changes in their personalities resulting from their fatherhood status and indicated their intention to be more involved and emotionally available than their own fathers. However, rates of caregiving were inconsistent with their reported levels of engagement. Three of the fathers noted that…
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Journal Article This article explores young adults' perceptions of parenting behaviors, specifically with regard to the issue of how perceptions may be affected by gender of parent, child, or observer. Ratings of psychologically (emotionally), physically, and sexually abusive behaviors and ratings of love-support, promotion of independence, and positive modeling-fairness were obtained for mothers and fathers as well as daughters and sons. When the father was the referent, female subjects rated the behaviors as more emotionally, physically, and sexually abusive than male subjects did. When the mother was the…
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Journal Article The present study, based on a national sample of 471 young adults, finds that closeness to fathers makes a unique contribution to offspring happiness, life satisfaction, and psychological distress. Parental divorce weakens the salience of the father-child relationship for adult children's life satisfaction. Similarly, marriage, parenthood, and full-time employment diminish the salience of both the mother-child and the father-child relationship for offspring well-being. Closeness to stepfathers is also related to some dimensions of offspring well-being. Overall, these findings suggest that…
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Journal Article This article examines the rights of unwed fathers as they relate to the adoption process. The author first reviews the history of the rights of unwed or putative fathers by discussing common law treatment of unwed fathers' rights and recent treatment of these fathers' rights by the U.S. Supreme Court. Although these cases demonstrate that putative fathers who take an interest in their child and participate in the child's care and support are given protection, the Supreme Court has failed to establish an effective legal doctrine on the rights of unwed fathers. The author continues by comparing…
