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Father Involvement in Kinship Care: A Risk and Resilience Perspective
Abstract
Kinship care refers to familial arrangements where the primary caregiver(s) are biological relatives, godparents, or other fictive kin with strong bonds, raising children when the biological parents are unable. The majority of children living in a home with neither of their biological parents present are living in kinship care arrangements. Previous research has primarily focused on maternal involvement and experiences in kinship care; however, little is known about paternal access, engagement, and responsibility in these arrangements. Researchers and practitioners have identified factors that can serve as barriers and facilitators to fathers’ involvement in various contexts. The current study seeks to gain a better understanding of the experiences of fathers with children living in kinship care. To address these goals, we asked the two following questions: (1) What are fathers’ experiences regarding involvement with their children in kinship care arrangements? and (2) What are the common barriers and facilitators to fathers’ involvement in kinship care arrangements? Participants included 25 self-identified fathers of children living in kinship care arrangements. Findings suggest that relationship quality among father-child(ren) and father-caregiver, as well as paternal self-efficacy, each have implications for paternal involvement in kinship care. Continuing this line of research will provide support for enhancing father involvement in a manner that best supports child outcomes in kinship care.
... Researchers have recently started to focus on fathers' role in children's socio-emotional qualities and wellbeing in general (Adamsons & Johnson, 2013;Allgood, Beckert, & Peterson, 2012;Fitzgerald et al., 2021;Gibson, Cryer-Coupet, Knox, & Field, 2020;Panter-Brick et al., 2014); yet there is a lack of research on the direct association between father involvement and child resilience. The current study provides new evidence to fill this gap. ...
The aim of this study is twofold; to answer the question of whether gender notions are predictors of father involvement, and to investigate whether involved fathers who have egalitarian notions raise more resilient children. Fathers of children aged 5–6 years (n=377) answered questions about their gender role attitudes, their level of father involvement and their children’s resilience. The data analysis has shown weak significant associations between the dyads of egalitarian viewsfather involvement, father involvement-child resiliency and egalitarian views-child resiliency. Besides, a higher level of gender egalitarian view predicted a higher level of father involvement; and higher father involvement predicted a higher level of child psychological resiliency. However, including gender views in the dyad of father involvement and resilience made no significant effect. In conclusion, attitudes towards gender roles still effect fathers’ choices about being involved in their children’s lives and father involvement is an important agent supporting resilience.
... Despite living in separate spaces, there is promising evidence to suggest that nonresident fathers are still engaged in the lives of their children (Cheadle et al., 2010;Higgs et al., 2018;Jones & Mosher, 2013), which is beneficial for all members of the family system (Allport et al., 2018;Logan, 2018). Their involvement, however, is largely influenced by their socioeconomic status (Gibson et al., 2020;Icard et al., 2017). ...
Social service providers in a variety of sectors have struggled to consistently engage nonresident fathers in service provision. A growing body of research indicates that practitioner characteristics and attitudes may help increase retention and engagement among this group of men. These findings coincide with recent mandates from federal policy makers to increase engagement of nonresident fathers in family-centered practice approaches. A central tenet of interest within this framework is the family–professional relationship. Using a collaborative competencies model, the current study seeks to advance this line of research by investigating practitioners’ perceptions of their preparedness to engage nonresident fathers. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were completed with 20 social service practitioners who have experience working with nonresident fathers. A directed content analysis revealed key aspects of intrapersonal, interpersonal, and professional collaborative competencies that practitioners believe are important to facilitate meaningful father engagement. Implications for practice and future research regarding effective social work practice with nonresident fathers are discussed.
This chapter examines how we frame interventions with fathers. It explores definitions and concepts related to intervention, criteria for inclusion in services, and practitioner preparation to deliver interventions. This framing impacts who is included and excluded in services, which impacts the family system and the success of intervention. Issues related to how we intervene in terms of preparedness, activities, and strategies are explored. This chapter concludes with recommendations for framing collaborative interventions and intervening in ways which positively impact the family system as well as its individual members, including the father or father figure.KeywordsFatherhood intervention Fatherhood program Father engagement Social work with fathers Social work practice
Father engagement in child welfare is an important process as their participation and inclusion in case activities may lead to improved placement and permanency outcomes for their children. However, despite evidence that father involvement is a critical component of child well-being and an integral part of a family system, the child welfare system struggles to engage fathers. Furthermore, father engagement with and participation in child welfare processes and services is low. Additionally, efforts by child welfare agencies to engage fathers and fathers’ participation in engaged services is not well recorded in child welfare data reporting systems. To assist social workers and child welfare caseworkers in more fully engaging fathers, we explore research on father engagement in child welfare services, including studies on engagement activities, associations with child welfare outcomes, and barriers to engagement. This chapter also discusses child welfare processes, assessment methods, practice guidance, and intervention strategies across six key child welfare domains: (1) child maltreatment prevention, (2) paternity establishment, (3) intensive family preservation, (4) permanency planning, (5) young fathers in foster care, and (6) improving father engagement.KeywordsChild welfare Child maltreatment Foster care Permanency planning Father engagement Paternal relatives
African American girls’ physical activity signifi cantly declines during adolescence. Single
mothers are raising many African American girls. Research on the benefi ts of fathers’ involvement on
physical activity is minimal, especially regarding girls. Th e current study examines the impact that fathers’
involvement and family structure have on physical activity behaviours among African American adolescent
girls (n=40). Data were collected via a demographic questionnaire, a father involvement scale, and a leisure
time exercise instrument. Data were analysed via descriptive statistics, analysis of variance, and multiple
regression. African American girls’ physical activity habits are positively associated with involved fathers.
Girls reporting high father involvement had higher rates of physical activity than girls reporting low father
involvement did. Girls from two-parent families had higher physical activity rates than girls in single-parent
households, but these fi ndings were non-signifi cant. Fathers being actively engaged in physical activities was
a signifi cant predictor of physical activity among the study population. Fathers demonstrating nurturing and
participatory behaviours, irrespective of residential or biological status, may be instrumental in promoting
physical activity among African American adolescent girls. Physical activity programming targeting African
American girls should include fathers and other male fi gures, as they may be instrumental in keeping African
American girls physically active.
This study explores single mothers’ roles as gatekeepers in the relationship between children and nonresident fathers in families, where fathers do not have a history of shared residence with their children. Thematic analysis of interviews with 34 mothers in Ireland revealed that the majority of mothers adopted gate-opening strategies, including active facilitation of father–child contact, conditional facilitation, and adoption of a “hands-off approach” wherein mothers were open to—but not actively involved in facilitating—father–child contact. A minority of mothers were not open to their children having contact with their fathers (gate-closing). Underpinning mothers’ gatekeeping strategies were beliefs about the importance of fathers and a desire to protect their children. The findings indicate that gate-opening could be challenging for mothers as they were required to balance a tension between believing that father–child contact was important for their children and being concerned about their children’s well-being within the father–child relationship.
High-quality father involvement in childrearing is associated with positive child outcomes. Yet, variability between fathers in parenting quality remains. The present study examined associations between maternal gatekeeping and fathers’ observed parenting quality in 182 dual-earner families who transitioned to parenthood in 2008–2009. Maternal gatekeeping, or beliefs and behaviors that may serve to discourage (gate close) or encourage (gate open) father involvement in childrearing, was measured using fathers’ reports at 3- and 9-months postpartum. Fathers’ parenting quality was assessed during a brief observational task at 3- and 9-months postpartum. A cross-lagged structural equation model, which included repeated measures of maternal gate closing, gate opening, and fathers’ parenting quality (i.e., sensitivity, detachment, and positive regard) at 3- and 9-months postpartum, revealed associations between maternal gatekeeping and fathers’ parenting quality. In particular, fathers who experienced greater gate closing at 3-months postpartum showed greater relative declines in parenting quality at 9-months postpartum. Of note, maternal gate opening at 3-months postpartum was not associated with fathers’ parenting quality at 9-months postpartum. Additionally, paths from fathers’ parenting quality at 3-months postpartum to maternal gatekeeping at 9-months postpartum were not significant. This is the first study to examine longitudinal associations between maternal gatekeeping and fathers’ parenting quality.
This study uses nationally representative survey data to describe differences in characteristics, adverse family experiences, and child well-being among children in kinship care with varying levels of involvement with the child welfare system. Well-being is examined in the domains of physical and mental health, education, and permanency. Comparisons provide insight on kinship care arrangements inside and outside the child welfare system, as well as the variability among nonfoster kinship care arrangements.
Father involvement is an important contributor to child outcomes, including mental health, prosocial behavior, value systems, and long-term economic and social mobility. The objective of this study was to determine factors most predictive of father involvement. Self-identified fathers (n = 93) with at least 1 child aged 0-18 years, completed an online survey about personal expectations of father involvement and perceptions of one's own involvement, paternal self-efficacy, coparenting alliance, relationship satisfaction, and partner support for parenting. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that 2 factors predicted greater father involvement: paternal self-efficacy and personal expectations of father involvement. Relationship satisfaction and partner support for fathering were associated with father involvement, but did not remain predictors in the final model. Results indicated that intrinsic personal factors may be more predictive of father involvement than external relationship factors. (PsycINFO Database Record
Most families in the child protective services system also interact with the child support enforcement system. This study exploits a natural experiment in Wisconsin, created by the state's large regional variation in child support referral policy, to estimate a potentially important effect of child support enforcement on the duration of out-of-home foster care placement. The effect we examine is whether requiring parents to pay support to offset the costs of foster care delays children's reunification with a parent or other permanent placement. We find evidence of this unintended effect, which is important not only because longer foster care spells are expensive for taxpayers, but also because extended placements in foster care may have consequences for child well-being. Our results highlight the potential importance of cross-systems analysis and the potential consequences when the policies and fundamental objectives of public systems are inconsistently coordinated. We discuss the implications of our findings for child support and child protective services policy.
A father’s participation in a child’s life has been regarded as a significant factor in the enhancement of a couple’s relationship. Although the investigations between paternal behavior and marital satisfaction come with mixed results, they clearly link the concepts of maternal and paternal role expectations to paternal behavior, which can be also moderated by earner status, child’s gender, and traditional versus contemporary role expectations. Research needs to focus on examining how individuals’ perceptions of role expectations relate to fathers’ actual parenting behavior. Therefore, a framework that outlines the interaction between and among these variables is developed, as supported by recent literature as a guide for future research directives.
Using data from the Year 9 Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N ∼ 3,182), we investigated the characteristics grandfamilies (grandparents raising their grandchildren with no parent present, N = 84) and compared them to other key groups, including children's nonresident parents and other economically disadvantaged families with children. Results show that grandparents raising their grandchildren were generally better off in terms of educational attainment, marital status, and economic well-being than the child's parents. Grandparents raising their grandchildren also had characteristics very similar to other disadvantaged mothers. Academic and socioemotional well-being were poorer among children in grandfamilies compared with those living with their mothers, but parenting practices were very similar. These findings suggest that although children in grandfamilies may be at a disadvantage academically and socioemotionally, grandparent caregivers are in many ways similar to other fragile-family mothers. Overall, this study enhances our knowledge of an important yet understudied family type.
The authors examined parental involvement's (PI) impact on school performance. The hierarchical linear modeling method was applied to national Schools and Staffing Survey 2007–2008 data. They found that PI variables explained significant variance for the outcomes of (a) meeting adequate yearly progress (AYP) and (b) being free from sanctions. The authors also found that PI in (a) open houses, (b) parent–teacher conferences, and (c) special events were statistically significant positive predictors for meeting AYP, and that PI (a) on hiring teachers, (b) in open houses, and (c) in special events were statistically significant positive predictors for being free from sanctions. PI on hiring teachers seemed to be an important strategy in turning around schools. The similarity and difference in the sets of statistically significant predictors for both outcomes indicate that some PI strategies were effective for all schools while others were effective for particular situations. Implications and limitations of the study were discussed.
This article argues that the trends normally linked with the second demographic transition (SDT) may be reversed as the gender revolution enters its second half by including men more centrally in the family. We develop a theoretical argument about the emerging consequences of this stage of the gender revolution and review research results that bear on it. The argument compares the determinants and consequences of recent family trends in industrialized societies provided by two narratives: the SDT and the gender revolution in the public and private spheres. Our argument examines differences in theoretical foundations and positive vs. negative implications for the future. We focus primarily on the growing evidence for turnarounds in the relationships between measures of women's human capital and union formation, fertility, and union dissolution, and consider evidence that men's home involvement increases union formation and fertility and decreases union instability. Although the family trends underlying the SDT and the gender revolution narratives are ongoing and a convincing view of the phenomenon has not yet emerged, the wide range of recent research results documenting changing, even reversing relationships suggests that the gender approach is increasingly the more fruitful one.
Maternal gatekeeping is conceptualized within the framework of the social construction of gender and it defined as having three dimensions: mothers' reluctance to relinquish responsibility over family matters by setting rigid standards, external validation of a mothering identity, and differentiated conceptions of family roles. These three conceptual dimensions of gatekeeping are operationalized with modest reliability and tested with a confirmatory factor analysis on a sample of 622 dual-earner mothers. With cluster analyses, 21% of the mothers were classified as gatekeepers. Gatekeepers did 5 more hours of family work per week and had less equal divisions of labor than women classified as collaborators.
Empirical research within critical psychology is strongly associated with the use of qualitative methods. In the field of qualitative psychology a distinction can be made between experiential and critical approaches (Braun & Clarke, 2012a, Reicher, 2000), both of which involve some kind of critique of mainstream psychology. Experiential approaches aim to capture participants’ experiences and perspectives and ground research in participants’ accounts, rather than researcher’s categories, but view language as a reflection of “internal categories of understanding” (Reicher, 2000: 3), and so assume it is possible to ‘read off’ participants’ thoughts, feelings and practices from their use of language. By contrast, critical approaches challenge what experiential approaches have in common with mainstream psychology – the assumption that language is only of interest as a description of inner states. Critical approaches (usually some version of discourse analysis) understand and analyse language as something that is constitutive, rather than reflective, of our social and psychological words, as a form of social action. One of the most common qualitative methods is (some form of) thematic analysis (TA); however, there is debate about whether TA is an experiential or a critical approach, and thus an appropriate analytic method for critical psychology.
This article gives specific steps on how to create a codebook for coding interview data. The authors examine the development of theory- and data-driven codes through the discussion of a professional development (PD) research project. They also discuss how to train others to code using the codebook, including how to establish reliability. The authors end with practical suggestions from their experiences in creating a codebook.
Thematic analysis is a poorly demarcated, rarely acknowledged, yet widely used qualitative analytic method within psychology. In this paper, we argue that it offers an accessible and theoretically flexible approach to analysing qualitative data. We outline what thematic analysis is, locating it in relation to other qualitative analytic methods that search for themes or patterns, and in relation to different epistemological and ontological positions. We then provide clear guidelines to those wanting to start thematic analysis, or conduct it in a more deliberate and rigorous way, and consider potential pitfalls in conducting thematic analysis. Finally, we outline the disadvantages and advantages of thematic analysis. We conclude by advocating thematic analysis as a useful and flexible method for qualitative research in and beyond psychology.
explore the limits of a perspective of fathering rooted in deficit thinking / document briefly the existence of the deficit paradigm in scholarly and clinical work on fathering / delineate the limits we perceive in thinking about fathers from within the deficit paradigm, or more precisely, from a specific form of the deficit paradigm that we label the 'role-inadequacy perspective'
the existence of a deficit paradigm [the "diminishing culture" of fatherhood, the "emotionally challenged" father, fathers "underinvolvement" in domestic labor] / a critique of the role-inadequacy perspective of fathering [overemphasis on fathers' inadequacies, overreliance on the metaphor of role] (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Parent-child play interactions in the first years of life are linked to more positive cognitive and socio-emotional outcomes for children. The vast majority of previous research has focussed on mother-infant play interactions, but the potential positive role of fathers’ early involvement in children’s lives is being increasingly recognised, with higher levels of caregiving by fathers in many countries. To characterise the nature and potential impact of father-child play we undertook a systematic review of the published literature in psychological and educational databases up until 2018. We focussed on studies addressing the frequency and characteristics of fathers’ play with children (aged 0–3 years), and the potential impact on children’s development. We screened 436 articles, yielding 78 papers addressing the questions of interest. There are 3 key findings. First, fathers spend a significant proportion of their time with their children engaging in playful interactions, often in the form of physical play such as rough and tumble. Second, whilst findings are mixed, on balance the evidence suggests that fathers’ play frequency increases from infancy to preschool age with a subsequent decline in play as children reach early- middle childhood. Third, studies investigating links between fathers’ play and child outcomes suggest that fathers’ play in the early years can positively contribute to children’s social, emotional and cognitive outcomes. This potential for substantial benefit for children provides a clear imperative for policy makers and practitioners to facilitate and support fathers, as well as mothers, in developing more positive and playful interactions with their infants.
Objective
To examine sources of theoretical variation in youth and caregiver perceptions of nonresident father involvement.
Background
Relationship complexity and environmental factors can result in complicated trajectories of father involvement. We examined both caregiver and youth perceptions of nonresident father–child relationships among low‐income, single‐parent families that were often affected by paternal incarceration.
Method
The present study drew from a sample of families served by a Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) program in a metropolitan region of a Mid‐Atlantic state. In‐depth interviews with 27 caregivers and their 33 children were the basis of a qualitative analysis.
Results
Findings revealed 4 typologies of perceived father involvement: disengaged, sporadic, encouraged, and engaged. Description was thickest regarding the complexities paternal incarceration posed for nonresident fathers' relationships with children and caregivers' attempts to mediate between children and fathers.
Conclusion
Narratives about nonresident fathers were situated within complicated ecologies of environmental press such as incarceration, geographic separation, and relationship quality challenges that changed as families adapted to new realities and shifts in kin networks. Maternal mediation between children and their fathers was not a simple judgment and driven by real concerns about children's well‐being in highly stigmatized environments or older youths' contact preferences.
Implications
Caregivers' concerns about children's fathers need to be understood as part of any programmatic efforts aimed at enhancing coparenting in nonresident‐father families. Families with encouraged forms of nonresident‐father involvement might be particularly receptive to intervention aimed at facilitating positive father–child relationships.
Within the context of kinship care, the main objectives of this work are to study the characteristics of contact between foster children and their birth parents, and their relationship with key variables of fostering, the children and their kinship caregivers. The sample included 189 children from Spain and their kinship families. A semi-structured placement interview and two scales relating to the child–caregiver relationship and child's psychological adjustment were used with the kinship families. The results revealed a significant percentage of foster children who had no family contact. Various visit types, frequencies and durations were described. Kinship care with contact, compared with placements without contact, was frequently characterized by the absence of professional supervision, and an affectionate child–caregiver relationship; moreover, children with contact were perceived to have fewer serious behaviour and socio-emotional problems and a greater probability of family reunification. The regression analysis showed that the main predictors for how caregivers assessed contact were the children's emotional reaction during visits and the quality of the relationship between the kinship families and the birth parents. These results suggest the need for further research about contact, which will certainly have a major impact on professional intervention with these families.
Informal kinship caregivers provide the majority of out of home care to children who can no longer safely stay with their biological parent. Yet their parenting challenges are understudied since they are often left out from child welfare and other service systems. This mixed methods study, using a survey and focus groups of grandparent and other kin, examined predictors and sources of parenting stress. Quantitative findings suggested that the kinship family's needs and the caregiver's health and emotional well-being adversely affected parenting stress. Grandparent caregivers experienced an elevated level of parenting stress compared to other kin caregivers. Qualitative findings suggested that financial strains, concerns over children's behavior, navigating service systems and difficult relationships with birth parents contributed to their stress. It appeared that grandparent caregivers faced special challenges due to generational gaps, guilt and concerns over birth parents.
Fathers' roles in family life have changed dramatically over the past 50 years. In addition to ongoing breadwinning responsibilities, many fathers are now involved in direct caregiving and engagement with children. Yet there is considerable variation in what fathers do, especially depending on whether they live with or away from their child. In this article, the authors use data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 3,869) to describe how fathers' economic capacities (money) and direct involvement with children (time) are associated over child ages 1 to 9 for resident versus nonresident fathers, net of confounding factors. They found suggestive evidence that money and time investments operate differently across residential contexts: Resident fathers experience a trade-off between market work and time involved with children. In contrast, nonresident fathers' higher economic capacities are associated with more time involvement, underscoring the greater challenge for such fathers to remain actively involved.
African American fathers are increasingly documented as being involved with their children and engaging in roles that include child socialization. Yet, we have limited knowledge about the values African American fathers seek to instill in their children or the mechanism through which they transmit these values. Therefore, our objective was to explore, from African American fathers’ perspectives, the values they seek to instill within their sons. Participants included 30 self-identified, African American, biological fathers of preadolescent sons at broad risk for developing aggressive behaviors, depressive symptoms, or both. The fathers participated in semistructured, qualitative interviews based on a topic guide that was developed a priori. Informed by grounded theory analysis methods, emergent themes were systematically identified by the research team. Five themes and 4 subthemes emerged from the data. The first 4 themes reflected values fathers aimed to instill in their sons: cultural messages (subthemes: cultural pride, managing racism), education (subthemes: educational attainment, social intelligence, and exposure), respect, and responsibility. The fifth theme, modeling, represented a mechanism through which fathers taught these important values. The findings provide invaluable insight, from the perspectives of fathers, into the cultural and gendered contexts that shape the values African American fathers seek to instill in their sons. An increased understanding of what is most important to fathers may be instrumental in the engagement and retention of African American fathers in prevention programs. Implications for prevention programs and future research are discussed.
The expanding consensus about the advantages of two-parent families, together with the rising number of children growing up without the presence of both parents, has stimulated policy-makers to look for ways of increasing fathers' involvement. This paper examines two sets of questions relevant to these policy initiatives. The first concerns the patterns of involvement between fathers and children born outside of marriage. The paper defines father involvement as a continuum ranging from no visitation, to frequent visitation, to co-residence with the child, and to co-residence along with marrying the mother. We examine this involvement in specific years and over time. One key finding is that most fathers of nonmarital children in their late twenties and early thirties are highly involved with at least one of their nonmarital children. In addition, we find that cohabiting relationships and frequent visitation are often unstable, sometimes changing toward lower involvement, while in other cases changing toward higher degrees of involvement. A second question we address in this paper is whether father involvement leads to increased earnings. We find a positive relationship between increased involvement of fathers and their subsequent hours of work and earnings.
This research item refers to 2 chapters of mine which appeared in the book titled The Role of the Father in Child Development (2010). (ResearchGate lists book chapters with the title of the book that included the chapter.) #1 is “Paternal involvement: Revised conceptualization and theoretical linkages with child outcomes.“ #2 is “Fatherhood and masculinity.” I have made these two chapters available on ResearchGate under those chapter titles. (Google Scholar also lists the 2010 book title as one of my publications.)
Nonresident fathers have been shown to have much higher psychological distress than married parents with rates similar to or higher than those of single mothers. This study explores how aspects of the father–child relationship influence nonresident fathers’ psychological distress using the 1997 Child Development Supplement of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Using a structural equation model, this study finds that, other than being married, only father–child relationship quality has a direct influence on nonresident fathers’ psychological distress. Conflict with the mother, talking to the child, and the salience of the fatherhood role all influence psychological distress indirectly through father–child relationship quality.
A meta-analysis was undertaken, including 66 studies, to determine the relationship between father involvement and the educational outcomes of urban school children. Statistical analyses were done to determine the overall impact and specific components of father involvement. The possible differing effects of paternal involvement by race were also examined. The results indicate that the association between father involvement and the educational outcomes of youth overall is significant statistically. Paternal involvement, as a whole, yielded effect sizes of usually just under .2 of a standard deviation unit. The positive effects of father involvement held for both White and minority children.
Although a growing literature identifies how they contribute to the well-being of their children, African American fathers have largely been ignored in child welfare intervention research. Using data from interviews with caseworkers in two agencies, this article describes the extent to which 74 African American fathers participated in services on behalf of children placed in kinship foster homes because of abuse, neglect, or dependency. The data revealed that few fathers were involved in case assessments, case planning, or receipt of services. Caseworkers usually did not pursue paternal involvement or identify lack of participation as a professional concern. The article explores possible explanations for the low participation and identifies practice and policy changes that would increase fathers' involvement. The article also argues for more research into this neglected topic.
The percentage of children in the United States living apart from their biological father has increased, while public assistance for single mothers has diminished. This has resulted in a need to better understand and promote nonresident fathers' economic support of their children. In the present study the author used data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 1,752) to examine how coparenting—the degree to which parents are mutually supportive and cooperative in raising their child—is related to nonresident fathers' monetary contributions. Results from pooled regression and fixed effects models indicate that coparenting is positively associated with fathers' likelihood of paying formal and informal child support and the amount of these payments. Findings from cross-lagged structural equation models suggest that the association between coparenting and fathers' payments is reciprocal but that coparenting has a stronger effect on fathers' payments than fathers' payments do on coparenting.
This Bench Book summarizes theory, research, and a forensic assessment model of parental gatekeeping relevant for understanding and resolving child custody disputes. This concise format is geared primarily as a resource for judges, though it may be equally valuable to evaluators, parenting coordinators, and others. Gatekeeping encompasses a common statutory factor of support for the other parent–child relationship. The gatekeeping model includes a continuum ranging from facilitative to restrictive gatekeeping. Behavioral examples are presented. Implications of a gatekeeping analysis for crafting parenting plans are described, including in relocation cases and when there has been a history of intimate partner violence.
Limited understandings exist about non-resident fathers' views of their involvement with their children in foster care placements. Guided by the ecological systems framework, the purpose of this exploratory study was to gain insights into fathers' perceptions of their involvement with a child in foster care. Data were collected from demographic questionnaires and two focus groups with 17 men. Fathers expressed how kinship compared with non-kinship placements affected their involvement. Fathers were also in agreement that their financial hardships were a significant factor affecting their involvement. Several fathers also reported how they experienced discrimination in the child welfare system as men. Surprisingly, uncommon to findings from other studies, few men viewed the child's mother as being a barrier to their involvement. The findings provide insights into factors requiring attention to help non-residential fathers become involved with their children.
The current study, utilizing data from the National Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project (Love et al., 2005) explored the relationship between biological father presence and emotion regulation over toddlerhood among children from low-income families. Conceptualizing biological father presence as a proxy for family role development, results are interpreted from a role development theoretical perspective. The latent growth curve model was compared based on child ethnoracial status (African American, Caucasian, Hispanic) and child gender. Consistent biological father presence was associated with toddlers' regulatory development across toddlerhood, and this relationship was most robust among Caucasian toddlers as compared to African American toddlers. Findings for Hispanic toddlers were not significantly different from those of Caucasian or African American families. Results bolster the literature on father presence and child outcomes. Analyses address consistency in father presence as a proxy for coherent role development and define a link between consistent father presence and children's regulatory development, demonstrating ethnoracial differences which are likely attributed to the social construction of family roles.
© 2014 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.
Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, we examined patterns of nonresident father involvement 1 and 3 years after a nonmarital birth (N = 893). Cluster analyses were used to determine patterns of involvement across different father behaviors. About half of fathers displayed low involvement when children were 1 and 3 years old, one fourth of fathers maintained high involvement, and equal remaining proportions increased or decreased involvement over time. Multinomial logistic analyses indicated that better relationships between parents were associated with consistently high versus low involvement. Better relationships with each others’ extended family also predicted remaining highly involved and increasing involvement over time. Parents’ romantic relationship status was closely associated with patterns of involvement.
This article offers a new definition and an expanded conceptual model of maternal gatekeeping derived from the extant literature and critiques offered by scholars and applied to fathering. Typically, maternal gatekeeping is conceptualized as the mothers' ability to restrict fathers' involvement with children. We redefine maternal gatekeeping as a set of complex behavioral interactions between parents, where mothers influence father involvement through their use of controlling, facilitative, and restrictive behaviors directed at father's childrearing and interaction with children on a regular and consistent basis. We propose a three-dimensional model (control, encouragement, and discouragement) in which each dimension operates along continua and intersects to result in 8 types of gatekeeping. We explain these types and describe examples of behaviors in terms of their influence on father involvement. We end with suggestions for developing a measure of maternal gatekeeping and for applying the model to better understand how gatekeeping influences and is influenced by family patterns and characteristics.
Objective:
This report measures fathers' involvement with their children. Father involvement is measured by how often a man participated in a set of activities in the last 4 weeks with children who were living with him and with children who were living apart from him. Involvement is measured separately for children aged 0-4 years and children aged 5-18 years. Increased involvement of fathers in their children's lives has been associated with a range of positive outcomes for the children.
Methods:
The analyses presented in this report are based on a nationally representative sample of 10,403 men aged 15-44 years in the household population of the United States. The father-involvement measures are based on 2,200 fathers of children under age 5-1,790 who live with their children and 410 who live apart from their children, and on 3,166 fathers of children aged 5-18-2,091 who live with their children and 1,075 who live apart from their children.
Results:
Statistics are presented on the frequency with which fathers took part in a set of age-specific activities in their children's lives. Differences in percent distributions are found by whether the father lives with or apart from his children, and by his demographic characteristics. In general, fathers living with their children participated in their children's lives to a greater degree than fathers who live apart from their children. Differences in fathers' involvement with their children were also found by the father's age, marital or cohabiting status, education, and Hispanic origin and race.
Using a longitudinal sample of 522 biological, never-married, nonresident fathers from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, this article examines the factors associated with fathers’ coparenting 36 months after a birth. Ordinary least squares regression models indicate never-married, nonresident fathers are less likely to perceive high coparental supportiveness if they have ever been incarcerated, if they have completed high school, if they have a greater number of children with the child’s mother, if the mother has lower levels of education, if they are not in a relationship with the focal child’s mother, if they have a new partner, and if they see their child more frequently. In contrast, more supportive coparental relationships are perceived among fathers with higher incomes, with higher education, who are employed, with a male child, and who provide informal support. This study provides continuing evidence that several aspects of nonresident men’s lives have important influences on their coparenting.
Since Amato and Gilbreth's (1999) meta-analysis of nonresident father involvement and child well-being, nonmarital childbirths and nonresident father involvement both have increased. The unknown implications of such changes motivated the present study, a meta-analytic review of 52 studies of nonresident father involvement and child well-being. Consistent with Amato and Gilbreth, we found that positive forms of involvement were associated with benefits for children, with a small but statistically significant effect size. Amounts of father-child contact and financial provision, however, were not associated with child well-being. Going beyond Amato and Gilbreth, we analyzed the associations between different types of fathering and overall child well-being, and between overall father involvement and different types of child well-being. We found that nonresident father involvement was most strongly associated with children's social well-being and also was associated with children's emotional well-being, academic achievement, and behavioral adjustment. The forms of father involvement most strongly associated with child well-being were involvement in child-related activities, having positive father-child relationships, and engaging in multiple forms of involvement. Moderator analyses demonstrated variation in effect sizes based on both study characteristics and demographic variables. We discuss the implications of these findings for policy and practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved).
Although many fathers today spend more time with children than was the case in the past, physical care of young children remains primarily mothers’ work. Yet some fathers claim that they do work traditionally seen as the “mother’s job” every day. Using subsample data from the male respondent file of the National Survey of Family Growth 2002 (n = 613), this study examines factors associated with married or cohabiting fathers’ daily involvement in physical care of children under age 5 years. Logistic regression results show that daily involvement is more likely if fathers were raised by their biological fathers, received more education, have employed wives or partners, have a young male child, or receive public assistance; it is less likely if they have school-age children. This study suggests that paternal involvement in physical care of young children is shaped by multiple factors including childhood experiences, education, economic conditions, and current family context.
We use longitudinal survey and qualitative information from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to examine how risk factors such as physical abuse, problematic substance use, and incarceration among unmarried fathers in the study are related to fathers' early involvement with their children. The survey results indicate that nearly half of fathers have at least one risk factor and that each risk is negatively associated with paternal involvement. The results also show that fathers with risk factors are less likely to have romantic relationships with mothers and that relationships between parents mediate associations between risk factors and fathers' involvement. Qualitative interviews with a sub-sample of mothers and fathers in the study illustrate the meaning of risks for parents and the processes through which early family outcomes occur. Parents' accounts suggest that mothers often select out of relationships they deem “unhealthy” and monitor fathers' access to children, particularly in cases of physical abuse. While some fathers with risks withdraw from children, others attempt to maintain their involvement independently or as part of a strategy with the mother to address these risks with varying success. We suggest that policies to promote marriage and responsible fatherhood be mindful that some fathers they are targeting have characteristics that may not be conducive to increased involvement while other fathers face personal and institutional barriers to involvement.
This study explored the relationships between maternal gatekeeping, mothers' perceptions of father competence, mothers' attitudes about the father role, and amount of father involvement. The sample consisted of 30 nonresidential and 72 residential fathers. The results of path analysis revealed that residential status of the father had a direct link to mothers' gatekeeping behavior. Father competence was indirectly and directly linked to amount of father involvement with children. Gatekeeping mediated the relationship between father competence and involvement. Maternal gatekeeping was causally linked to amount of father involvement.
This study explored a father's parenting role identity in nondivorced and divorced, nonresidential fathers and the relationship between role identity and involvement in child-related activities. Data were collected from 270 fathers (178 nondivorced and 92 divorced) by mail questionnaires. Differences were found between groups on three dimensions of identity: nonresidential fathers reported feeling less competent and satisfied in the role, and that the role was more salient. No differences were found on role investment. Higher scores on role identity typically were associated with more frequent involvement with children. The dimensions of father parenting role identity except salience and marital status made significant contributions to predicting involvement. Marital status moderated the relationship between competence and involvement, such that the relationship was stronger for divorced, nonresident fathers.
We examine the importance of the coparental relationship for nonresident fathers’ ties to their children. Using data from Wave 2 of the National Survey of Families and Households, we focus on the link between two dimensions of coparenting, cooperative coparenting and conflict over childrearing, and three dimensions of nonresident father involvement, contact, relationship quality, and responsive fathering. Cooperative coparenting predicts more frequent father-child contact, which in turn predicts higher relationship quality and more responsive fathering. Conflict over childrearing, however, is not significantly related to nonresident father involvement. Findings are consistent across different groups of children. Results suggest that cooperative coparenting between parents who live apart is associated with stronger ties between nonresident fathers and their children.
Custodial fathers' engagement activities with their minor children are examined with data for heterosexual couples from the National Survey of Families and Households. Analyses focus on men who are currently living with a wife or nonlegal partner, and are conducted separately for fathers with children aged 0-4, 2-4, and 5-18. Fathers' and wives'/partners' level of education and fathers' work/scheduling hours were related to paternal involvement for selected models. However, analyses of these data, contrary to much of the previous research in this area, revealed that characteristics associated with wives'/partners' work scheduling status, number of hours worked, occupational prestige, percentage of couple income, and gender role attitudes were seldom, if ever, related to various models of fathers' engagement activities with their children. The strongest and most consistent predictors of paternal involvement with children 5-18 years of age were children's characteristics: age, number, biological status, and gender composition. Paternal involvement in leisure, playing and project activities, and private talks was positively related to having only male children living in the household, while fathers with only biological children were more likely to engage in playing and project activities and private talks with their children.
In this study, time diary data are used to assess trends in mothers' and fathers' child care time from the mid-1960s to the late 1990s. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the results indicate that both mothers and fathers report spending greater amounts of time in child care activities in the late 1990s than in the "family-oriented" 1960s. For mothers, there was a 1965-75 decline in routine child care time and then a 1975-98 rebound along with a steady increase in time doing more developmental activities. For 1998 fathers report increased participation in routine child care as well as in more "fun" activities. The ratio of married mothers' to married fathers' time in child care declined in all primary child care activities. These results suggest that parents have undergone a behavioral change that has more than countered family change that might otherwise have reduced time with children.
Even though child placement agencies have come to recognize that kinship care provides continuity for the child's familial and cultural relationships, what is needed is a well-defined model for service delivery in kinship programs - one that provides a system of services to the child, biological parent, and relative caregiver as a union. This article describes one such time-limited model of service delivery that uses a family preservation approach and focuses on permanency for the child within a cultural context.