The effects of involved nonresidential fathers' distress, parenting behaviors, interparental conflict, and the quality of father-child relationships on children's well-being

Fathering, Fall, 2006 by Scott E. Harper, Mark A. Fine

Based on data from the 1997 Child Development Supplement to the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, the present study examined a sample of 129 non-resident fathers who had regular contact with their young children to determine how father involvement and father distress are related to children's well-being. Results revealed a negative relationship between father distress and child well being, with, based on father reports, daughters being more affected than sons. A negative relationship was also found between inter-parent conflict and child well being. Further, there was a positive relationship between paternal warmth and child well-being and higher levels of father-child relationship quality were related to higher levels of child well-being. In terms of racial subgroup analyses, limit setting was a positive predictor of child well-being only among African-American children.

Keywords: nonresidential fathers, father involvement, paternal behaviors, father-child relationship quality, fathers' distress

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Due to high rates of divorce and unwed pregnancies, many children are being raised in households without a biological father. Based on their review of the literature on nonresident father involvement, Amato and Gilbreth (1999) suggested that the majority of past research has examined involvement in terms of frequency of contact and financial support. In recent years, an emerging literature has focused on issues of quality, such as the context of parent-child contact, the parenting behaviors of the father, and the nature of the relationship between father and child. In this study, we examined relations among inter-parent conflict, paternal distress, paternal behaviors (warmth, limit setting), father-child relationship quality, and child well-being in a sample of nonresident fathers with regular contact with their children.

Theoretical Perspective

According to identity theory, the meaning and importance that a nonresident father ascribes to certain roles will aid in the formation of his identity. A key premise of identity theory is that the nature of the man's identity regarding his role as a father will partly determine how he behaves toward his children, including the extent to which he exhibits warmth to his children and engages in limit-setting behaviors. Furthermore, the manner in which the father negotiates the change in his identity away from being a husband or partner to the child's mother to being a co-parent with her is likely to affect not only how he parents his children, but also the amount of conflict that he has with the child's mother. Accordingly, in the model tested in this study, we posited that a man's paternal identity, fathering behaviors, and parenting experiences will influence his own psychological health (i.e., level of psychological distress), the level of conflict that he has with the child's mother, and the quality of his relationship with his children. Finally, our model suggests that all of these factors--fathering behaviors, psychological distress, inter-parent conflict, and father-child relationship quality--affect the child's overall well-being. Thus, by directing us to focus on the father's parenting behaviors and how these are related to his level of distress, the extent of conflict with the child's mother, the quality of his relationship with his child, and ultimately the child's overall well-being, identity theory formed the foundation upon which the models tested in this study were based.

With specific reference to nonresidential fathers, societal and institutional norms can either help clarify or confuse the role that they construct for themselves. With the majority of societal norms and guidelines focused on residential parenting, the role of nonresident father can be quite ambiguous. For a father who is separated or divorced, the transition from being a residential to nonresidential parent can have an especially dramatic effect on his identity (Ihinger-Talman, Pasley, & Buehler, 1993). Baum (2004) suggested that the identity of divorced fathers is often tied to the relationship that they had with the mother and children prior to the marital breakup. Many of these men remain connected with certain aspects of their past role, but may have difficulty in redefining or building new identities. As a result, Baum indicated that these fathers often experience problems in such areas as continued conflict with the ex-spouse, psychological distress, and eventual disengagement from children.

Role ambiguity is also apparent among never married fathers. While divorced fathers have shared the same household with the child at some point, many never married fathers have not. Never married fathers have few legal rights regarding how the child is raised, and matters of visitation and child support are often arranged through informal agreements. Few norms or guidelines are present for these fathers. Certain social networks may encourage these men to not take responsibility for their child (Andersen, 1993). Thus, the meanings that never married fathers attach to fatherhood may be different from those of previously married fathers. Consequently, in this study, we considered whether or not the nonresident father was never married or divorced.