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Journal Article Taking a preventive father-inclusive approach, the Supporting Father Involvement (SFI) intervention aims to strengthen coparenting, parent–child relationships, and child outcomes. This study replicates four prior iterations of the program using the same 32-hour curriculum facilitated by clinically trained staff, case managers, and onsite child care and family meals. With its intentional outreach and inclusion of fathers, SFI offers an effective intervention for lower risk child welfare–involved families. Results argue for the utility of treating community and child welfare parents in mixed…
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Journal Article There is substantial and growing evidence to demonstrate the importance of fathers to child development and the impact of fathers’ positive or negative involvement on the health and well-being of mothers and children (Feldman, Bamberger, & Kanat-Maymon, 2013; Lamb, 2010; Lamb & Lewis, 2013), yet fathers remain underserved in parenting programs and many other domains of social work practice (Panter-Brick et al., 2014; Stahlschmidt, Threlfall, Seay, Lewis, & Kohl, 2013). Despite widespread motivation and investment in parenting on the part of fathers, service providers often face…
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Journal Article Although scholars and policy makers herald the promotive influence of fathers' parenting involvement, limited research has carefully delineated effects of fathers' parenting on low-income children's development and whether early contributions from fathers confer long-term protective effects. Using data from the Three-City Study (N = 261), analyses assessed whether fathers' parenting practices during early childhood showed long-term links with low-income children's cognitive skills through middle childhood. Results found that fathers' warm and stimulating parenting predicted enhanced reading…
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Journal Article Objectives: An increasing body of research has documented the significant influence of father involvement on children’s development and overall well-being. However, extant research has predominately focused on middle-class Caucasian samples with little examination of fathering in ethnic minority and low-income families, particularly during the infancy period. The present study evaluated measures of early father involvement (paternal engagement, accessibility, and responsibility) that were adapted to capture important cultural values relevant to the paternal role in Mexican-origin families.…
Unpublished Paper
The purpose of this study was to examine the direct, mediating, and moderating effects of nonresident fathers' involvement on children's development in poor and near-poor African American single-mother families, using a longitudinal dataset from the first three waves of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. Based on Bronfenbrenner's (1988) person-process-context ecological model, this study investigated whether nonresident fathers' involvement with poor and near-poor single mothers and their children would be associated with the mothers' parenting and the children's behavioral and…
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Journal Article Recent trends in marriage and fertility have increased the number of adults having children by more than 1 partner, a phenomenon that we refer to as multipartnered fertility. This article uses data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to examine the prevalence and correlates of multipartnered fertility among urban parents of a recent birth cohort (N = 4,300). We find that unmarried parents are much more likely to have had a child by a previous partner than married parents. Also, race/ethnicity is strongly associated with multipartnered fertility, as is mothers' young age at…
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Journal Article In this study, we examine how financial stress is associated with problem behavior in adolescents through the lives of their parents. Using an actor–partner interdependence model, we explore pathways within (actor) and between (partner) parents. Our data included 340 families, with both parents rating their financial stress, depressive symptoms, and interparental conflict, and with parents and adolescents rating parenting and problem behavior in adolescents. The results indicate that the association between financial stress and problem behavior in adolescents is mediated by depressive…
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Journal Article OBJECTIVE: To describe interactive activities between parents and young children in a nationally representative sample. We hypothesized that the frequency of participation in interactive activities would be different across economic strata and would be associated with developmental delay.METHODS: Children 4 to 36 months of age were identified by using The National Survey of Children’s Health 2011–2012. Interactive caregiving practices were reported by poverty status. Developmental concerns were derived from caregiver responses and scoring of the Parents Evaluation of Developmental Status.…
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Journal Article Following an earlier randomized clinical trial, now with broadened sample criteria, 236 low-income White, Mexican American, and African American couples participated in 16-week Supporting Father Involvement couples groups, with assessments at baseline, 2-, and 13-months postintervention. Because couples in the earlier control condition experienced no benefits and some declines in adaptation, a control condition was not offered. Data from the original couples groups (n = 96) and controls (n = 98) served as benchmarks for evaluating the current results. Of 11 measures in this study, 10 revealed…
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Journal Article In a prospective, longitudinal investigation we examined fathers' engagement in learning activities with their children in early childhood in relation to children academic performance in 5th grade. Participants were 602 low-income, ethnically diverse biological fathers and their children from the National Early Head Start evaluation study. Fathers reported on their engagement with children in learning activities as well as their residency when children were two years, three years, and of preschool age; children were assessed on receptive language, reading and math skills in 5th grade.…
