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Journal Article With a large and growing share of American families now forming outside of marriage, triangular infant-mother-father relationship systems in "fragile families" have begun to attract the interest of family scholars and clinicians. A relatively novel conceptualization has concerned the feasibility of intervening to support the development of a sustained and positive coparenting alliance between mothers and fathers who have not made an enduring relationship commitment to one another. At this point in time, there are very few published outcome studies of programs explicitly conceived to help…
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Journal Article This article reports on findings from a study of 989 fathers of school-going children aged 10 through 16 from intact families in rural and urban areas in Selangor, Malaysia. The study aims to explore the factors that affect father involvement among Malay Muslims. Results indicate that fathers' education, marital quality, and number of children are significantly related to their involvement in children's lives. Fathers' perceptions of their own fathers' involvement when they were young is also positively associated with their involvement with children, supporting the concept of…
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Journal Article The current study represents a novel test of parenting outcomes among participants in couple and relationship education (CRE). Utilizing a systems theory framework and empirical linkages between couple functioning and parenting, this study examined the extent to which several parenting dimensions (coparenting conflict, parental involvement, and positive discipline practices) change after CRE participation and, importantly, whether and how these changes are related to changes in dimensions of couple functioning. In a sample of 623 adult parents, diverse in gender, race, and marital status,…
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Journal Article Accounts of fathers' reluctance to engage with locally based family learning groups rarely acknowledge the relationship between learning and identity. This tends not to be the case in parallel accounts of women's reluctance to become involved in groups or networks where the mainstream clientele is male. Drawing on the case study of a national initiative aimed at developing family literacy in local communities throughout the UK, it is argued that decisions to join or not to join these groups is primarily social and cultural rather than individual. This means that the attendance of fathers…