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Journal Article This article opens a window into the first eight months of therapeutic work with two very different families as the men struggle to adapt to their new role of primary caregiver. Written from the therapist's viewpoint, the article highlights the interplay between the psycho -dynamic work and concrete, case management tasks during a period of crisis. These complementary interventions have supported the families as they acknowledge the death of a mother, manage emotional and concrete needs, and move towards developing a new family structure. The cases are presented as they have evolved through…
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Journal Article The study includes a longitudinal sample of 1,989 fathers from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing study and examines factors associated with fathering a higher-order birth (three or more children) and compares these factors to those predicting any subsequent birth. Also, the article examines differences by marital status. Logistic regression analyses indicate the likelihood of fathering a higher-order birth is greater among more disadvantaged men in urban contexts, those with lower levels of education, the unmarried, minorities, and those exhibiting higher levels of depressive…
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Journal Article This article provides judges with strategies for engaging noncustodial fathers in child welfare legal proceedings. It discusses reasons for making father engagement a priority, identifying fathers and determining paternity, and monitoring agency actions to notify and support fathers. Questions are suggested for gathering father information from reluctant mothers. 30 references.
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Journal Article The second of two articles, this article focuses on specific strategies judges can use to engage fathers in and out of court, as well as strategies for engaging fathers' extended families, ensuring the safety of the mother and child, using nonadversarial decision-making processes, ensuring quality visits between fathers and their children, ensuring fathers receive parenting services, and working with incarcerated fathers. 39 references. (Author abstract modified)
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Journal Article Objective. The objectives of this study were to identify associations and pathways through which first-time resident fathers' pregnancy intentions (reported retrospectively) influence their later coparenting and to examine whether these associations varied based on the child's gender. Design. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study--Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) 9- and 24-month surveys, we examined a sample of first-time resident biological fathers (N = 1,278). Results. Having a mistimed or unwanted pregnancy is associated with higher levels of paternal depression and with lower mother…
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Journal Article In 1965, Daniel Patrick Moynihan argued that the black family was nearing "complete breakdown" due to high rates of out-of-wedlock childbearing. In subsequent decades, nonmarital childbearing rose dramatically for all racial groups and unwed fathers were often portrayed as being absent from their children's lives. The authors examine contemporary nonmarital father involvement using quantitative evidence from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study and qualitative evidence from in-depth interviews with 150 unmarried fathers. The authors find that father involvement drops sharply after…
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Journal Article Few programs to enhance fathers' engagement with children have been systematically evaluated, especially for low-income minority populations. In this study, 289 couples from primarily low-income Mexican American and European American families were randomly assigned to one of three conditions and followed for 18 months: 16-week groups for fathers, 16-week groups for couples, or a 1-time informational meeting. Compared with families in the low-dose comparison condition, intervention families showed positive effects on fathers' engagement with their children, couple relationship quality, and…
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Journal Article Following divorce or separation, father-child contact is deemed an important influence on child development. Previous research has explored the impact of sociodemographic and attitudinal factors on the amount of contact between fathers and their children following a union dissolution. This article revisits this important question using fathers' reports on a sample of 859 children from newly available survey data. Multilevel random intercept models are used to reassess the influence of child- and father-level factors on the amount of reported contact. Results show that the amount of father-…
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Journal Article This article examines the determinants of men's early parental roles, distinguishing factors that affect being a father versus being childless, and factors that affect being a resident versus a nonresident father, in the context of having a partner or not. We also consider whether these patterns have changed between 1985 and 2004. The data come from the linked Child-Mother and Young Adult Samples of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79), which provide information on the children of the NLSY79 from birth until they enter young adulthood, and from the original youth sample of…
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Journal Article We present new estimates of unwed fathers' ability to pay child support. Prior research relied on surveys that drastically undercounted nonresident unwed fathers and provided no link to their children who lived in separate households. To overcome these limitations, previous research assumed assortative mating and that each mother partnered with one father who was actually eligible to pay support and had no other child support obligations. Because the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study contains data on couples, multiple-partner fertility, and a rich array of other previously unmeasured…
