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Journal Article Coparenting relationship quality and father involvement are closely linked but few studies have investigated this relationship using samples of socioeconomically disadvantaged families. The current study used family systems theory to examine the longitudinal and bidirectional relations between coparenting relationship quality and father engagement in caregiving and play, using a large and racially diverse sample of low-income residential and nonresidential fathers in the Building Strong Families project (N = 1,908). Structural equation modeling tested cross-lagged relations between couple-…
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Journal Article The experiences of mothers and fathers are different in ways that could affect their well-being. Yet few studies have comprehensively examined gender differences in parents’ well-being. In the current research, we investigated such gender differences in a large representative sample (Study 1a; N = 13,007), in a community sample using validated well-being measures (Study 1b; N = 472), and in a large experience sampling study measuring happiness during caregiving activities and during interactions with children (Study 2; N = 4,930). Fathers reported greater happiness, subjective well-being,…
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Journal Article A total of 82 separated and divorced fathers were interviewed in a study utilizing thematic analysis to examine fathers’ narratives about their divorce experiences, particularly in regard to their relationship with their children, and grounded theory analysis to uncover themes related to fathers’ perceptions of their children’s needs, and parental and social institutional responsibilities to these needs, during the divorce transition. We found that contextual factors, particularly the legal custody determination process, largely determine both the level of paternal involvement and quality…
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Journal Article Research has begun to examine the consequences of paternity leave, focusing primarily on whether paternity leave-taking increases father involvement. Yet, other consequences of paternity leave-taking have not been considered using US data. This study uses longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to examine whether fathers’ time off from work after the birth of a child is associated with relationship quality, relationship support, and coparenting quality. We also consider whether these relationships are mediated by father involvement. Results suggest that…
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Journal Article This longitudinal study focused on fathers' involvement from the prenatal period through infants' first year in Dominican immigrants (n = 73), Mexican immigrants (n = 65) and African Americans (n = 66) residing in New York City. Fathers' prenatal involvement, the quality of the mother-father relationship, fathers' postnatal involvement with their 1- and 6 month olds and fathers' involvement with their 14 month-olds (i.e., time spent with infant; eating meals with infant; activities with infant) were examined. Father involvement was uniformly high and stable. Fathers' prenatal involvement…
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Journal Article An examination of the content and processes of evidence-based programs is critical for empirically evaluating theories about how programs work, the “action theory” of the program (West et al. in American Journal of Community Psychology, 21, 571–605, 1993). The New Beginnings Program (NBP; Wolchik et al., 2007), a parenting-after-divorce preventive intervention, theorizes that program-induced improvements in parenting across three domains: positive relationship quality, effective discipline, and protecting children from interparental conflict, will reduce the negative outcomes that are common…
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Journal Article The public health impact of evidence-based, preventive parenting interventions has been severely constrained by low rates of participation when interventions are delivered under natural conditions. It is critical that prevention scientists develop effective and feasible parent engagement methods. This study tested video-based methods for engaging parents into an evidence-based program for divorcing parents. Three alternative versions of a video were created to test the incremental effectiveness of different theory-based engagement strategies based on social influence and health behavior…
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Journal Article In spite of the rising prevalence of marital dissolution in Asia over the past decades, little is known about single-parent families in Asia. The present study aims to contribute to the literature by investigating the changing socioeconomic characteristics and parental involvement (measured by parent-child activities and parental awareness of children) of single-father and single-mother families in Taiwan around the millennium. Using a nationally representative sample of 641 single fathers and 730 single mothers from the Taiwan Social Trend Survey collected in 1998, 2002 and 2006, this study…
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Journal Article Young parents (less than 25 years of age) have been shown to have especially low rates of father involvement and union stability. However, research has also shown that parenting experiences of young fathers may not be uniform. There is a need for more research that assesses both the multidimensionality of relationship typologies and their temporality. Using a large longitudinal sample of low-income, young mothers enrolled in a randomized control study of a home-visitation program (n = 704; 61% program, 39% control), we evaluated how mother-father relationship dynamics changed over time. Ten…
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Journal Article We focused on coparenting support, partner relationship quality, and father engagement in families with young children that did not change structurally over 4 years of participation in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing study (N = 1,756). There was a significantly stronger and more robust positive association between fathers' perceived coparenting support at age 1 and father engagement at age 3 among nonresidential nonromantic parents compared with residential (married or cohabiting) and nonresidential romantic parents. There was a significantly stronger and positive association…
