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Journal Article The dramatic increase in nonmarital births in the United States cannot be written off as a simple “lifestyle choice” that has no implications for child well-being. Nor is it simply a result of a rise in casual sexual encounters. The vast majority of children born outside of marriage are born to parents in committed yet fragile relationships. Our challenge in this volume is to explore the ramifications of this new reality and to fashion policy recommendations that reduce the number of fragile families in the first place, and that ensure that children born into fragile families receive the…
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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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These tables look at the demographic characteristics of the adult population 15 years and older. They describe the current marital status of people in the United States for selected age and earnings groups, as well as living arrangements and characteristics of parents with coresident children under 18. (Author abstract)
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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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These resources from Break the Cycle are designed to help educators and parents guide conversations with children and youth in grades K-12 about healthy relationships. There are also complementary resources for students around these topics.
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Capacity for this tool refers to the information, skills, resources, abilities, and supports needed to develop, evaluate, and sustain a public health approach to prevent teen dating violence. Dating Matters Capacity Assessment and Planning Tool (DM-CAPT) is a free online tool that allows comprehensive teen dating prevention initiatives to assess their capacity to implement comprehensive teen dating violence prevention programs by surveying stakeholders. The insights learned from using this tool will assist teen dating violence prevention initiatives in identifying strengths and areas for…
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Training Materials Dating Matters is a free, online course available to educators, school personnel, youth mentors, and others dedicated to improving teen health. The course follows a school administrator through his day as he highlights what teen dating violence is and how to prevent it through graphic novel scenarios, interactive exercises, and information fathers from leading experts. (Modified Author Abstract)
