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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 "Fatherhood, Cohabitation, and Marriage," Wade F. Horn, Assistant Secretary for Children and Families at the Department of Health and Human Services, summarizes the importance of fathers to child well-being. He explains that "fatherlessness is a significant risk factor for poor developmental outcomes for children." This connection has led some observers to view cohabitation as a substitute or at least an alternative to marriage. Horn argues, however, that marriage is the best option for children and that cohabitation is a weak family structure compared with marriage. Children in households…
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Journal Article The present study was conducted to investigate differences in nurturant fathering, father involvement, and young adult psychosocial functioning among small samples of three nontraditional family forms. A total of 168 young-adult university students from three family forms (27 adoptive, 22 adoptive stepfather, 119 nonadoptive stepfather) completed retrospective measures of nurturant fathering and father involvement and measures of current psychosocial functioning. Results indicated that adoptive fathers were rated as the most nurturant and involved and that nonadoptive stepfathers were…
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Journal Article This article uses a sample of 867 African American households to investigate differences in parenting practices and child outcomes by type of household. Results indicate that mothers provide similar levels of parenting regardless of family structure. Secondary caregivers, however, show a great deal of variation in quality of parenting. Fathers and grandmothers engage in the highest quality parenting, stepfathers the poorest, with other relatives falling in between. These differences in parenting do not explain family structure differences in child behavior problems. Results suggest that…
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Journal Article This study explores the meaning of fathering among men identified as fathers or father figures of 24-month-old children enrolled in Early Head Start research sites. Fathers were asked open-ended questions about their experiences of being fathers and their relationships with their own fathers. These men spoke of how important "being there" was for them in their relationship with their child as well as how the relationship with their own fathers influenced them as a parent. This study supports the theory of intergenerational parenting and furthers our knowledge and understanding of what some…
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Journal Article This journal issue discusses the findings from the Early Head Start Father Studies, a series of studies that investigated activities that fathers engage in with their infants and toddlers, how fathers express responsibility for their children, and the types of social, human, and financial capital that fathers afford their children. In the studies, fathers were also asked questions on how men perceive the father role, their experiences with the own fathers, and the support they need to be a father. Specifically, articles in the issue discuss: the project's methods and research questions; low-…
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Journal Article This study compared perceptions of personal distress, interpersonal and marital problems, and aspects of family climate of maltreating fathers and mothers. Subjects were 2841 offenders (1918 of whom were fathers or father-figures) who were identified and treated by the USAF Family Advocacy Program between 1988 and 1996. Independent variables for the analysis were parent sex (mother vs. father) as well as type and severity of maltreatment, history of repeat offenses, and history of abuse in childhood. Maltreating mothers were more distressed and reported more problems from individuals outside…
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Journal Article The objective of this study was to gain a better understanding of how low-income fathers of young children think about their role as fathers. We conducted a qualitative inquiry into the beliefs of fathers of 24-month-old children about what "good fatherhood" means to them. The 575 open-ended interviews, collected in 14 Early Head Start Fathers of Toddlers Qualitative Interview Substudy sites around the United States were analyzed using NUD*IST qualitative software to code and categorize the various roles fathers identified as important to them and their children. Four broad types of roles…
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Journal Article This study examined parenting patterns in a sample of low-income couples and the impact of those patterns on young children's cognitive outcomes. Interactions between 237 mothers, fathers, and their 2-year-old children were examined among coresident mothers and fathers or father figures who participated in the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project's Father and Child Interaction During Toddlerhood Study (FACITS). Scores on 6 parenting scales were entered into K-means cluster analyses to determine whether different parenting patterns emerged by gender. Analyses of covariance were…
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Journal Article Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, the authors explore how aspects of stepfather involvement are related to adolescent well-being and whether these relationships depend on maternal involvement, non-residential father involvement, or amount of time in the household. Results indicate that a close, nonconflictual stepfather-stepchild relationship improves adolescent well-being, but it is most beneficial when the adolescent also has a close, nonconflictual mother-child relationship. Engaging in shared activities with the stepfather decreases depression when the…
