Father Involvement and Adolescent Development: Implications for Daughters

1
Father Involvement and Adolescent Development
Implications for Daughters

• Anthony Isacco, M.A.
• Loyola University Chicago
• October 19, 2006

2
A little history (for the history majors)

• Child-parent attachment (Ainsworth, Bowlby).
• Mother as primary care taker of children.
• http//video.google.com/videoplay?docid-363466447
  2704568591qattachmenthlen

3
History (cont)

• Studies on child development, parenting, etc
  include mothers and exclude fathers.
• Example Survey of Early Childhood Health study
  (2004), parental input came from the parent or
  guardian identified as the most responsible for
  the childs medical care, resulting in only 11
  of respondents being fathers

4
History cont
Often if fathers are considered, data on their
involvement is obtained from mothers
report. Examples King V. (1994). Nonresident
father involvement and child well-being Can
dads make a difference? Journal of Family
Issues, 15, 78-96. Argys, L.M., Peters, H.E.,
Brooks-Gunn J., Smith, J.R. (1998). The
impact of child support on cognitive outcomes of
young children. Demography, 35, 159-173. Yogman,
M.W., Kindlon, D., Earls, F. (1995). Father
involvement and cognitive/behavioral outcomes
of preterm infants. Journal of American Academy
of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 34, 58-66.
5
Father Involvement

• When fathers were studied, often the primary and
  only focus was on their ABSENCE 1950s and
  1960s.
• Not until 1980s, the introduction of Father
  Involvement.
• Def How much do fathers do as parents.
• Notice Not father-child attachment, but father
  involvement as the primary area of study.

6
3 Components of Father Involvement (Michael Lamb
and Joseph Pleck, 1987).

• Engagement Direct Interaction with the child Ex
  caretaking, play, leisure time.
• Accessibility how available father is to
  children.
• Responsibility Making sure that the child is
  taken care of, arranging resources for the child.
  

7
Why the introduction of Father Involvement in the
1980s?

• History majors?
• The fathers role in the family has changed in
  this post-feminist society.
• More women balance motherhood with other roles
  such as work, education, and social networks.
• A fathers role in the family is going beyond
  breadwinner to include more childcare
  responsibilities, tasks, and roles.

8
Shift in Media Portrayals of Fathers
9
(No Transcript)
10
Current Statistics on Fathers

• 66.3 million fathers in U.S. today.
• 2.3 milliom single fathers, up from 400,000 in
  1970.
• 143,000 married fathers as stay at home dads
• Final Number of dads as primary caregiver of
  children 2.43 million fathers (approx. 4).

11
Importance of Father Involvement

• Research shows that fathers are spending more
  time with their children.
• Many positive socio-emotional, cognitive, and
  developmental outcomes associated with father
  involvement
• - higher receptive language skills
• - higher academic achievement
• - higher self-esteem
• - lower depression and anxiety
• - lower delinquent behaviors

12
Integration of Diversity

• Much of the earlier research focuses on white,
  middle-to-upper class fathers (surprised?!).
• Now studies seem to separate fathers
• Ex African-American fathers
• Ex Latino fathers
• Ex Mexican-American fathers

13
Fathers and Adolescent Daughters

• Father absence is a risk factor for both
• Early sexual activity (ESA)
• Teenage pregnancy (TP)

14
Why ESA and TP bad?

• Lower educational achievement and attainment
• Lower occupational attainment
• More mental problems (probably depression
  right?!)
• More physical health problems
• Low social support (ex. Parent networks)
• Increased risk for child abuse and neglect

15
WHY?

• Life Course Adversity Model
• Familys life history and ecological stress
• Father absence is one of many factors that
  contribute to a negative environment (i.e.
  poverty, divorce, negative family relationships).
  
• This creates a pathway for daughters to have an
  increased potential to engage in early sexual
  activity and result in teenage pregnancy.

16

• Personality Traits
• Genetic traits passed from parents to daughter
  predispose for higher genetic loading for
  externalizing behaviors problems that lead to
  early sexual activity, unprotected sex, etc
• What traits would lead to such a predisposition?

17
Ellis et al, 2003

• Three Research Questions
• Is earlier onset of biological father absence
  associated with increasing risk of early sexual
  activity and teenage pregnancy in daughters?
• (essentially, is previous research and theory
  true, but well add earlier in there)
• Does father absence still increase risk even when
  considering externalizing behaviors and
  ecological stressors?
• Does father absence increase risk for sexual
  activity and teenage pregnancy but what about
  adolescent behavioral and mental problems?

18
Participants

• 585 families
• 281 daughters average age 17.3 yrs.
• 81 White
• 17 African American
• 2 other
• Predominately middle-class
• Also had New Zealand families (whom I am not that
  interested in).

19
New Zealand Family
20
Co-Variate Factors (i.e. other things that could
contribute to ESA and TP other than Father
Absence)

• Externalizing behavior problems (childhood)
• Mothers age at birth
• Race
• SES
• Family life stress
• Adjustment to child (1 yr)
• Type of discipline (childhood preadolescence)
• Parental Monitoring
• Neighborhood danger
• High school grade point average
• Violent acts
• Externalizing behavior problems (adolescence)
• Internalizing behavior problems (adolescence)
  i.e. anxiety, depression, withdrawn.

21
Results

• Review Researchers overarching questions was
  does father absence uniquely and discriminately
  increase daughters risk for ESA and TP,
  independently of early externalizing behavior
  problems (i.e. personality trait theory) and
  exposure to familial and ecological stressors
  (i.e. life course adversity theory) during
  childhood?

22
Their answer

• YES!!

23
More subtle findings

• Early father-absent girls had the highest rates
  of both ESA and TP followed by late father-absent
  girls.
• Early father-absent girls rate of TP was 7-8
  times higher than father-present girls.
• Even when controlling for all of the covariates,
  early father-absent girls were still 5 times more
  likely to experience an TP than father-present
  girls.

24
Conclusions

• Previous research has underestimated the impact
  of father absence and daughters sexual outcomes.
  
• Although other stressors may contribute to ESA
  and TP, a fathers absence alone can account for
  ESA and TP given timing of the fathers absence
  i.e. early.
• Father involvement is a major PROTECTIVE FACTOR
  against early sexual outcomes (ESA and TP) even
  if other risk factors were presents.

25
Weaknesses

• No genetic information, so could not account for
  genetic predisposition.
• Others from your own critical minds?

26
Closing clip

• http//video.google.com/videoplay?docid-598312561
  2141074111qfatheranddaughterhlen
• http//video.google.com/videoplay?docid-203075017
  3292956654qdaughtergraduatinghlen