Perceptions of father involvement patterns in teenage-mother families: Predictors and links to mothers' psychological adjustment

Based on adolescent mothers' reports, longitudinal patterns of involvement of young, unmarried biological fathers (n = 77) in teenage-mother families using cluster analytic techniques were examined. Approximately one third of fathers maintained high levels of involvement over time, another thir...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Family relations 2005-04, Vol.54 (2), p.197-211
Main Authors: Kalil, Ariel, Ziol-Guest, KathleenM, Coley, RebekahLevine
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adjustment
Adjustment (to Environment)
Adolescents
Child Rearing
Children
Depression (Psychology)
Depressive disorders
Early Parenthood
Educational Attainment
Educational Change
Emotional adjustment
Family members
Family Relationship
father involvement
Fathers
Female Headed Households
Grandmothers
Low Income Groups
mother-father relationships
Mothers
Parent Child Relationship
Parent Participation
Parent-Offspring Relations
Parenting
Parents
Parents & parenting
Perceptions
Poverty
Predictor Variables
psychological adjustment
Psychological Patterns
Single Parent Family
Single status
Stress Variables
Systems Approach
teenage mothers
Teenage parents
Welfare Services
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Summary:Based on adolescent mothers' reports, longitudinal patterns of involvement of young, unmarried biological fathers (n = 77) in teenage-mother families using cluster analytic techniques were examined. Approximately one third of fathers maintained high levels of involvement over time, another third demonstrated low involvement at both time points, and the final third started out highly involved at Wave 1 but decreased to low levels of involvement by Wave 2. Multinomial logistic analyses suggest that mothers' positive relationships with both the father and his family predict a greater likelihood of initiated and sustained high father involvement. In contrast, stronger support from the maternal grandmother is related to decreasing father involvement over time, and coresidence with the grandmother is related to sustained low father involvement. Whereas a decreasing pattern of father involvement was significantly associated with increased maternal parenting stress over time, the patterns of father involvement were unrelated to changes in young mothers' levels of depressive symptoms and mastery.
ISSN:0197-6664
1741-3729
0197-6664
DOI:10.1111/j.0197-6664.2005.00016.x