Parent-Child Relations and Childrens Psychological Well-BeingDo Dads Matter?Rutgers University and Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center This study explores the unique influence of fathers on adolescents psychological well-being. Analyses are based on a nationally representative sample (Add Health) of students in Grades 7 through 12 living in intact homes. Results of multivariate analyses reveal that the father-adolescent relationship has an independent impact on adolescents psychological well-being beyond the mother-adolescent relationship. Comparatively, the magnitude of effect was similar for mothers and fathers on sons and daughters well-being. Examining the dynamic nature of parent-adolescent relations through time revealed that adolescents have more volatile relations with fathers than with mothers. Changes in adolescents satisfaction with the father-adolescent relationship significantly influence fluctuations in sons and daughters psychological well-being; this effect persists after controlling for changes in mother-adolescent relationships. These findings underscore fathers unique direct contribution to their childrens psychological well-being.
Key Words: father-child relationship mother-child relationship psychological well-being fatherhood
Journal of Family Issues, Vol. 26, No. 1,
55-78 (2005) This article has been cited by other articles:
|
||||||||||||||||
