Adolescents With Nonresident Fathers: Are Daughters More Disadvantaged Than Sons?

Authors: Mitchell, KatherineStamps; Booth, Alan; King, Valarie

Source: Journal of Marriage and Family, Volume 71, Number 3, August 2009 , pp. 650-662(13)

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Abstract:

This study examined sons' and daughters' involvement with nonresident fathers and associated outcomes ( N = 4,663). Results indicated that sons and daughters reported equal involvement with nonresident fathers on most measures of father investment, although sons reported more overnight visits, sports, and movies and feeling closer to their fathers compared to daughters. Sons and daughters generally benefited from nonresident father involvement in the same way in internalizing and externalizing problems and grades. Feeling close to one's nonresident father, however, was associated with lower internalizing problems for daughters than sons. These findings suggest that nonresident fathers should be encouraged to be equally involved with their sons and daughters, as such involvement was associated with higher levels of well-being for both sons and daughters.

Keywords: father-child relations; National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (; nonresidential parents

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2009.00624.x

Affiliations: 1: The Pennsylvania State University

Publication date: 2009-08-01