Journal of Family Issues

Nonresident fathers have been shown to have much higher psychological distress than married parents with rates similar to or higher than those of single mothers. This study explores how aspects of the father–child relationship influence nonresident fathers’ psychological distress using the 1997 Child Development Supplement of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Using a structural equation model, this study finds that, other than being married, only father–child relationship quality has a direct influence on nonresident fathers’ psychological distress. Conflict with the mother, talking to the child, and the salience of the fatherhood role all influence psychological distress indirectly through father–child relationship quality.

Black fathers in South Africa face enormous challenges remaining involved in their children’s lives as a result of very high levels of unemployment and union instability. We use data from the Birth to Twenty (Bt20) cohort study to describe trajectories of father contact in the lives of children who have experienced a parental union dissolution and examine the influence of life stage of child at time of union dissolution and mother’s entry into new union on nonresidential contact with fathers. We find that, in the first 5 years after dissolution (1) children who were in the 3 to 5 life stage at time of dissolution face substantially higher odds of having no contact compared with those who were in the 0 to 2 group and (2) children who were in the 6 to 11 group experienced lower odds of intermittent contact. Mother’s entry into a new union increases the odds of having no and intermittent contact.

This study addresses the similarities and differences in fatherhood across two generations, relying on the experiences of fathers and their sons. Twenty representative father and son dyads were selected from a larger sample of participants in a longitudinal study examining the leaving home transition in Israel. The fathers and their sons were interviewed about their attachment relationships using the Adult Attachment Interview. Fathers were also interviewed about their parenting via the Parenting Representations Interview–Adolescence. Transcripts of the interviews were analyzed using a qualitative phenomenological approach. Four central themes of intergenerational transmission, mostly reflecting differences rather than similarities across the two generations, were identified: from poverty and shortage to indulgence, from strictness and respect to permissiveness, from precocious maturity to normative development, and from distance to intimacy and closeness. Fathers appear to want to provide their sons with experiences that they missed as children. They appear to be successful in these endeavors, yet surprised by some of the unforeseen outcomes, such as their sons being spoiled and manipulative.

Parent–child boundary dissolution, the loss of psychological distinctiveness between parents and their children, has been linked with maladaptive child functioning in White middle-class groups in Western cultures, though cross-cultural findings are mixed. To further explore this variation, we used mixed methods to compare college students’ reports of frequency and subjective experience of parent beliefs and behaviors indicative of various types of parent–child boundary dissolution in India (n = 110) and the United States (n = 250). Internal reliability estimates were lower in the Indian sample, particularly for infantilization and role reversal. College students in India reported parent beliefs and behaviors considered to be indicative of enmeshment and role reversal in Western family psychology literature more frequently and perceived them more positively than U.S. participants, while no difference was found for psychological control and spousification. Overall, the findings question the cultural relevance of some dimensions of boundary dissolution in India.

Siblings are often the main social partners in people’s lives and thus play important roles. In comparison with other family members, siblings are likely to remain in our lives for longer and play more roles. Previous studies suggest that gender can influence these roles. We conducted a qualitative study using semistructured interviews to examine individuals’ perceptions of gender-based sibling roles, with a maximum variation sample of 21 Iranian adults. Interview transcriptions were analyzed by dividing them into two content areas: sisters’ roles and brothers’ roles. Six main role categories emerged for sisters’ roles, whereas four emerged for brothers. “Support,” “Service,” and “Dominance” were three common categories between genders. “Consideration,” “Mediation,” and “Counseling and Guidance” categories emerged for sisters, and “Control” emerged for brothers. These findings suggest that Iranian society presents some unique domains of gender-based sibling roles. We discussed implications for research and practice and the limitations of our study.

The nature of parents’ romantic relationships has been shown to relate to how parents interact with their children and how their children develop. This study used a subsample of 1,318 couples from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study across 8 years to test Belsky’s model of the determinants of parenting. A dyadic path analysis was used to test the effects of relationship quality on negative child behavior, mediated by positive parental engagement. Results revealed that mothers’ and fathers’ early relationship quality predicted their own parental engagement 2 years into the future. Additionally, mothers’, but not fathers’, positive parental engagement predicted negative child behavior. Last, mothers’ parenting behaviors mediated the relationship between relationship quality and child outcome. The results lend support for clinicians and parent educators to include relationship enhancement programs for the benefit of parents and their children.