An updated and expanded meta-analysis of nonresident fathering and child well-being.

Abstract

Since Amato and Gilbreth's (1999) meta-analysis of nonresident father involvement and child well-being, nonmarital childbirths and nonresident father involvement both have increased. The unknown implications of such changes motivated the present study, a meta-analytic review of 52 studies of nonresident father involvement and child well-being. Consistent with Amato and Gilbreth, we found that positive forms of involvement were associated with benefits for children, with a small but statistically significant effect size. Amounts of father-child contact and financial provision, however, were not associated with child well-being. Going beyond Amato and Gilbreth, we analyzed the associations between different types of fathering and overall child well-being, and between overall father involvement and different types of child well-being. We found that nonresident father involvement was most strongly associated with children's social well-being and also was associated with children's emotional well-being, academic achievement, and behavioral adjustment. The forms of father involvement most strongly associated with child well-being were involvement in child-related activities, having positive father-child relationships, and engaging in multiple forms of involvement. Moderator analyses demonstrated variation in effect sizes based on both study characteristics and demographic variables. We discuss the implications of these findings for policy and practice.

Fathers’ Roles in the Care and Development of Their Children: The Role of Pediatricians

“…53 Given the increase in both nonmarital childbirths and nonresident father involvement, it is especially important to note that nontraditional forms of positive father involvement have been associated with children's academic achievement, emotional well-being, and behavioral adjustment. 54 Fostering father involvement in fragile single-parent families may reduce behavioral problems. 55 However, having a father move out of the house by 3 years of age was associated with infant temperament (ie, irregular schedule, difficult infant behavior), and it is not clear which is the precipitating factor.…”

‘It’s the most important thing – I mean, the schooling’: father involvement in the education of children with autism

“…The positive involvement of non-resident fathers has been associated with better academic achievement, especially for younger children (Adamson and Johnson, 2013), for example and the engagement of fathers from disadvantaged backgrounds appears as a possible mediating factor in enabling children to avoid poverty later on (Blanden, paternal involvement and child outcomes in a meta-analysis of 52 studies.…”

Fathers' and Mothers' Verbal Responsiveness and the Language Skills of Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

“…First, fathers overall are increasingly involved in childrearing (Pleck & Masciadrelli, 2004). Second, whether a child is among the approximately 64% of children (including children with ASD) in the United States who reside in a two-parent household (Freedman, Kalb, Zablotsky, & Stuart, 2012), or is in a home with a nonresident father, high-quality paternal involvement with children is related to improved child outcomes, accounting for variance beyond that accounted for by mother-child relationship variables (e.g., Adamsons & Johnson, 2013;Feldman, Bamberger, & Kanat-Maymon, 2013;Washington et al, 2014). The generalizability of these findings for fathers of typically developing children to fathers of children with ASD is unknown at this time.…”