Intergenerational Influences of Father–Adolescent Relationship Quality: The Role of Parent–Child Relationships in the Family of Origin

Existing evidence suggests intergenerational transmission of parenting, but findings are limited by important theoretical, conceptual, and methodological challenges. These include insufficient attention to predictors of fathering, inconsistencies in developmental periods and constructs across generations, the absence of both mothering and fathering as predictors, and the omission of levels of involvement among nonresident fathers. The current study examines intergenerational predictors of fathering among father–adolescent dyads (N = 276; 69% Black, 17% Hispanic, 14% White; 49% boys) during adolescence (ages 12–15) using both father and adolescent reports. A father’s relationship with his mother was associated with his perceived relationship quality with his adolescent child, but his relationship with his father was not. There was no evidence of intergenerational continuity in adolescent perceptions of father-adolescent relationship quality. These findings underscore the long-term, although limited, influence of relationship quality in the family of origin on the next generation.