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Linkages Between Children’s Behavior and Nonresident Father Involvement: A Comparison of African American, Anglo, and Latino Families

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Abstract

This study examines the relationships between ethnicity-based variations in nonresident fathers’ involvement and children’s behavior. Using weighted least squares regression analysis, this study investigates nonresident father involvement and children’s behavior based on a nationally representative sample of children in the National Survey of America’s Families. After controlling for family context variables, nonresident father involvement through increased frequency of visits was positively associated with better child behavior. The payment of formal or informal child support by nonresident fathers was also associated with better behavior. This study suggests that the impact of nonresident father involvement on child behavior varies among African American, Anglo, and Latino families.

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Notes

  1. It is important to distinguish between the terms race and ethnicity when referring to families (Taylor 1994). The overreaching goal of the present study is to explore variations in the influence of contact and financial contributions by nonresident fathers on child behavior. The distinction between race and ethnicity within the literature was once such that the former referred to biological differences among groups, while the latter categorized groups according to shared cultural criterion (Heckman 1983; Simpson and Yinger 1985). Although race is in part a product of social definitions concerning physiological characteristics, there is a preference in this study for the use of the term ethnicity.

  2. Ethnic groups are incredibly diverse (Mirande 1991). Many nationalities, cultures, languages, and ethnic groups are encompassed by the terms African American, Anglo, and Latino. This study uses the broad terms African American, Anglo, and Latino to examine variations in nonresident fathers and their children’s behavior. Without stereotyping or minimizing the internal diversity of each of these ethnic groups, this study seeks to identify the distinguishing fathering characteristics that differentiate nonresident fathers from each other based on self-reported ethnicity, despite the multidimensionality of each ethnic group within the three categories used in this study.

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  1. University of Saint Francis, Pope John Paul II Center, 317F, 2701 Spring Street, Fort Wayne, IN, 46808, USA

    David F. Mullins

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Mullins, D.F. Linkages Between Children’s Behavior and Nonresident Father Involvement: A Comparison of African American, Anglo, and Latino Families. J Afr Am St 15, 1–21 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12111-010-9119-0

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