Biological Fathers' Contributions to Maternal and Family Functioning

SYNOPSIS

Objective . This study assessed the supposition that fathers' parenting and economic contributions help to support maternal and family functioning. Design . Using longitudinal data from a representative sample of low-income families with young children (N = 402), semidifference models assessed whether fathers' parenting, cash, and in-kind contributions predicted maternal functioning (mothers' psychological distress and parenting stress) and family functioning (cognitive stimulation and family routines). Results . Increases in fathers' parenting contributions predicted declines in maternal psychological distress and parenting stress. Fathers' cash and in-kind contributions showed limited relations to maternal and family functioning. Interactions by fathers' residence status found few significant differences in links between resident and nonresident fathers. Conclusions . These results add empirical support to conceptual models delineating indirect pathways by which parental support may influence children.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This research was funded through National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Grants R03 HD055229-01A1 and R03HD042073-01A1 and with the generous support of a Fulbright Senior Scholar Award from the Australian-American Fulbright Commission and a Senior Visiting Fellow position at the Social Policy Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Australia, to the first author. The authors also gratefully acknowledge the support of the following organizations for the Three-City Study: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (RO1 HD36093 “Welfare Reform and the Well-Being of Children”), Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Administration on Developmental Disabilities, Administration for Children and Families, Social Security Administration, and National Institute of Mental Health, as well as the Boston Foundation, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, the Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Joyce Foundation, the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Kronkosky Charitable Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Searle Fund for Policy Research, and the Woods Fund of Chicago.

Notes

¹In resident father families, fathers' income from all sources (e.g., employment, social security) was excluded from the household income variable; in nonresident father families, fathers' cash and in-kind contributions were excluded.