Fathering After Divorce in Israel and the U.S.

Abstract

Data from 100 Israeli and 92 American divorced, noncustodial fathers were analyzed to examine the effects of the coparental relationship, psychological presence of child to father, and fathering esteem on different types of father involvement postdivorce. While both groups reported similar levels of fathering esteem, Israeli fathers reported their former spouses as less supportive and their children as less psychologically present. Israeli fathers visited and contacted their children by telephone more frequently, but they visited their children less regularly and were less involved in child-related activities. Results of the regression analysis show that for Israeli fathers, coparental support was important in explaining variance in frequency of visits, telephone contacts, and involvement in child-related activities (R² = 24-40%). For American fathers, most of the variance (13-27%) in father involvement was explained by demographic characteristics.

Key Words:

• Divorce
• noncustodial fathers
• Israel
• U.S.
• comparative study