Objectives are to understand how fathers impact children's mental disorders, chronic stress-related physical health conditions, and behavioral problems during emerging adulthood. The study follows a representative sample of 393 Mexican- and European-American intact and stepfather families, recruited from AZ and CA when the children were in 7th grade, tracked with multi-agent reporting and multiple methods in 3 Waves through 10th grade. The study will undertake Wave 4 (12th grade) and Wave 5 (ages 19 - 20). It is guided by a Conceptual Model emphasizing the meanings that children give to fathering behaviors, and that includes biosocial mediators of the effects of fathering.
Specific Aims : (1) identify continuities and discontinuities in father behaviors and meanings during emerging adulthood, (2) determine the effects of father behaviors and meanings on mental, physical, and behavioral health, over and above effects of mothering and social- contextual variables, (3) identify the social-contextual variables that predict father behaviors / meanings, (4) determine the role of a set of biosocial mediators (self-esteem, self-efficacy, social support, daily emotional and physiological processes) in the relation between father behaviors / meanings, and outcomes, (5) assess how the above differ by family type, ethnicity, and child gender. Methods employ standardized and open-ended measures, diary records of social and emotional experiences, and salivary cortisol stress responses. It is expected that intra-individual variation in the reactivity of self-esteem, self-efficacy, and perceptions of social support to daily stressful experiences is related to hormone reactivity, and that both are predicted by father behaviors / meanings. Empirical significance includes innovative daily socio-emotional measures, representativeness of the sample (important for public health use of findings), and the longitudinal cohort sequential multi-wave design in which every participant is measured 5 times, but the different intervals allow growth curve modeling of 14 different half-year points, over 10 years (ages 12 to 21). The findings will increase understanding of how fathering affects the physiological, social, emotional, and cognitive lives of emerging adults. Data provide needed information about the health status of Mexican- and European-American youth, and about how parenting affects health which will help guide the design of future interventions aimed at improving children's health.

Public Health Relevance

The findings will increase understanding of how fathering affects the physiological, social, emotional, and cognitive lives of emerging adults. Data provide needed information about the health status of Mexican- and European-American youth, and about how parenting affects health which will help guide the design of future interventions aimed at improving children's health.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01HD056615-08
Application #
8103159
Study Section
Psychosocial Development, Risk and Prevention Study Section (PDRP)
Program Officer
Maholmes, Valerie
Project Start
2009-08-01
Project End
2014-06-30
Budget Start
2011-07-01
Budget End
2012-06-30
Support Year
8
Fiscal Year
2011
Total Cost
$590,826
Indirect Cost
Name
Arizona State University-Tempe Campus
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
943360412
City
Tempe
State
AZ
Country
United States
Zip Code
85287
Stevenson, Matthew M; Fabricius, William V; Braver, Sanford L et al. (2018) Associations between Parental Relocation Following Separation in Childhood and Maladjustment in Adolescence and Young Adulthood. Psychol Public Policy Law 24:365-378
Schofield, Thomas J; Toro, Rosa I; Parke, Ross D et al. (2017) Parenting and later substance use among Mexican-origin youth: Moderation by preference for a common language. Dev Psychol 53:778-786
Ibrahim, Mariam Hanna; Somers, Jennifer A; Luecken, Linda J et al. (2017) Father-adolescent engagement in shared activities: Effects on cortisol stress response in young adulthood. J Fam Psychol 31:485-494
Suh, Go Woon; Fabricius, William V; Stevenson, Matthew M et al. (2016) Effects of the interparental relationship on adolescents' emotional security and adjustment: The important role of fathers. Dev Psychol 52:1666-1678
Nieri, Tanya; Grindal, Matthew; Adams, Michele A et al. (2016) Reconsidering the ""acculturation gap"" narrative through an analysis of parent-adolescent acculturation differences in Mexican American families. J Fam Issues 37:1919-1944
Cookston, Jeffrey T; Olide, Andres; Parke, Ross D et al. (2015) He Said What? Guided Cognitive Reframing About the Co-resident Father/Stepfather-adolescent Relationship. J Res Adolesc 25:263-278
Finlay, Andrea K; Cookston, Jeffrey T; Saenz, Delia S et al. (2014) Attributions of Fathering Behaviors Among Adolescents: The Role of Gender, Ethnicity, Family Structure, and Depressive Symptoms. J Fam Issues 35:501-525
Stevenson, Matthew M; Fabricius, William V; Cookston, Jeffrey T et al. (2014) Marital problems, maternal gatekeeping attitudes, and father-child relationships in adolescence. Dev Psychol 50:1208-18
Perez-Brena, Norma J; Cookston, Jeffrey T; Fabricius, William V et al. (2012) Patterns of Father Self Evaluations among Mexican and European American Men and Links to Adolescent Adjustment. Fathering 10:213-235
Cookston, Jeffrey T; Olide, Andres F; Adams, Michele A et al. (2012) Guided cognitive reframing of adolescent-father conflict: who Mexican American and European American adolescents seek and why. New Dir Child Adolesc Dev 2012:83-103

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