Research is notably lacking on how fathers impact the mental health and behavioral problems of their adolescent children, though studies have begun to show that fathers do influence adolescents in important ways. Particularly understudied, but at high risk, are children with stepfathers and children of Mexican American heritage. A Conceptual Model is developed that emphasizes the construct of """"""""meanings"""""""" that children give to fathering behaviors. The meanings investigated derive from attribution theories and the working models and scripts tradition, which focus on the adolescent?s schema or representation of important social-emotional aspects of the father-child relationship. The Model gives rise to 6 Specific Aims: (1) identify father behaviors influencing child mental health and behavioral problems (net of mothering and other controls); (2) identify social/contextual variables predicting father behaviors; (3) identify """"""""meanings"""""""" fathering holds for children that influence mental health; (4) identify social/contextual variables predicting children?s meanings; (5) determine how meanings mediate between fathering behaviors and child mental health; and (6) determine how the above factors and relationships may differ (or be moderated) by children?s gender, ethnicity or father-types (birth-father or stepfather). A longitudinal study is proposed at two sites, Phoenix, AZ (ASU site) and Riverside-San Bernardino, CA (UCR site) that includes 400 families for three waves. Families will be evenly divided into two ethnicities (Mexican American and European American), two child genders, and two father-types (birth-father and stepfather). Families will be recruited through schools. Multi-agent reporting will be used for most constructs, with relevant reports obtained from mother, father, child, teacher, and school records. Most variables are assessed with standardized instruments that have been successfully used with Spanish-speaking respondents in previous studies. Most of the proposed ?meanings"""""""" measures have been designed specifically for this study, successfully pre-tested, and include narrative and """"""""quasi-narrative"""""""" methods. A 4-cohort, cohort sequential design is employed and the Specific Aims are analyzed with Latent Growth Models.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01MH064829-04
Application #
6898293
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-RPHB-1 (01))
Program Officer
Price, Leshawndra N
Project Start
2002-08-08
Project End
2007-06-30
Budget Start
2005-07-01
Budget End
2006-06-30
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2005
Total Cost
$390,128
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
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
Schenck, Clorinda E; Braver, Sanford L; Wolchik, Sharlene A et al. (2009) Relations between Mattering to Step- and Non-Residential Fathers and Adolescent Mental Health. Fathering 7:70-90