Little is known about African American fathers' parenting practices, particularly during the adolescent years. This NSF Career project examines parenting processes among a sample of African American fathers, and explores how these parenting practices influence the academic and social adjustment of African American early adolescents. Two-hundred and forty African-American fathers and their adolescents (aged 11-12 years old) will be surveyed once a year for three years. Father, adolescent, and mother reports will be utilized to gain multiple perspectives on fathers' parenting practices and adolescent adjustment. This investigation has four specific aims: 1) to investigate determinants (such as adolescent gender; intergenerational factors; residential status; maternal relationships) of African American fathers' parenting practices; 2) to examine whether fathering ideologies (e.g., beliefs about parenting) explain the association between fathering determinants and parenting practices; 3) to identify whether African American fathers' parenting practices change or are stable across adolescence; and 4) to explore how parenting practices are associated with African American adolescents' academic and social adjustment outcomes (e.g., academic performance; self-regulation; psychological functioning).
In addition to expanding the research on fathering practices in African American families, this investigation has the potential to inform future strategies to promote academic achievement and social adjustment. Also, this NSF Career Award includes multiple community-focused educational and outreach activities. First, in collaboration with the Historic Columbia Foundation, the investigator and her research team will develop a curriculum that bridges archaeology, history and psychology for use with adolescents. An additional component of this curriculum will include a joint father-adolescent learning activity. Also, educational outreach materials (e.g., flyers; workshops) will be developed for local school districts and educators regarding the importance of father involvement during adolescence. Last, in efforts to increase exposure to science research and associated careers, this project will provide intensive mentoring and training opportunities for underrepresented high school, undergraduate, and graduate students.
