Fathers’ Influence 1
Note: first pages of all sources were also handed in as required
Fathers’ Influence on Children with Adolescent Mothers
Lauren Sperando
Child Psychology
April 8, 2007
In the study, “Father’s Influence in the Lives of Children With Adolescent Mothers” from the Journal of Family Psychology, authors Kimberly S. Howard, Jennifer E. Burke Lefever, John G. Borkowski, and Thomas L. Whitman (2006) examined the association between the amount of contact fathers had with their children born from at-risk adolescent mothers, and the children’s development from birth to ten years. Several aspects of this article will be analyzed including the research question, methodology, results, and discussion on the application of this study.
The basic research question asked if there is a correlation between the amount of contact a father had with his child of an adolescent mother and the child’s development over ten years. The study had four goals: one, to describe the pattern of fathers’ contact with their children from adolescent mothers; two, to determine the specific child outcomes related to the father’s contact; three, to evaluate whether a father buffered the effects of maternal risk on the child’s development, and if boys benefited more than girls from contact; and four, to identify maternal characteristics that encouraged father involvement (Howard, Lefever, Borkowski, and Whitman, 2006).The first goal meant that the researchers would look at how often the father kept in contact with the child over the ten years. The second aim was to study the child’s outcome in relation to how often the child saw his/her father. This meant that the researchers analyzed certain variables like academic performance and behavior in school, with the level of father contact. The third goal was to see if a father’s involvement helped a child improve developmentally when the mother was at a higher risk (such as lower intelligence). This means that if a mother was at a higher risk, could a higher amount of father contact help moderate that impact on the child? Also, the third goal was to see if there was a gender discrepancy among children, such that boys would improve more than girls if they had more contact with their fathers. Finally, the fourth goal was to see if there were certain characteristics of the mother that would affect father contact. For example, if the mother had a poor relationship with her father, she may not encourage involvement of the child’s father (Howard, Lefever, Borkowski, and Whitman, 2006).
The authors hypothesized that both boys and girls who had more contact with their father would show better academic and social development compared to children who experienced little or no father contact. They also predicted that the fathers’ contact would moderate the influence of maternal factors on children’s outcomes. Finally, they expected to find that prenatal maternal characteristics would influence whether a father would remain in his child’s life (Howard, Lefever, Borkowski, and Whitman, 2006).
Previous research has indicated the importance of a fathers’ influence on his children. However, there has been little research on how nonresidential fathers influence their children’s development (Amato & Gilbreth, 1999, as cited in Howard, Lefever, Borkowski, and Whitman, 2006). The limitations of an adolescent father’s involvement and the rate of contact have been previously researched, and are important to note with this study for background purposes as to why a father may not keep in contact with the child. For instance, it has been found in one study that among low-income, unmarried, African-American adolescent fathers, limited employment and high rates of incarceration and homicide create poor opportunities for paternal involvement (Testa & Krogh, 1995; National Center For Health Statistics, 2002; Smedley, Stith, & Nelson, 2002,as cited in Dallas, 2004). However, although previous research may indicate why a father is not involved, little is known about factors that influence unmarried, adolescent fathers to provide support to the mothers and to remain involved with their children” (Dallas, 2004). One goal of this study attempts to show that perhaps maternal characteristics effect the involvement of a father.
The authors’ hypothesis on the correlation between fathers’ contact and a child’s development with adolescent mothers is supported by previous research. Many studies have shown the impact of a father’s involvement with the child’s performance and risks. One study found that, “early father involvement can be another protective factor in counteracting risk conditions that might lead to later low attainment levels” (Flouri & Buchanan, 2004). Also, social and behavioral development is found to be affected as well. In a particular study, contact with nonresident fathers was associated with fewer behavioral problems and improved psychological well-being in children (Menestrel, 1999, as cited in Howard, Lefever, Borkowski, and Whitman, 2006). Overall, previous research has supported the claim that a father’s involvement impacts the child’s development in school performance, socially, cognitively, and behavioral issues, and the same effectiveness would seem likely in children with adolescent mothers.
In this study, the social learningtheory appears to be most relevant. The authors of this study examined the influence of a father’s presence in a child’s life. According to Kathleen Berger (2006), in The Developing Person through Childhood and Adolescence, the social learning theory “emphasizes the power of other people over our behavior. Even without specific reinforcement or punishment, people learn many things via observation and imitation of other people” (Berger, 2006). The study’s goals were to see what kind of an impact father contact had on a child’s academic, behavioral, social, and emotional development. This theory supports the hypothesis that there would be a correlation between the amount of contact a child of an adolescent mother has with his/her father, and their development, because of the power of a father’s influence.Thus, if a child does not have as much contact with their father, they miss important observations of their father, and opportunities to model him, which could negatively influence their development according to the social learning theory. Supporting the influence of a father, one study claimed,“Children often establish role identification and derive meaning from those whom they are most closely connected, commonly a mother and father” (Harper & Fine, 2006).If a child does not have the influence of a father, and has an at-risk adolescent mother, their development may be affected negatively. As Berger (2006) noted regarding the social learning theory, learning arises because people are social beings, seeking the feelings of pride and acceptance that others can give.
The second area of the study to analyze is the methodology. The design of this was descriptive, using longitudinal research. This means that the researchers examined the same group of people over a period of time. The design was descriptive and not experimental as the researchers observed the families, and did not manipulate any variables as in the experimental design. Therefore, this study is not able to conclude causality as the independent variables were not being manipulated, but rather observed and described, and the authors could only make correlations between the variables. According to Berger (2006), “correlation exists between two variables if one variable is more (or less) likely to occur when the other occurs.”
The participants of the study were 134 adolescent mothers and their first born children, who were a part of the Notre Dame Adolescent Parenting Project. The mean age of the women at birth was 17.1 years, with a range of 14-19 years. Young, expecting mothers were recruited from medical facilities and school programs in South Bend, Indiana, and Aiken, South Carolina. The adolescent mothers also came from predominantly low socioeconomic status homes. Fathers however, were not recruited (Howard, Lefever, Borkowski, and Whitman, 2006).
The variables that were being measured were one, the amount of father contact in his child’s life over ten years; two, maternal characteristics; and three, the child’s development. The child’s development was measured using specific evaluations completed by their teachers and mothers, as well as achievement tests completed by each child, such as The Peabody Individual Achievement Test, to measure reading and math achievement when each child was eight and ten (Howard, Lefever, Borkowski, and Whitman, 2006). In addition to academic achievement, child measures also included socio-emotional adjustment, measured by the teachers at eight and ten years using the Teacher Report Form, which measured the children’s behavioral problems. The Connors Teacher Rating Scales was also used at eight and ten years that included “hyperactivity, conduct problems, emotionally overindulgent behaviors, anxious-passive behaviors, asocial behaviors, and attention problems” (Howard, Lefever, Borkowski, and Whitman, 2006).
For maternal measures, researchers interviewed the women in their third trimester of pregnancy for levels of intelligence, cognitive readiness to parent, socio-emotional adjustment, and perceived social support. They were also asked on the level of involvement of the father. Their intelligence was measured prenatally using the Wechsler scales. Cognitive readiness was used with three measures: Knowledge of Child Development, Parenting Style Questionnaire, and Parenting Attitudes Questionnaire. Adjustment was measured prenatally using The Youth Self Report regarding behavioral adjustment and social competence. And finally, maternal risk was measured forming an index of three maternal variables that were collected prenatally, where they were high risk if they had high scores on at least two of the three items in the risk index (Howard, Lefever, Borkowski, and Whitman, 2006). Mothers were also brought into the laboratory with their first-born children at six months, one, three, five, eight, and ten years. Also, telephone interviews were completed when the children were eighteen months and again at six years.
Father involvement was measured at each assessment in which mothers were asked a series of questions about the father’s contact with the child, and if he helped with the child in any way. A father-contact variable was formed from the questions to estimate consistency. Also, to observe the influence of consistent father contact, the children were split into two groups, a consistent father contact group and an infrequent father-contact group. The infrequent group meant that the fathers were either not present, or only present early in the child’s life (Howard, Lefever, Borkowski, and Whitman, 2006).
The third area to analyze is the results of the study. In order to support the authors’ prediction, the results would have to show that the more contact a father had with his son or daughter, the child would have higher levels of academic achievement and less social, emotional and behavioral problems, compared to children with less father contact. The results of the study showed that at one year of age, 81% of children were in contact with their biological fathers, but only 59% were in contact at age 8. Also, all children who had contact at age 8 experienced relatively consistent father contact across the first 8 years. One analyses showed that sons and daughters did not differ across levels of father involvement. The results showed that children of adolescent mothers who had consistent contact with their fathers over the first 8 years had fewer behavioral problems (such as aggression) and also higher levels of academic achievement (Howard, Lefever, Borkowski, and Whitman, 2006). Children who had lower father contact had higher externalizing behavior problems (such as tantrums). Also, children who had low father contact, and high-risk mothers displayed many more externalizing problems than children who had father contact and low-risk mothers or even those who had father contact and high-risk mothers. In regards to father contact acting as a buffer with high risk mothers, the results show that in fact children who had high risk mothers and father contact had lower levels of internalizing behaviors (such as withdrawn, sad) than those who had limited father contact. Regarding father contact and academic achievement, children with more father contact had higher reading scores than children with little or no contact. Also, higher reading scores were associated with low risk mothers and more father contact. The impact of a father’s contact appeared to differ with boys and girls as “post hoc analyses revealed that father contact was associated with better math and reading only for boys” (Howard, Lefever, Borkowski, and Whitman, 2006). Therefore, this did not completely support the authors’ predictions as they thought that there would be similar impact for boys and girls. Higher father contact was also associated with lower classroom behavior problems. Children with father contact displayed significantly lower levels of hyperactivity, whether they had high-risk or low-risk mothers, which can again support the idea that fathers would moderate high risk maternal impact. At ten years, children with higher father contact continued to display better socio-emotional adjustment in academic situations, where children with limited contact were more excitable, impulsive, more likely to disturb other children in class, quarrelsome, and more destructive. Also, children with higher levels of father contact were less likely to make excessive demands of their teachers’ attention and were more cooperative in class compared to children with lower levels of contact. These areas were also affected with maternal risk at this age as well (Howard, Lefever, Borkowski, and Whitman, 2006). In regards to maternal characteristics that predicted father contact, it showed that mothers who considered adoption had less father contact with their child. Also, mothers who experienced contact with their own fathers were more likely to encourage father contact with their own child.
Therefore, the authors’ predictions were very accurate, except that boys and girls differed slightly with academic achievement and father contact. Father contact moderated the influence of maternal factors, and prenatal maternal characteristics influenced the level of father contact.
One variable that was not considered in this study was the influence of other fatherly figures or “social fathers” such as grandfathers, mother’s boyfriend, uncles, and stepfather. Perhaps maternal characteristics that encourage a father’s contact also encourage other social support such as grandparents, friends, neighbors etc. The impact of these figures in a child’s life was not accounted for, and could affect the results of the child’s development.Another variable that was not accounted for was father behavior. Perhaps a father had little contact because he was violent and/or had drug addictions, etc. and the few times that the child did have contact, the exposure to that behavior was detrimental to their development, which couldthen influence the results of the study.
The fourth section to analyze is discussion of the study regarding application. This research could be used to change people’s lives in many respects. If a child does not have a consistent father in his/her life, then schools and communities could support “Big Brother” type programs that can give a child an encouraging and supportive role model. A child having a consistent caring figure in their life can greatly impact their behavioral, social, emotional, and academic development and achievements.The information from this study does not appear to be completely generalizable. As shown from the results, father contact may differ between genders (as it did in math and reading scores). Also, this study predominantly focused on families in low socio-economic status, which means that the results may differ in higher socioeconomic statuses. However, according to the social learning theory, the influence of a strong role model is crucial to each child’s development, no matter the socioeconomic class. Also, age would appear to make a difference as consistent father contact would impact a child’s development more than an older adult. The application of the results may differ among cultures as some cultures may not support the fatherly role as much as the mothers. Also, the application may be different among genders, as boys may need higher father contact than girls do. Ages differ in the application as well, as it may be more crucial for the first ten years to have higher levels of a fatherly figure in their lives, than later in adolescence and adulthood.
This study supported the claims that a father’s influence greatly impacts the development of a child. Through higher levels of father contact over ten years, children were shown to have higher levels of academic achievement, and lower levels of behavioral and socio-emotional problems, compared to children with lower levels of father contact. This study also showed that father contact can moderate the effects of high-risk maternal characteristics, and that prenatal maternal characteristics influence the involvement of a father in the child’s life.