Research Findings: Home language and literacy inputs have been consistently linked with enhanced language and literacy skills among children. Most studies have focused on maternal inputs among monolingual populations. Though the proportion of American children growing up in primarily non-English-speaking homes is growing and the role of fathers in…

Building upon previous evidence for the intergenerational transmission of antisocial behaviors, this research assessed and compared three models seeking to explain links between fathers' antisocial behaviors and children's behavior problems. A representative sample of children from low-income families (N = 261) was followed from age 3 through age…

Although scholars and policy makers herald the promotive influence of fathers' parenting involvement, limited research has carefully delineated effects of fathers' parenting on low-income children's development and whether early contributions from fathers confer long-term protective effects. Using data from the Three-City Study (N = 261), analyses…

Transactional models of problem behavior argue that less effective parenting and adolescent problem behaviors coevolve, exerting bidirectional influences. This article extends such models by analyzing growth trajectories of sexual risk behaviors and parenting processes among 3,206 adolescents (aged 13-18) and their residential parents. Within…

Drawing on transactional theories of child development, we assessed bidirectional links between trajectories of adolescent substance use and parenting processes from early through mid adolescence. Hierarchical generalized models estimated trajectories for 3,317 adolescents from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, exploring both…

Using a representative sample of low-income, primarily minority adolescents (N=647, aged 10-14 years at Wave 1), this study examined bidirectional longitudinal relations between nonresident father involvement, defined as contact and responsibility for children's care and behavior, and adolescent engagement in delinquent activities. Autoregressive…

In a sample of low-income families (N = 239), structural equation models assessed predictors of fathers' involvement with preschool-aged children in instrumental, behavioral, and emotional realms. Results suggest that parental conflict has a strong negative relation with father involvement. Fathers' human capital characteristics, healthy…

Based on adolescent mothers' reports, longitudinal patterns of involvement of young, unmarried biological fathers (n=77) in teenage-mother families using cluster analytic techniques were examined. Approximately one third of fathers maintained high levels of involvement over time, another third demonstrated low involvement at both time points, and…

Examines predictors of father involvement and father-mother discrepancies in reports of involvement within a low-income, predominantly minority sample of families with both resident and nonresident fathers. Results indicate that although fathers' and mothers' reports are similar, mothers consistently report lower levels of involvement than do…

This study examined predictors of father involvement and father-mother discrepancies in reports of involvement within a low-income, predominantly minority sample of families with both residential and nonresidential fathers. The study used matched pairs of fathers and mothers with preschool children from the first wave of Welfare, Children, and…

Reviews the emerging research on low-income, unmarried, and minority fathers, addressing conceptual, methodological, and policy issues. Examines recent evidence concerning patterns of fatherhood, factors supporting or prohibiting fathers' active involvement with their children, and the impact of paternal involvement on children's development.…

Examines the role of biological and social fathers in the lives of low-income African American adolescent girls. Analyses indicated that daughters' perceptions of anger and alienation from fathers was related to greater emotional and behavioral problems for adolescents, whereas perceptions of trust and communication with fathers were not…

Examined the experiences provided by biological fathers and other men for 111 third and fourth graders in unmarried-mother families. Found that fathers' warmth and control related to better academic achievement and more prosocial behaviors toward peers. Girls and Black children were more positively affected by relations with fathers and father…