IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/wop/jopovw/175.html

Family Structure, Father-Child Closeness and Social-Behavioral Outcomes for Children

Author

Listed:
  • Marcia J. Carlson

Abstract

Since father absence is associated with adverse outcomes for children, one would expect greater father involvement to obviate the negative effects of experiencing a single-parent family. Yet, many studies do not demonstrate that greater father-child interaction has beneficial effects for children and adolescents. This is because the quality of father involvement may be more important for children's wellbeing than the quantity. Using data from the 1997 Panel Study of Income Dynamics Child Development Supplement, this paper examines how father-child closeness may mediate the effects of family structure on various social-behavioral outcomes for children, as well as fathering behaviors that are linked to closeness. I find that father-child closeness partially "explains" family structure effects, and fathers' warmth and affection toward their children is positively associated with closeness.

Suggested Citation

  • Marcia J. Carlson, 2000. "Family Structure, Father-Child Closeness and Social-Behavioral Outcomes for Children," JCPR Working Papers 175, Northwestern University/University of Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:wop:jopovw:175
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    To our knowledge, this item is not available for download. To find whether it is available, there are three options:
    1. Check below whether another version of this item is available online.
    2. Check on the provider's web page whether it is in fact available.
    3. Perform a
    for a similarly titled item that would be available.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. L. L. Wu & A. J. Cherlin & L. L. Bumpass, "undated". "Family Structure, Early Sexual Behavior, and Premarital Births," Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion Papers 1125-97, University of Wisconsin Institute for Research on Poverty.
    2. Korenman, Sanders & Miller, Jane E. & Sjaastad, John E., 1995. "Long-term poverty and child development in the United States: Results from the NLSY," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 17(1-2), pages 127-155.
    3. Covey, L.S. & Tam, D., 1990. "Depressive mood, the single-parent home, and adolescent cigarette smoking," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 80(11), pages 1330-1333.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Aftab Ahmad, 2020. "Poverty Terrorism Nexus: A Case Study Of Pakistan," Bulletin of Business and Economics (BBE), Research Foundation for Humanity (RFH), vol. 9(4), pages 162-172, December.
    2. Jin-Hee Park & Mi-Jin Kim & Sung-Eun Kim, 2022. "Factors Influencing Smoking among Multicultural Adolescents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-8, September.
    3. Simon Burgess & Carol Propper & John A. Rigg, 2004. "The Impact of Low Income on Child Health: Evidence from a Birth Cohort Study," CASE Papers 085, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, LSE.
    4. repec:pri:crcwel:wp11-02-ff is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Phipps , Shelley & Curtis, Laurie & Dooley , Martin, 2002. "Qui a raison des parents ou des enfants? Evaluation de l'accord des parents et des enfants dans l'Enquete longitudinale nationale sur les enfants et les jeunes," Direction des études analytiques : documents de recherche 2002181f, Statistics Canada, Direction des études analytiques.
    6. Phipps , Shelley & Curtis, Laurie & Dooley , Martin, 2002. "Does Parent or Child Know Best? an Assessment of Parent/Child Agreement in the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 2002181e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
    7. Kaestner, Robert & Grossman, Michael, 2009. "Effects of weight on children's educational achievement," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(6), pages 651-661, December.
    8. repec:pri:crcwel:wp05-16-ff-paxson is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Michael J. Shanahan & Adam Davey & Jennifer Brooks, 1998. "Dynamic Models of Poverty and Psychosocial Adjustment through Childhood," JCPR Working Papers 49, Northwestern University/University of Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research.
    10. Liwei Zhang & Wen-Jui Han, 2017. "Poverty Dynamics and Academic Trajectories of Children of Immigrants," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-31, September.
    11. Amy Hsin, 2009. "Parent’s Time with Children: Does Time Matter for Children’s Cognitive Achievement?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 93(1), pages 123-126, August.
    12. Alicia García-Sierra, 2025. "The protective role of parental work intensity for children in poverty in the United States," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 53(4), pages 84-122.
    13. Stefanie Mollborn & Elizabeth Lawrence & Laurie James-Hawkins & Paula Fomby, 2014. "How Resource Dynamics Explain Accumulating Developmental and Health Disparities for Teen Parents’ Children," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(4), pages 1199-1224, August.
    14. Lindsey, Duncan, 1995. "Child poverty and welfare reform," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 17(1-2), pages 333-345.
    15. Janet Currie & Duncan Thomas, 2000. "School Quality and the Longer-Term Effects of Head Start," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 35(4), pages 755-774.
    16. Gibson-Davis, Christina & Keister, Lisa A. & Gennetian, Lisa A., 2025. "Net worth poverty and child Well-being: Black–White differences," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    17. Herbst, Chris M. & Tekin, Erdal, 2010. "The Impact of Child Care Subsidies on Child Well-Being: Evidence from Geographic Variation in the Distance to Social Service Agencies," IZA Discussion Papers 5102, IZA Network @ LISER.
    18. Phipps , Shelley & Lethbridge, Lynn, 2006. "Income and the Outcomes of Children," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 2006281e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
    19. Betancur, Laura & Votruba-Drzal, Elizabeth & Miller, Portia, 2025. "Long-term associations between early childhood education and academic achievement in two low- and middle-income countries," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    20. Janet Currie & Mark Stabile, 2007. "Mental Health in Childhood and Human Capital," NBER Chapters, in: The Problems of Disadvantaged Youth: An Economic Perspective, pages 115-148, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    21. Currie, Janet & Stabile, Mark, 2006. "Child mental health and human capital accumulation: The case of ADHD," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(6), pages 1094-1118, November.
    22. Rachel Gordon & Robert Kaestner & Sanders Korenman, 2007. "The effects of maternal employment on child injuries and infectious disease," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 44(2), pages 307-333, May.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wop:jopovw:175. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Thomas Krichel (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/jcuchus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.