The Importance of Parenting and Financial Contributions in Promoting Fathers’ Psychological Health

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This study explores the relationship between residential, biological fathers' parental engagement, financial contributions, and psychological well-being in 2-parent families. Specifically, this study focuses on how fathers' parental engagement and financial contributions are related to their self-esteem, self-efficacy, and psychological distress. Analyses utilize data from the first 2 waves of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics' Child Development Supplement and employ a subsample of father-child pairs (N = 771). The most consistent finding was that fathers' engagement in parenting and financial contributions to the family predicted improvements in fathers' psychological well-being. On the other hand, the results found very limited support for the more common proposition that healthy psychological functioning promotes increases in fathers' parental engagement and financial contributions.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2010.00702.x/abstract

Related Topics

  • Behavioral Health
  • Child Welfare
  • Fathers/Partners
  • Parenting