Examining Father Involvement and the Quality of Father-Adolescent Relations

Abstract

This investigation examined whether (a) father involvement was associated with acceptance and conflict in father-adolescent relations, (b) fathers' depression moderated this relationship, and (c) father involvement accounted for father-mother differences in acceptance and conflict. Subjects were 91 father-mother-adolescent triads who completed questionnaires about the nature of parent-adolescent relations at two points in time, 6 months apart. Results showed that involved fathers became more accepting of their adolescents over a 6-month period as reported by fathers and adolescents. Also, involved fathers were more similar to mothers with respect to the nature of parent-adolescent relations than were less involved fathers. Discussion centers on the role that father involvement plays in the evolving parent-adolescent relationship.