(PS7-39) Fatherhood After Separation: Implications for Parent and Child Outcomes

Abstract Text: Little research has been conducted on the unique experiences of fathers following parental separation, much less on the different experiences of fathers who have varying degrees of parenting responsibilities (i.e., non-custodial, joint-custody, resident parent). Although it is still more common for children to reside primarily with their mothers after parental separation, the numbers of resident fathers are increasing (Hemez & Washington, 2021). Understanding parenting and mental health among separated fathers is important in developing relevant, accessible services and supports. The current study serves as a descriptive analysis of how custodial status among separated fathers of 9-year-old children is associated with parental perceptions, relationship quality, disciplinary behavior, parenting stress, paternal depression, and child behavior outcomes.

Participants (n = 1,034) included father-child dyads drawn from the Future Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS; McLanahan et al., 2024). Study variables were drawn from Wave 5 (child aged 9 years), and fathers were selected based on their separation from or non-cohabitation with the child’s mother as reported at time of birth. Fathers answered surveys surrounding all study variables (e.g., coparenting relationship via four items taken from the Parenting Abilities Subtopic; McLanahan et al., 2024), and children only reported on two of the variables (i.e., father-child relationship via the Caregiver-Child Relationship Scale; McLanahan et al., 2024, and disciplinary tactics via the Conflict-Tactic Scale, Parent-Child; McLanahan et al., 2024). Analyses were completed on IBM SPSS version 28.0 (IBM Corp, 2021).

Results indicated that positive views of fatherhood (i.e., perceived influence over decision making, self-assessment of parenting abilities) were the highest among resident fathers and lowest among non-custodial fathers (p < .001), yet parental stress remained moderately high across all groups (p = .061). Depression was lowest among fathers with joint custody and significantly higher among non-custodial fathers (p < .001). Both resident fathers and their children reported the greatest quality of the father-child relationship (p < .001), and the highest frequency of disciplinary behaviors (p < .001). Joint-custody fathers were the highest in positive ratings of the coparenting relationship (p = .003). There were no group differences in child behavioral problems (p = .789).

To our knowledge, no studies to date have examined all of these concepts in one project, as well as compared them across different custodial groups. Our findings illustrate that separated fathers have different experiences of wellbeing and parenthood depending on how much of the time their child lives with them. Clinical applications of the study are vast but clearly indicate the importance of interventions for father mental health and welfare, given that stress remained high across all custodial groups. Prenatal interventions may be particularly relevant (Wilson et al., 2022), as fathers are often overlooked by healthcare staff and early indicators of chronic stress or depression may go unnoticed.