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Journal of Child and Family Studies

, Volume 28, Issue 10, pp 2891–2900 | Cite as

Effects of Paternal Incarceration on Father Involvement on Child Behavior Outcomes at Middle Childhood

  • Jamel SlaughterEmail author
  • Jaya B. Davis
  • Craig Nagoshi
Original Paper
First Online:
  • 349 Downloads

Abstract

Objectives

This study tested the separate and combined effects of father involvement and paternal incarceration on child internalizing and externalizing behaviors at 9 years of age.

Methods

Our sample contains completed interviews of 2652 fathers, 3515 mothers, and 3377 children. The mean age of fathers was 28 at child age 9. Multiple regression analysis of secondary data was conducted from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a national study that followed a cohort of low-income married and unmarried parents and their young children living in 20 US cities.

Results

Higher socioeconomic status and greater father involvement were associated with lower child internalizing and externalizing behaviors, while paternal incarceration for property crimes was associated with greater externalizing in boys and internalizing in girls. Incarceration for drug crimes was associated with lower father involvement.

Conclusions

Multiple regression analyses confirmed the independent effects of father involvement on child internalizing and externalizing, but the incarceration for property crimes effects were attenuated and moderated by SES.

Keywords

Externalizing behaviors Father involvement Internalizing behaviors Middle childhood Paternal incarceration 
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Notes

Acknowledgements

Research reported in this publication was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) of the National Institutes of Health under award numbers R01HD36916, R01HD39135, and R01HD40421, as well as a consortium of private foundations. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Author Contributions

J.S. designed and executed the study, assisted with the data analyses, and wrote the paper. J.B.D. collaborated with the design and writing of the study. C.N. analyzed the data and wrote the results. J.S., C.N., and J.B.D. collaborated in the writing and editing of the final manuscript.

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Compliance with Ethical Standards

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

This article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.School of Social WorkUniversity of Texas at ArlingtonArlingtonUSA
  2. 2.Department of Criminology and Criminal JusticeUniversity of Texas at ArlingtonArlingtonUSA
  3. 3.Department of PsychologyUniversity of Texas at ArlingtonArlingtonUSA

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