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Maternal gatekeeping has been associated with reductions in father involvement and can have a negative impact on the family. Few researchers, however, have focused on how characteristics of the father contribute to gatekeeping. Consequently, this brief report is focused on associations between father depression, father adherence to masculine norms, and father reports of maternal gatekeeping. We further test whether a father's adherence to traditional masculine norms interacts with the relationship between depression and father reports of maternal gatekeeping. This study adds to the current literature on both maternal gatekeeping and father mental health. Participants in this study include 2,214 fathers from the Survey of Contemporary Fatherhood including 73% White, 10% African American, 11% Hispanic/Latinx, and 6% from other races. It was found that fathers who reported higher levels of depression also reported higher levels of maternal gatekeeping; masculinity moderated this association. The link between depression and gatekeeping was amplified when men adhered to masculine norms. Those fathers who were highest in depression and highest in masculinity were also highest in their reports of maternal gatekeeping. Although gatekeeping has historically been considered a problematic behavior, our findings suggest that when a mother's gatekeeping is correlated with potential fathering risk factors (such as depression and masculine norm adherence), gatekeeping may be a tool a mother uses to protect her children. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Research suggests fathers are important to adolescent well-being, yet there is limited information regarding how fathering is associated with adolescent risk and resilience in Mexican American families. This cross-sectional study utilized a structural equation model to examine whether parent-child alienation mediated the relations between parental displays of warmth and hostility and the outcomes of adolescent resilience and delinquency in Mexican American families (N = 272). Results indicated that adolescent-perceived alienation from parents was a significant predictor of both resilience and delinquency. Additionally, alienation mediated the relations between father warmth and resilience and father warmth and delinquency, as well as the relations between mother hostility and adolescent outcomes. Implications for theory and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

This study examined the indirect mechanisms linking family stressors (i.e., negative family life events, paternal psychological distress, and couple conflict) to children's later externalizing behavior problems through fathers' warm parenting behaviors among Korean families. Three waves of longitudinal data were drawn from the Panel Study on Korean Children (PSKC) and included 1,784 families (fathers Mage = 36.27, mothers Mage = 33.79, and children Mage = 3.23). Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling and showed that negative family life events were associated with children's later externalizing problems via higher levels of couple conflict and lower levels of paternal warmth. In addition, family life events were related to children's subsequent externalizing problems via higher levels of fathers' psychological distress (i.e., depression and low self-efficacy) and lower levels of paternal warmth. Paternal psychological distress and couple conflict were indirectly linked to children's externalizing problems through fathers' warmth. Results show that fathers' characteristics and experiences are related to fathers' positive parenting, which in turn contribute to children's behavior problems. These findings underscore the importance of considering individual, relational, and contextual family stressors through which fathers' parenting contributes to children's later behavioral outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Parent-child relationships can critically affect youth physiological development. Most studies have focused on the influence of maternal behaviors, with little attention to paternal influences. The current study investigated father engagement with their adolescents in household (shopping, cooking) and discretionary leisure activities as a predictor of youth cortisol response to a challenging interpersonal task in young adulthood. The sample (N = 213) was roughly divided between Mexican American (MA; n = 101) and European American (EA; n = 112) families, and included resident biological-father (n = 131) and resident stepfather families (n = 82). Salivary cortisol was collected before, immediately after, and at 20 and 40 min after an interpersonal challenge task; area under the curve (AUCg) was calculated to capture total cortisol output. Results suggested that more frequent father engagement in shared activities with adolescents (ages 11-16), but not mother engagement, predicted lower AUCg cortisol response in young adulthood (ages 19-22). The relation remained significant after adjusting for current mother and father engagement and current mental health. Further, the relation did not differ given family ethnicity, father type (step or biological), or adolescent sex. Future research should consider unique influences of fathers when investigating the effects of parent-child relationships on youth physiological development and health. (PsycINFO Database Record, ((c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).)

Low-income, nonresident fathers are often involved in complex coparenting networks that may involve multiple mothers, relatives, and other adults. However, the coparenting literature has often obscured this complexity through limiting attention to father-mother relationships. The current study used family systems theory to examine the effects of fathers' coparenting with mothers and relatives on fathers' parenting self-efficacy, father-child closeness, and father-child conflict. Predictors included the number of fathers' coparenting mothers and relatives, the quality of those coparenting relationships, and coparenting alliances specifically between fathers and the biological mother of a target child. Approximately 19% of a community sample of fathers (N = 401) reported more than 1 mother in their coparenting network, and 63% reported at least 1 relative. Overall, fathers who reported having more-cooperative coparenting relatives in their networks reported higher parenting self-efficacy and father-child closeness. We further noted a race or ethnicity interaction effect for closeness and conflict, such that having more-cooperative coparenting relatives was associated with increased closeness for non-Hispanic Black fathers but not for non-Hispanic White fathers. Amount of cooperation with coparenting relatives was associated with increased conflict for non-Hispanic Black fathers but not for Hispanic fathers. Implications for future research and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record, ((c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).)

In the present longitudinal study, we investigated attachment quality in Portuguese mother-infant and in father-infant dyads, and evaluated whether attachment quality was related to parental sensitivity during parent-infant social interaction or to the amount of time each parent spent with the infant during play and in routine caregiving activities (e.g., feeding, bathing, play). The sample consisted of 82 healthy full-term infants (30 girls, 53 boys, 48 first born), and their mothers and fathers from mostly middle-class households. To assess parental sensitivity, mothers and fathers were independently observed during free play interactions with their infants when infants were 9 and 15 months old. The videotaped interactions were scored by masked coders using the Crittenden's CARE-Index. When infants were 12 and 18 months old, mother-infant and father-infant dyads were videotaped during an adaptation of Ainsworth's Strange Situation. Parents also described their level of involvement in infant caregiving activities using a Portuguese version of the McBride and Mills Parent Responsibility Scale. Mothers were rated as being more sensitive than fathers during parent-infant free play at both 9 and 15 months. There also was a higher prevalence of secure attachment in mother-infant versus father-infant dyads at both 12 and 18 months. Attachment security was predicted by the amount of time mothers and fathers were involved in caregiving and play with the infant, and with parents' behavior during parent-infant free play., ((c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).)

Data from 190 mothers and their 5- to 7-year-old children were used to evaluate how characteristics of mother-child conflict discussions contribute to the likelihood of reaching a compromise, a win-loss resolution, or a standoff. Dyads discussed 2 topics they reported having disagreements about that were emotionally arousing. Coders rated global measurements of mothers' emotional responsiveness, intrusiveness, and negativity; children's negativity; and the frequency of mothers' and children's constructive and oppositional comments. Child sex was examined as a moderator of the relation between discussion characteristics and resolution reached. Results indicated that more constructive comments by mothers and children increased the likelihood of reaching a resolution versus a standoff, but only children's constructive comments differentiated between a compromise and a win-loss resolution favoring mothers. Dyads with more emotionally responsive mothers who made fewer oppositional comments were also more likely to reach a compromise versus a win-loss resolution. A significant interaction with child sex revealed that, for boys, the use of more child oppositional comments was associated with a higher likelihood of reaching a standoff versus a compromise. Girls' oppositional comments did not predict resolution type. These results are discussed in terms of the children's developmental level and parents' socialization goals., (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.)

A growing body of research documents the importance of positive father involvement in children's development. However, research on fathers in Latino families is sparse, and research contextualizing the father-child relationship within a cultural framework is needed. The present study examined how fathers' cultural practices and values predicted their fifth-grade children's report of positive father involvement in a sample of 450 two-parent Mexican-origin families. Predictors included Spanish- and English-language use, Mexican and American cultural values, and positive machismo (i.e., culturally related attitudes about the father's role within the family). Positive father involvement was measured by the child's report of his or her father's monitoring, educational involvement, and warmth. Latent variable regression analyses showed that fathers' machismo attitudes were positively related to children's report of positive father involvement and that this association was similar across boys and girls. The results of this study suggest an important association between fathers' cultural values about men's roles and responsibilities within a family and their children's perception of positive fathering.

Although the effects of paternal alcoholism on the psychosocial adjustment of children are well documented, the impact of fathers' illicit drug abuse on their children is poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to compare the adjustment of children living in families with drug-abusing fathers (n = 40) with that of children with fathers who abused alcohol (n = 40) and children with non-substance-abusing fathers (n = 40). Children with drug-abusing fathers experienced more internalizing and externalizing symptoms than children with alcoholic or non-substance-abusing fathers. Interparental conflict and parenting behavior mediated the relationship between family type and children's adjustment. Interventions to improve fathers' parenting behavior and reduce partner conflict may lead to better adjustment among custodial children of drug-abusing fathers.