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Latino immigrants within the United States experience various stressors, which have been linked to the development and exacerbation of internalizing symptoms among Latino youth. Therefore, it is crucial to explore factors that may buffer the impact of stress among immigrant families. Fathers may influence child outcomes through positive parenting behaviors, yet Latino fathers have been underrepresented in research. This study examined how paternal warmth and support may moderate the association between the accumulation of stress and child internalizing symptoms among low-income, Latino immigrant families. Participants included 62 children between the ages of 6 and 10, and their paternal caregivers (94% fathers; 90% born in Mexico). This study utilized a multi-method approach including parent-report, child-report and observational measures. Participants completed questionnaires and video-recorded family interaction tasks during home visits. Stress was positively associated with child-reported depression. Self-reported paternal warmth was associated with fewer parent-reported child internalizing symptoms and moderated the effects of stress on symptoms. Analyses showed a significant positive association between paternal stress and child internalizing symptoms for children with the lowest levels of parental warmth. However, when paternal warmth was high, accumulation of stress and child internalizing symptoms were not related. Thus, high levels of warmth buffered the impact of stress on internalizing symptoms. This study highlights the importance of Latino fathers' parenting behaviors on child internalizing symptoms., (© 2024 Family Process Institute.)

Introduction: Parent-child sexual health communication reduces sexual risk behaviors among youth, which in turn lowers the transmission rate of HIV and sexually transmitted infections. Despite being a known protective factor, gender differences persist with mothers being more likely to discuss sexual health with their children than fathers. Although individual characteristics, interpersonal familial factors and societal norms (e.g., communication self-efficacy, parent-child closeness, and cultural and gender norms) are associated with Black parents' likelihood to communicate about sex with their children, the current study seeks to explore which of these factors found among Black mother-child or father-son dyads extend to Black father-daughter dyads and how this phenomenon (i.e., Black father-daughter sexual health communication) relates to family structure., Methods: Seven father-daughter dyads (N = 7) and an additional five daughters (n = 5) in the United States completed individual in-depth semi-structured interviews. Daughters (M age  = 20.3) and fathers (M age  = 56.7) were biologically related, majority heterosexual, close, and lived together. Data were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using thematic analysis., Results: Analysis revealed three themes centering around the role of authoritative parenting, the tactics and skills facilitating sexual health communication, and family structure., Conclusions: Black father-daughter sexual health communication is facilitated by close father-daughter relationships, non-authoritative parenting styles, and open, supportive, and non-judgmental communication. Fathers can be better supported in knowing how and when best to communicate sexual health messages, and to mitigate the possibly negative impacts on communication of divorce or having multiple children., (© 2024 Foundation for Professionals in Services to Adolescents.)

: media-1vid15852345835001PEDS-VA_2018-1609 Video Abstract OBJECTIVES: With this study, we explore communication about consistent and correct condom use among African American and Latino male adolescents ages 15 to 19 and their fathers., Methods: Twenty-five father-son dyads completed semistructured interviews designed to elicit specific preferences for teaching and learning about consistent and correct condom use and strategies for addressing common condom use errors and problems. For analysis, we used in vivo coding and vertical and horizontal analysis techniques., Results: Fathers and sons agreed that communication about condom use is feasible and acceptable. However, fathers tended to convey vague messages regarding protecting oneself from the negative consequences of sexual activity. Furthermore, both fathers and sons reported barriers hindering conversations. Secondly, the style and frequency of condom use conversations can help overcome barriers and support father-son relationship management. Talking frequently in 1-on-1 settings and using strategies to reduce discomfort made communication easier. Lastly, fathers and sons reported distinct preferences for teaching and learning about condom use. Sons wanted fathers to give specific guidance on the use and management of condoms. Fathers expressed interest in opportunities for improving their own condom knowledge and skills. Fathers identified gaps in their own condom use knowledge as a limitation to effective instruction of their sons., Conclusions: A father-focused communication intervention about condom use is feasible and acceptable. Enhancing the intergenerational benefits of father-son communication by addressing specific father-son preferences and learning needs for condom use instruction, as well as communication barriers, represents a novel mechanism for reducing male sexual reproductive health disparities., Competing Interests: POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST: The authors have indicated they have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2019 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.)

Purpose: Puberty is a critical period of development that lays the foundation for future sexual and reproductive health. It is essential to learn about the puberty experiences of low-income girls in the United States given their increased vulnerability to negative sexual and reproductive health outcomes. To understand the present-day puberty experiences of this population, we conducted a qualitative systematic review., Methods: We systematically searched the peer-reviewed literature published between 2000 and 2014 on the puberty experiences of low-income girls in the United States. Reviewers screened titles, abstracts, and the full texts of articles. Using standardized templates, reviewers assessed the methodologic quality and extracted data. Data were synthesized using thematic analysis. Confidence in each finding was assessed using Confidence in the Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative research., Results: Twenty qualitative articles were included. They described the experiences of mostly African-American, Caucasian, and Hispanic girls living primarily in urban areas of Northeastern United States. Five overarching themes emerged: content of girls' puberty experiences, quality of girls' puberty experiences, messages girls receive about puberty, other factors that shape girls' puberty experiences, and relationships that shape girls' experiences of puberty., Conclusions: The limited existing evidence suggests that low-income girls in the United States are unprepared for puberty and have largely negative experiences of this transition., (Copyright © 2016 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Associations between suicidal behavior and social-ecological variables were examined among 1,618 Latina high school students (mean age = 15) from the nationally representative Add Health sample (68% were U.S.-born). Ideations were associated with having a suicidal friend, lower perceived father support, and overall parental caring. Attempts were associated with having a suicidal friend, and lower perceived teacher and parental support. Peer and mother relationship variables were not predictors of ideations or attempts. The protective role of father and teacher support has not previously been emphasized in the literature. Strengthening connections to parents and teachers may reduce suicidal behavior in adolescent Latinas., (© 2012 The American Association of Suicidology.)

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.

Objectives: To: 1) review the historical contexts and current profiles of father involvement in African American families; 2) identify barriers to, and supports of, involvement; 3) evaluate the effectiveness of father involvement programs; and 4) recommend directions for future research, programs, and public policies., Methods: Review of observational and interventional studies on father involvement., Results: Several historical developments (slavery, declining employment for Black men and increasing workforce participation for Black women, and welfare policies that favored single mothers) led to father absence from African American families. Today, more than two thirds of Black infants are born to unmarried mothers. Even if unmarried fathers are actively involved initially, their involvement over time declines. We identified multiple barriers to, and supports of, father involvement at multiple levels. These levels include intrapersonal (eg, human capital, attitudes and beliefs about parenting), interpersonal (eg, the father's relationships with the mother and maternal grandmother), neighborhoods and communities (eg, high unemployment and incarceration rates), cultural or societal (eg, popular cultural perceptions of Black fathers as expendable and irresponsible, racial stratification and institutionalized racism), policy (eg, Earned Income Tax Credit, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, child support enforcement), and life-course factors (eg, father involvement by the father's father). We found strong evidence of success for several intervention programs (eg, Reducing the Risk, Teen Outreach Program, and Children's Aid Society - Carrera Program) designed to prevent formation of father-absent families, but less is known about the effectiveness of programs to encourage greater father involvement because of a lack of rigorous research design and evaluation for most programs., Conclusion: A multi-level, life-course approach is needed to strengthen the capacity of African American men to promote greater involvement in pregnancy and parenting as they become fathers.

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of having a child diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) on the social and emotional well-being of fathers. While mothers have been carefully scrutinized in ADHD-related literature, fathers have been largely excluded from research designs developed to explore the effects of raising a child with ADHD. Prior research has been primarily based on small, clinically referred and homogenous samples, often without comparisons or controls. This research utilizes a nationally representative sample from the 2001 U.S. National Health Interview Survey to determine differences between fathers of children with ADHD and control fathers and to analyze how the ADHD status of the child, problematic behavior, use of medication, and paternal social support influences fathers’ sense of well-being. This research is also designed to determine whether there are child and family contexts in which the effect of ADHD status on paternal well-being is moderated. Contrary to previous findings about the emotional and social burden associated with raising an ADHD child, few differences between fathers were found.

Research has focused heavily on mother's experiences of children with life-threatening illnesses. In contrast, fathers' experiences, especially among minorities, are scarcely discussed. This study examined the experiences of 15 fathers as primary medical caretakers of children diagnosed with cancer or sickle cell disease. Using a life story method, fathers completed semistructured interviews regarding their overall experiences. Data was analyzed using narrative analysis with multiple case studies. Results indicated single, low socioeconomic status, and immigrant fathers with limited English proficiencies were at highest risk for coping difficulties. This study also examined gender biases that men experienced and masculine norms in coping.

Using a creolization conceptual framework, this study assessed beliefs about paternal and maternal roles, time spent in child care, and household labor among 60 Indo-Caribbean immigrant couples with young children. Analyses revealed belief systems about maternal and paternal roles that fell along traditional lines. Mothers invested significantly more time in major areas of child care and domestic labor than fathers did. Findings are discussed in terms of the lack of movement away from traditional gendered ideologies and the assumption of child care and household labor in Indo-Caribbean families in their new cultural community.

Mexico-U.S. migration creates situations that may cause psychological distress. The purpose of this research project was to study the impact of father's physical absence due to international migration (FPAIM) on adolescent offspring of rural immigrants from Zacatecas, Mexico. Stressors and compensators were studied from the adolescent's perspective and were analyzed using a stress-mediator-consequences theoretical framework. Qualitative (n = 24) and quantitative (n = 310) methodologies were used with a nonrandom sample of adolescents. Results show that the FPAIM is an ambivalent experience for adolescents that has positive and negative elements. Though migrants' children seem to be more vulnerable to psychosocial stress than are the offspring of nonmigrants, gender, not father's absence, appears to be the most important risk factor for psychological distress.

This study examines father-child contact in inner-city African American families with maternal HIV infection. Participants were 246 African American women, 40% of whom are infected with HIV, and one of their non-infected children. Children from non-infected families were more likely to have fathers who are alive and who are living in the home. In addition, regardless of whether or not the father lived in the home, these children had more frequent father contact than children from families with maternal HIV infection. Explanations and implications of the findings are discussed.

Children are entitled to their cultural heritage and it is important to their development. Cultural considerations must be incorporated in devising custody and parenting plans. Several generalizations are useful. Children are capable of integrating highly diverse and even contradictory cultural and religious identity fragments. The more distinctly a child's cultural inheritance varies from that of the dominant society, the more it must be taken into account. The more bias or hostility that exists against an aspect of the child's cultural inheritance, the more that cultural component is to be considered. The value of culture to the child is best seen in a developmental context. We are limited in our ability to ensure children's rights to cultural inheritance by our own ethnocentrism or ignorance, by bureaucratic or legalistic definitions of cultural identity, by the desire of one parent to reduce the contribution of the other parent, and by a tendency to rely on consistency as a value in and of itself.

Adult (M = 33 years) trios of 20 sisters and 6 brothers from 15 African American and 11 European American intact families retrospectively described their parents' child-rearing conduct on the Parent-Child Relations Questionnaire II (Siegelman & Roe, 1979). Respondents' mean education (15.1 years) and family size exceeded U.S. averages. Fitting cultural stereotypes, mothers were depicted as more loving, more attentive, and less rejecting than fathers. African American parents were described as more demanding and less lenient than European American parents, although this finding was confounded with the latter's greater education (M = 14.4 years vs. 10.9 years). Daughter trios tended to differ more than son trios on their ratings of each parent, suggesting that daughters may be more attentive to intrafamilial events. The uniqueness of the sample and the small number of brother trios limit the generalizability of these findings.