Publication year
2014
Citation Title
Nonresident fathers' financial support, informal instrumental support, mothers' parenting, and child development in single-mother families with low income.
Journal Name
Journal of Family Issues
Journal Volume
35
Issue Number
4
Page Numbers
526-546
DOI
10.1177/0192513x13478403
Summary
Single mothers and their children were followed over the first five years of the child's life to examine the relationships among nonresidential fathers' financial and informal instrumental support, mothers' parenting and parenting stress, and their children's behavioral and cognitive development over time. Nonresidential fathers' financial support was directly associated with children's cognitive development.
Key Findings
Nonresident fathers' financial support directly improved child cognitive development at the fifth year of the study (age five).
Nonresident father financial support indirectly improved child developmental outcomes at years three and five via mothers' parenting stress.
Fathers' informal instrumental support had a direct effect on child cognitive development at age five, and indirect effects on child outcomes through mothers' parenting stress.
Mothers with higher levels of instrumental support were more likely to have less economic hardship, which in turn alleviates mothers' parenting stress and thereby promotes child development.
Implications for Military Professionals
Collaborate with other professionals in the field about ways to support single military mothers
Facilitate support groups for single military mothers with children to increase kinship among those families
Implications for Program Leaders
Offer classes for nonresidential military fathers, teaching effective means of maintaining an active part in their children's lives and emphasizing the clear benefits of financial support on child development
Teach skills to support success in school and employment as part of their curricula for military parents
Implications for Policy Makers
Promote military fathers involvement in their children's lives, which may include increased flexibility in tour of duty hours to allow for quality time with their children
Continue to support programs that offer resources and services to single military mothers
Methods
Data were drawn from the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being study, a longitudinal birth cohort study of approximately 4,200 children born between 1998-2000 in 20 U.S. cities.
Data from birth interviews (Time 1), one year-follow-up survey (Time 2), three year-follow-up survey (Time 3), three year in-home study (Time 3), and five year in-home study (Time 5) were used.
A subset of low-income single-mothers and their children were included in the present study, using 300% of the federal poverty line to determine income eligibility.
Participants
Six hundred seventy mothers and their children (356 boys and 332 girls) were included in this study. Fifty percent had one child and 26% had two children.
Mean maternal age at Time 1 was 24.30 (SD = 5.20) years and the majority of participants were African American (73%).
Thirty-five percent of the mothers had completed high school and 33% had some education beyond high school.
At Time 1, 53% of mothers were employed, and 45% received public support (public assistance or food stamps).
Limitations
Fathers' instrumental support was included in a general instrumental support question as answered by the mothers; this may not be an accurate measure of this construct.
This study did not measure the multidimensional nature of social support and the potential differential effects of it making it difficult to understand how other types of support influence child outcomes.
This study did not measure changes in the amount of fathers' financial support over time, which may have important implications on the results.
Avenues for Future Research
Explore nonresident fathers' financial support using a longitudinal study design and measure changes in support over time
Use measures to explore multiple dimensions and sources of social support, especially for military mothers
Conduct a similar study with military families
Focus
Civilian
Population Focus
Abstract
This study examines the relationships among nonresident fathers' financial support, informal instrumental support, mothers' parenting and parenting stress, and their children's behavioral and cognitive development in single-mother families with low income. Informed by stress-coping and social support models, this study estimates the mediating effects of nonresident fathers' financial support on children's outcomes transmitted through mothers' parenting and parenting stress. The analyses use the longitudinal data from a subsample of 679 single mothers in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. Results suggest that nonresident fathers' financial support is directly associated with children's cognitive development. Nonresident fathers' financial support is found to have indirect effects on children's behavior problems and cognitive development transmitted through mothers' parenting and parenting stress. Informal instrumental support is directly and indirectly associated with both outcomes of children transmitted through maternal economic hardship, parenting, and parenting stress. The study discusses the policy and practice implications of these findings.
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