The effects of financial stress and interparental conflict on poor adolescent adjustment: the role of fathering behaviors

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of financial stress and interparental conflict on poor adolescent adjustment accounting for the role of fathering behaviors. This data set comprised of 719 married fathers from the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH) Wave 2 who provided reports on values of independent variables. Both supportive and corrosive fathering behaviors were based on adolescent children's perception of their father's behaviors. Dependent variables, externalizing problem behaviors, internalizing problem behaviors, trouble with peers, and poor grades at school, were based on averaged reports of both the mother and the father to give a more objective understanding of their perception on their children's problem behaviors.

Sociodemographic data indicated that the mean age of fathers in this subsample was 41.94 yearsThe average number of children was 2.16 per household and the average age of the focal child was 13.50 yearsThe median level of father hours in paid employment was 42.80 hours and the average years of completed education of fathers were 13.52 years. 13.2% of the fathers were Black, 76.4% were White, and 10.4% were others.

Multiple regression analyses showed that only direct relationship could be established in this study whereas supportive and corrosive fathering behaviors are not mediators. The most important findings in this study were that interparental conflict and corrosive fathering behaviors were influential predictors of poor adolescent adjustment in this study.