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Research indicates that closeness of the father-child bond following parental divorce is associated with better outcomes for children and adolescents. Unlike other investigations, this study takes a long-term developmental approach to understanding stability and change in postdivorce father-adolescent relationship closeness. Drawing on Add Health data (n = 483), we examine factors that explain (a) why some high-quality father-adolescent relationships remain the same after divorce whereas others decline, and (b) why some low-quality relationships are stable following divorce whereas others improve. High mother-offspring relationship quality and offspring feelings of well-being prevented close father-offspring relationships from deteriorating. Offspring's childbearing and cohabitation following parental divorce increase closeness in father-offspring relationships that were not close prior to divorce. Although a majority of offspring experienced a decline in closeness following divorce, results from this study show that some very close father-offspring relationships are maintained and some poor relationships become closer.

We examine the importance of the coparental relationship for nonresident fathers' ties to their children. Using data from Wave 2 of the National Survey of Families and Households, we focus on the link between two dimensions of coparenting, cooperative coparenting and conflict over childrearing, and three dimensions of nonresident father involvement, contact, relationship quality, and responsive fathering. Cooperative coparenting predicts more frequent father-child contact, which in turn predicts higher relationship quality and more responsive fathering. Conflict over childrearing, however, is not significantly related to nonresident father involvement. Findings are consistent across different groups of children. Results suggest that cooperative coparenting between parents who live apart is associated with stronger ties between nonresident fathers and their children.

Study examines interrelationship of nonresident father visitation, parental conflict over the visitation, and mother's satisfaction with the visitation. Data from the National Survey of Families and Households determined that children were least well off in families where mothers were dissatisfied with high levels of father contact. (Author/JDM)

Research indicates that closeness of the father-child bond following parental divorce is associated with better outcomes for children and adolescents. Unlike other investigations, this study takes a long-term developmental approach to understanding stability and change in postdivorce father-adolescent relationship closeness. Drawing on Add Health data (n = 483), we examine factors that explain (a) why some high-quality father-adolescent relationships remain the same after divorce whereas others decline, and (b) why some low-quality relationships are stable following divorce whereas others improve. High mother-offspring relationship quality and offspring feelings of well-being prevented close father-offspring relationships from deteriorating. Offspring’s childbearing and cohabitation following parental divorce increase closeness in father-offspring relationships that were not close prior to divorce. Although a majority of offspring experienced a decline in closeness following divorce, results from this study show that some very close father-offspring relationships are maintained and some poor relationships become closer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]