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Adolescents in stepfamilies use different labels when describing their stepfather, such as "stepfather" or "mother's husband." These labels may reflect youths' sense of family identity or dynamics. The current study uses nationally representative data (Add Health) on a sample of adolescents living with their mothers and a married stepfather (n = 1192) to examine factors that may be associated with how teens describe their stepfather, and changes in this labeling over a year. Findings suggest that closeness with nonresident fathers increases the likelihood that teens avoid the "stepfather" label, while closeness with mothers increases the likelihood that they adopt the label. Closeness with their stepfather was not associated with how they label him. Other characteristics of the stepfamily are also important predictors of stepfather labeling.

This study employs nationally representative data on adolescents and their stepfathers (n=2085) from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) to examine factors associated with positive stepfather-stepchild relationships in married stepfamilies. Results reveal substantial variability in the perceived quality of adolescents' relationships with stepfathers. Structural equation models using Wave I data reveal that close relationships with mothers and close ties between mothers and stepfathers are positively related to the perceived quality of adolescents' relationships with stepfathers. Longitudinal models using Waves I and II do not yield definitive results but suggest that the direction of influence runs in both directions, with the mother-child relationship and the stepfather-stepchild relationship mutually reinforcing one another. We identify a number of other factors that are associated with positive stepfather-stepchild ties, as well as a few factors that may be less consequential than previously thought. Most of the correlates of positive stepfather-stepchild relationships are similar for boys and girls; for Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics; and for stepfamilies of various durations., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Although remarriage is a relatively common transition, little is known about how nonresident fathers affect divorced mothers' entry into remarriage. Using the 1979-2010 rounds of the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1979, the authors examined the likelihood of remarriage for divorced mothers ( N = 882) by nonresident father contact with children and payment of child support. The findings suggest that maternal remarriage is positively associated with nonresident father contact but not related to receiving child support.

Objectives: This study examined whether religious adults (measured by the frequency of attendance at religious services) report more extensive ties with their parents., Method: Using data from the National Survey of Families and Households (N = 9,002), a series of bivariate and multivariate regression models were tested. Several dimensions of adult children's relationships with their parents were considered including relationship quality, frequency of contact, providing care to parents, and providing other assistance., Results: Adult children who attended religious services more frequently were significantly more likely to provide assistance to parents, and they reported higher quality relationships and more frequent contact with both their fathers and mothers. Results were similar for sons and daughters, and for younger and older adult children., Discussion: A better understanding of what motivates and fosters strong ties between adult children and their parents is vitally important given the "graying" of America and the consequences of such ties for the health and well-being of both generations. Religion is only one of many factors associated with adult children's ties to parents, and this association is generally modest, but it is an important factor that should be given greater attention in future research.

Prior research has noted that although cooperative coparenting between resident and nonresident parents is beneficial to children, this form of shared parenting is relatively uncommon. Relying on nationally representative data from two waves of the National Survey of Families and Households (N = 628), we examine the importance of nonresident fathers' and resident mothers' new marriages and new children for levels of cooperative coparenting and test whether changes in coparenting are linked to changes in parents' marital or fertility statuses. Consistent with prior studies, our data suggest that cooperative coparenting does not occur in most nonresident father families. Results suggest that changes to the nonresident father's family structure are of primary importance for cooperative coparenting, but that mother's family structure is relatively unimportant.

An increasing number of U.S. children are living with interethnic parents, yet we know relatively little about how they are faring. Using data from the first wave (1987-1988) of the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH), this study examines differences in child well-being between children living with interethnic parents and those living with same-ethnic parents. Results provide only limited evidence that child well-being is lower among children living with interethnic parents. Compared with children in same-ethnic families, children living with interethnic parents exhibited higher levels of negative affect, and this difference could not be explained by differences in background or family characteristics, levels of parents relationship stressors, or parenting quality. At the same time, however, no differences were found in global well-being, positive affect, or behavior problems. Children living with interethnic parents may face some greater difficulties that warrant concern, but they do not appear to face pervasive disadvantages.

This study uses data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to examine combinations of father residence and closeness which have received minimal examination but involve significant numbers of children. Our findings lead to a number of conclusions. First, adolescents who are close to their nonresident fathers report higher self-esteem, less delinquency, and fewer depressive symptoms than adolescents who live with a father with whom they are not close. Second, adolescents living with a father with whom they are not close have better grades, less violence and less substance use than those having a nonresident father who is not close. At the same time, however, not being close to a resident father is associated with lower self-esteem compared to having a nonresident father who is not close. Third, adolescents do best of all when they have close ties to resident fathers. A central conclusion of this study is that it is important to consider the quality of father-child relations among those who have a resident father when assessing the impact of nonresident fathers on their children.

We used the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 cohort (NLSY79) from 1979 to 2002 and the Children of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (CNLSY) from 1986 to 2002 to describe the number, shape, and population frequencies of U.S. nonresident father contact trajectories over a 14-year period using growth mixture models. The resulting four-category classification indicated that nonresident father involvement is not adequately characterized by a single population with a monotonic pattern of declining contact over time. Contrary to expectations, about two-thirds of fathers were consistently either highly involved or rarely involved in their children's lives. Only one group, constituting approximately 23% of fathers, exhibited a clear pattern of declining contact. In addition, a small group of fathers (8%) displayed a pattern of increasing contact. A variety of variables differentiated between these groups, including the child's age at father-child separation, whether the child was born within marriage, the mother's education, the mother's age at birth, whether the father pays child support regularly, and the geographical distance between fathers and children.

We know little about children who have two living nonresident biological parents. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, this study examines the diverse living arrangements of U.S. adolescents in this situation, the kinds of relationships they have with each of their nonresident parents, and how these living arrangements are associated with adolescent well-being. Differences between these adolescents (N = 502) and those who have one nonresident biological parent (N = 4746) are also examined. Results point to certain groups of adolescents with two nonresident parents who are at particular risk of exhibiting higher levels of behavior problems (those living alone or with an aunt and uncle) or who, alternatively, are faring comparatively better (those living with biological relative caregivers or two nonbiological parent figures).

This study examines how the entrance of a stepfather influences adolescent ties to mothers and nonresident fathers, and how prior ties to each biological parent influences the development of stepfather-stepchild ties. Data come from 1753 adolescents in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health who lived with a single mother in Wave 1 that remained single, cohabited, or married by Wave 2, approximately one year later. Stepfamily formation had little consequence for adolescent-nonresident father ties. Adolescent-mother closeness, however, declined when cohabiting, but not married, stepfathers entered the household. Close ties to married stepfathers were more likely to develop when adolescents were closer to their mothers before stepfather entry. Prior ties to nonresident fathers were unrelated to stepfather-stepchild ties.

This study examined sons' and daughters' involvement with nonresident fathers and associated outcomes (N=4,663). Results indicate that sons and daughters report equal involvement with nonresident fathers on most measures of father investment, although sons report more overnight visits, sports, and movies, and feeling closer to their fathers compared to daughters. Sons and daughters generally benefit from nonresident father involvement in the same way in internalizing and externalizing problems and grades. However, feeling close to one's nonresident father is associated with lower internalizing problems for daughters than sons. These findings suggest that nonresident fathers should be encouraged to be equally involved with their sons and daughters, as such involvement is associated with higher levels of well-being for both sons and daughters.

Using data from a sample of 1,149 adolescents in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health who have both a resident stepfather and a nonresident biological father, this study examines the prevalence, antecedents, and consequences of adolescents' closeness to their stepfathers and nonresident fathers. Findings demonstrate that adolescents vary greatly in their likelihood of having close relationships with one or both of their fathers, but when they do so, they appear to benefit. Close relationships with both stepfathers and nonresident fathers are associated with better adolescent outcomes, with ties to stepfathers being somewhat more influential than ties to nonresident fathers.

Using data from 453 adolescents in Wave 2 of the National Survey of Families and Households, we examine how multiple dimensions of nonresident father involvement are associated with different dimensions of child well-being. Father-child relationship quality and responsive fathering are modestly associated with fewer externalizing and internalizing problems among adolescents. The quality of the mother-child relationship, however, has stronger effects on child well-being. Nevertheless, even if adolescents have weak ties to mothers, those who have strong ties to nonresident fathers exhibit fewer internalizing problems and less acting out at school than adolescents who have weak ties to both parents. Adolescents are worst off on a range of outcomes when they have weak ties to both their mothers and nonresident fathers.