Reflecting on the Father: Childhood Family Structure and Women's Paternal Relationships

The researchers examined childhood family structure, age, and race/ethnicity as correlates of paternal relationships using the Father Presence Questionnaire. The sample consisted of 788 adult women aged 18 to 88 years from ethnically diverse backgrounds. The most consistent finding was the effect of family structure on participants' evaluations of their paternal relationships. Father absence because of divorce or separation produced less favorable evaluations on every scale and within every racial/ethnic category; however, when father's absence was attributable to death before 18 years, a consistent pattern of extremely positive evaluations resulted. The influence of race/ethnicity on women's evaluations of paternal relationships interacted with family structure. Among those living with both biological parents, non-Hispanic Whites gave the most positive ratings of their paternal relationships; among those not living with their biological father, African Americans had more favorable ratings than other ethnic categories. Increasing age tended to produce less favorable evaluations of father. (Contains 5 tables and 1 figure.)