Black Fathersí Parenting and Young Childrenís Social-Emotional Development.

Abstract

Amidst the narrative of an “epidemic of fatherlessness” in the Black community and negative stereotypes about African American fathers, historical and contemporary scholarship has continually supported that many Black fathers are quite involved with their children. Yet absent from the fatherhood literature are studies examining the heterogeneity of Black fatherhood among large samples, and how their parenting matters for their young children’s development. In this three-study dissertation using a large, representative sample, I examined how much time Black fathers spent with their young children compared to fathers in other racial/ethnic groups (N=2676), then described patterns of Black fathers’ parenting behaviors (N=1399), and lastly tested the implications of the parenting profiles on children’s social-emotional adjustment, considering children’s early temperament (N=1071).

Black, Latino, and White fathers spent similar amounts of overall time engaged with their three-year-old children, after controlling for differences in socioeconomic status and family structure. Small differences emerged according to activity type such that Black and White fathers interacted more in play and cognitive stimulation (e.g., reading); Latino fathers spent the most time caregiving; and Black and Latino fathers engaged in more social activities (e.g., visiting relatives).

Framed by the paternal involvement construct, I explored person-oriented patterns of Black fathers’ engagement, warmth, and control using latent class analysis. Average Involved fathers represented the largest group (41%), with all parenting behaviors close to the sample mean. The next largest cluster (25%), Low Involved-Disciplinarians, exhibited less father-child interaction with their young children, but slightly greater reports of spanking. The Highly Involved fathers (21%) spent more time with their children, especially in play and cognitive stimulation, and often expressed affection towards their child. The smallest subgroup of fathers (15%), Uninvolved, had the lowest involvement in each parenting domain.

Children whose fathers belonged to the different parenting groups did not differ with respect to any of the six social-emotional adjustment subscales. However, Parenting x Child Temperament interactions emerged for two outcomes (children’s withdrawal and lack of guilt following misbehavior). Children with high emotionality had worse outcomes compared to their counterparts when their fathers were members of more involved parenting groups (Highly and Average Involved).