Transactional Family Processes Supporting Father Involvement and Child Socio-emotional Wellbeing

Research shows that low father involvement and/ or absence (LFIA) is associated with negative outcomes for children, such as greater antisocial and behavior problems, lower educational attainment, and poorer mental and physical health. Yet, relatively little is known about the family processes that are associated with and predict LFIA especially in racially diverse and low-income families. In these studies, we examine transactional processes related to father involvement and child wellbeing in low-income families. Findings from these studies help to identify mechanisms relevant to preventative interventions to decrease LFIA and improve child socio-emotional wellbeing in vulnerable families.

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PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

CO-INVESTIGATOR

​Inna Altschul, PhD (University of Denver)

Shawna J. Lee, PhD (University of Michigan)

FUNDING

• Transactional Family Processes Supporting Father Involvement and Child Socio-emotional Wellbeing (1R15HD091763-01). Funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) ($462,411/ total direct and indirect costs; 9/1/17-8/31/20). PI: Inna Altschul; Co-investigator: Shawna J. Lee.
• The Associations of Father-Contributed Family Income, Material Hardship, and Father Involvement Among Low-Income Families with Young Children. Funded by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Children's Bureau ($50,000; 9/30/2018 - 9/29/2020).
  Competitive pre-doctoral fellowship grant awarded to Joyce Y. Lee (PI: Shawna J. Lee).

RELATED PUBLICATIONS & PRESENTATIONS

• Combs, K.M., *Knauer, H., Altschul, I., & Lee, S.J. (2020). Associations between fathers’ pre-birth pregnancy intentions and involvement with their child 15 months later: A propensity score analysis. Journal of Family Issues. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X20983382
• Lee, S.J., *Pace, G.T., *Lee, J.Y., & Altschul, I. (2020). Parental relationship status as a moderator of the associations between mothers’ and fathers’ conflict behaviors and early child behavior problems. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. doi: 10.1177/0886260520948514
• *Ward, K.P. & Lee, S.J. (2020). Mothers’ and fathers’ parenting stress, responsiveness, and child wellbeing among low-income families. Children and Youth Services Review, 116, 105218. doi: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105218
• *Lee, J.Y., Volling, B.L., & Lee, S.J. (2020). Testing the father-child activation theory: A replication study with low-income unmarried parents. Psychology of Men & Masculinities. doi: 10.1037/men0000301
• *Lee, J.Y., Volling, B.L., Lee, S.J., & Altschul, I. (2020). Longitudinal and bidirectional relations between coparenting and father engagement in low-income residential father families. Journal of Family Psychology, 34, 226-236. doi: 10.1037/fam0000612
• *Lee, J.Y., *Pace, G.T., Lee, S.J., & Altschul, I. (2019). The associations of constructive and destructive interparental conflict to child wellbeing among low-income families. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260519835872
• Lee, S.J., *Pace, G.T., *Lee, J.Y., & *Knauer, H. (2018). The association of fathers’ parental warmth and parenting stress to child behavior problems. Children and Youth Services Review, 91, ​1-10. doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.05.020
• Lee, S.J., *Pace, G.T., *Lee, J.Y., & Altschul, I. (2020, November). Emotional security theory processes among parents with low income: Moderation by parental relationship status. Paper presented at the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) Annual Conference (virtual conference).
• *Lee, J., Volling, B., Lee, S.J., & Altschul, I. (2018, January). Longitudinal and bidirectional relations between coparenting relationship quality and father engagement among diverse low-income families. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Social Work & Research (SSWR), Washington, D.C.

• *Pace, G., & Lee, S.J. (2018, January). A family systems approach to examining mothers' and fathers' parenting warmth and the development of early child behavior problems. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Social Work & Research (SSWR), Washington, D.C. 
• Lee, J.Y., Altschul, I., & Lee, S.J. (2017). Child emotional insecurity mediates the longitudinal relations between intimate partner violence, destructive parental conflict, and children’s behavior problems. Poster presented at the 6th Society for Advancement of Violence and Injury Research (SAVIR) National Conference, Ann Arbor, MI.
• Lee, J.Y., Volling, B., & Lee, S.J. (2017, April). Coparenting quality predicts low-income residential fathers’ involvement with their young children. Paper presented at the bi-annual meeting of the Society for Research on Child Development (SRCD), Austin, TX.
• Altschul, I., & Lee, S.J. (2016, January). Destructive and constructive marital conflict and their effects on child problem behaviors. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Social Work & Research (SSWR), Washington, DC.
• Altschul, I., & Lee, S.J. (2015, October). Effects of destructive and constructive parent conflict behaviors on child problem behaviors. Paper presented given at the Annual Program Meeting (APM) of the Council of Social Work Education (CSWE), Denver, CO.

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