Research Articles

This study investigated the influence of non-resident fathers' involvement in the well-being of their adolescent children after divorce.

Guided by a systemic ecological framework on father involvement and utilising data from a representative sample of adolescents from intact and divorced families, father involvement was measured by means of the Hawkins Inventory of Father Involvement (IFI).

Adolescents' sense of well-being was measured by means of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ).

The results obtained on the IFI indicate that adolescents from divorced families perceived their fathers as lacking in support for their mothers and in salient aspects of all three components of Lamb, Pleck and Levine's (1986) concept of father involvement, i.e. interaction, availability and responsibility.

Consequently, the adolescents from divorced families obtained lower scores on reported well-being on the SDQ in terms of externalising behaviours (hyperactivity) and internalising behaviours (emotional symptoms and pro-social behaviour).

Recommendations to promote increased father involvement were made.

Download the full research article here: The Influence of Non-resident Father Involvement on Adolescent Well-being