Adolescents with Nonresident Fathers: Are Daughters more Disadvantaged than Sons?

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.