Longitudinal Study of Body Mass Index in Young Males and the Transition to Fatherhood.

Despite a growing understanding that the social determinants of health have an impact on body mass index (BMI), the role of fatherhood on young men's BMI is understudied. This longitudinal study examines BMI in young men over time as they transition from adolescence into fatherhood in a nationally representative sample. Data from all four waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health supported a 20-year longitudinal analysis of 10,253 men beginning in 1994. A "fatherhood-year" data set was created and changes in BMI were examined based on fatherhood status (nonfather, nonresident father, resident father), fatherhood years, and covariates. Though age is positively associated with BMI over all years for all men, comparing nonresident and resident fathers with nonfathers reveals different trajectories based on fatherhood status. Entrance into fatherhood is associated with an increase in BMI trajectory for both nonresident and resident fathers, while nonfathers exhibit a decrease over the same period. In this longitudinal, population-based study, fatherhood and residence status play a role in men's BMI. Designing obesity prevention interventions for young men that begin in adolescence and carry through young adulthood should target the distinctive needs of these populations, potentially improving their health outcomes

Adolescent Reproductive Knowledge, Attitudes, and Beliefs and Future Fatherhood.

PurposeWith a growing focus on the importance of men's reproductive health, including preconception health, the ways in which young men's knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs (KAB) predict their reproductive paths are understudied. To determine if reproductive KAB predicts fatherhood status, timing and residency (living with child or not).MethodsReproductive KAB and fatherhood outcomes were analyzed from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a 20-year, nationally representative study of individuals from adolescence into adulthood. Four measures of reproductive KAB were assessed during adolescence in waves I and II. A generalized linear latent and mixed model predicted future fatherhood status (nonfather, resident/nonresident father, adolescent father) and timing while controlling for other socio-demographic variables.ResultsOf the 10,253 men, 3,425 were fathers (686 nonresident/2,739 resident) by wave IV. Higher risky sexual behavior scores significantly increased the odds of becoming nonresident father (odds ratio [OR], 1.30; p < .0001), resident father (OR, 1.07; p = .007), and adolescent father (OR, 1.71; p < .0001); higher pregnancy attitudes scores significantly increased the odds of becoming a nonresident father (OR, 1.20; p < .0001) and resident father (OR, 1.11; p < .0001); higher birth control self-efficacy scores significantly decreased the odds of becoming a nonresident father (OR, .72; p < .0001) and adolescent father (OR, .56; p = .01).ConclusionsYoung men's KAB in adolescence predicts their future fatherhood and residency status. Strategies that address adolescent males' reproductive KAB are needed in the prevention of unintended reproductive consequences such as early and nonresident fatherhood

Child functioning in single-parent families: The importance of social interactions and social support from fathers, kin, and community adults.

This research develops and tests a model of the impact of outside socialization influences on children in single-mother families. The model considers the effects of positive interactions and role models, parental authority, control, and supervision on children by considering: (1) the influence of positive interactions and discipline provided to children by absent fathers, kin, and community adults, and (2) the influence, either direct, or through maternal practices, of social support provided to mothers by kin, friends, and neighbors. The sample was comprised of 113 third and fourth grade urban children and their unmarried mothers, 53% European American and 47% African American, from working class and lower-middle class socioeconomic backgrounds. Analyses indicated that the children's interactions with nonmaternal adults related to multiple measures of their functioning. The identity of the adults was very important: interactions with men predicted better functioning in numerous realms, while interactions with women were either nonpredictive or were detrimental. The children's gender and social class moderated these relationships. For girls and middle-class children, high rates of positive interactions and discipline from biological fathers predicted higher academic achievement. Middle-class children also showed effects of interactions with fathers on their school behaviors. For boys and lower-class children, discipline from nonpaternal men predicted better behavior ratings from teachers and more prosocial ratings from peers. Boys with high levels of discipline from nonmaternal women showed high teacher-rated problem behaviors. Analyses on maternal social support revealed multiple relations to children's functioning also. In general, high levels of support from kin and high functional support predicted better peer ratings and more prosocial behaviors for children, while emotional support, especially from friends and neighbors, predicted greater problem behaviors in children. Children's gender, ethnicity, and social class all moderated these relationships. Analyses addressing whether these effects are mediated by mothers' depression, parental commitment, permissive discipline, or supervision found inconclusive results. Implications of the findings for social policies and interventions for children of single mothers are discussed, with a focus on the need for supportive policies for child-adult relationships, especially with fathers and other men.Ph.D.Developmental psychologyIndividual and family studiesPsychologyPublic policySocial SciencesWomen's studiesUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/129594/2/9542816.pd

Parental endorsement of spanking and children’s internalizing and externalizing problems in African American and Hispanic families.

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Poverty and Academic Achievement Across the Urban to Rural Landscape: Associations with Community Resources and Stressors

Poor children begin school with fewer academic skills than their nonpoor peers, and these disparities translate into lower achievement, educational attainment, and economic stability in adulthood. Child poverty research traditionally focuses on urban or rural poor, but a shifting spatial orientation of poverty necessitates a richer examination of how urbanicity intersects with economic disadvantage. Combining geospatial administrative data with longitudinal survey data on poor children from kindergarten through second grade (N ≈ 2,950), this project explored how differences in community-level resources and stressors across urbanicity explain variation in achievement. Resources and stressors increased in more urbanized communities and were associated with academic achievement. Both mediated differences in poor children’s achievement. Mediation was both direct and indirect, operating through cognitive stimulation and parental warmth