The Relations Between Mattering to Nonresidential Biological Fathers and Stepfathers and Adolescent Mental Health Problems Clorinda E. Schenck, M.A. 1, Sanford L. Braver, Ph.D. 1, Sharlene A. Wolchik, Ph.D. 1, Delia Saenz, Ph.D. 1, William V. Fabricius, Ph.D. 1, Jeff Cookston, Ph.D.. 2 ; 1 Arizona State University, 2 San Francisco State University ABSTRACT This study examined the perceptions of 133 children in stepfather families concerning how much they mattered to their stepfathers and nonresidential biological fathers, and the relation of these perceptions to children’s internalizing and externalizing. Mattering to nonresidential fathers significantly predicted mother-, teacher-, and child-reported internalizing. Mattering to stepfathers significantly predicted child- reported internalizing and stepfather- and child- reported externalizing. For teacher report, mattering to stepfathers and to nonresidential fathers significantly interacted. Perceiving that one mattered to either “father” predicted low externalizing; perceptions of mattering to the second father did not predict a further reduction in problems. These findings suggest that mattering is an important aspect of the father-child relationship, and highlight the importance of considering children’s relationships with nonresidential and residential fathers. HYPOTHESES 1.Mattering to the nonresidential father will be negatively related to internalizing and externalizing 2. Mattering to the stepfather will be negatively related to internalizing and externalizing 3. The relation between mattering to each father and children’s internalizing and externalizing will depend on the degree of mattering to the other father. SAMPLE & PROCEDURES ● Participants (N =133) were part of a larger two-site longitudinal study of the contribution of fathers to children’s development. All data are from Wave 1. ● 56% female; 52% Anglo-American, 48% Mexican-American, mean age: 12.5 years. SES median: 2.6 times national poverty line. ● 59% of families were legally married, 41% cohabitating; stepfathers lived with child a minimum of 1 year, mean = 5.2 years. ● Data were collected from mothers, stepfathers, children, and teachers. MEASURES ● Mattering: 7-item child-report for 3 target parents: mother nonresidential father, stepfather. Alphas range from.79 to.95 ● Internalizing: Shortened BPI (10 items) for mother, stepfather, and teacher report. Shortened CDI and RCMAS, standardized and averaged, for child report. ● Externalizing: Full BPI subscale for Mother and Stepfather report, Shortened subscale for Teacher (18 items) and Child (12 items) reports ● Covariates: Gender, Ethnicity, SES, and Formality of Parents’ Union. DISCUSSION ● Results indicate that mattering to the nonresidential father was significantly related to children’s internalizing as measured by mother, child, and teacher report ● Mattering to the stepfather was also significantly related to internalizing as measured by child report, and to externalizing as measured by stepfather and child report. ● For teacher report of externalizing, the relation between mattering to the stepfather and externalizing interacted with mattering to the nonresidential father; it was primarily when a child believed that s/he mattered little to both fathers that teachers detected externalizing. ● Feeling that s/he mattered a great deal to either the nonresidential father or the stepfather was associated with fewer teacher-reported externalizing behaviors; mattering also to the second of the two fathers was associated with little further decrease in these problems. ● This study demonstrates that mattering is an important aspect of the father-child relationship in relation to children’s mental health problems ● Additionally, this investigation highlights the importance of considering the quality of the child’s relationship with both stepfathers and nonresidential fathers when studying children in stepfamilies. This research was supported by NIMH/NICHD grant RO1MH TABLES Table 1: Internalizing Problems Report MeasuresMotherStepfatherChildTeacher BSEB B B Mattering: M ** Mattering: S ** Mattering: N-.07* * *.06 Mattering: N x S Table 2: Externalizing Problems Report MeasuresMotherStepfatherChildTeacher BSEB B B Mattering: M * **.28 Mattering: S * *** Mattering: N Mattering: N x S.01.05*.02 Note. M = Mother; S = Stepfather; N = Nonresidential Father. Raw coefficients are reported. Significant coefficients are shown in bold. *p<.05 **p<.01 ***p<.001 Figure 1: Interaction Term for Teacher Reported Externalizing FIGURE Mattering to Stepfather Teacher Reported Externalizing Eight hierarchical multiple regressions were conducted using separate models for each report. All models controlled for mattering to mothers and mattering to the second father. 1. Mattering to the nonresidential father was significantly related to mother-, child-, and teacher-reported children’s internalizing (see Table 1). 2. Mattering to the stepfather was significantly related to child-reported internalizing, and to stepfather- and child-reported externalizing (see Tables 1 & 2) 3.For teacher-reported externalizing, the interaction between mattering to stepfathers and mattering to nonresidential fathers was significant (see Table 2 and Figure 1). 4. Covariates: Cohabitating children had significantly higher stepfather reported internalizing (B = 1.22, p<.05); Boys had significant higher stepfather-, child-, and teacher-reported externalizing (B = -2.72, p<.05; , p <.05; and -8.86, p <.001). RESULTS B = -.75; p =.01 B = -.34; p =.11 B =.07; p =.80 Low Mattering to Residential Father Mean Mattering to Residential Father High Mattering to Residential Father