FATHERING AFTER SEPARATION OR DIVORCE - FACTORS PREDICTING CHILDRENS ADJUSTMENT

This study examined the ways in which the presence of a fathering figure, following the separation or divorce of the biological parents, was related to preadolescent children's adjustment Noncustodial fathers' level of contact and involvement with their preadolescent children and the cooperativeness of the ex-partner coparating relationship were positively associated with children's adjustment in both single-mother and reconstituted families; however, in single-mother families, income accounted for much of the variance between coparenting and child outcomes. In reconstituted families, both the supportiveness of stepfathers' relationship with children and the cooperativeness of the partners' coparenting relationship were associated with positive child adjustment.