VISITATION FREQUENCY, CHILD-SUPPORT PAYMENT, AND THE FATHER-CHILD RELATIONSHIP POSTDIVORCE

Using survey data from 212 divorced fathers randomly selected from the court records, we investigated the relationships between frequency of father-child contact, quality of visitation, and payment of child support. A conceptual model was tested using structural equations analysis as implemented in LISREL 7. Findings indicate that fathers who see their children frequently tend to live nearby, report higher levels of father-child closeness before the divorce, and are more likely to have joint custody. Our results provide partial support for the hypothesis that frequent father-child contact is associated with better visitation quality and higher child support payment. As expected, fathers with frequent visitation report higher visitation quality and fewer problems during visitation. However, there is a lack of significance between visitation and child support payments. Possible explanations for these findings, as well as policy challenges, are considered.