Adverse Childhood Experiences and Fathering Behaviors

Purpose: Involved fathers have a strong, positive impact on their families and children. Although the effects of father involvement are clear, we know relatively little about predictors of father involvement. One area of particular interest is how psychosocial factors influence paternal engagement. To this end, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) could be a particularly significant factor. ACEs are associated with increased depression, anxiety, suicidality, neuroticism, and criminal arrest. Furthermore, ACEs have been associated with increased risk of poverty, poor health, and a myriad of negative outcomes. The role of ACEs in father involvement may be particularly important given that trauma and abuse can have dramatic effects on interpersonal behaviors. As a result, ACEs may work through other mental health issues, such as depression, to affect parenting behaviors. These issues are of particular concern, since men often fail to seek professional help and can manifest their mental health problems in negative ways.

Method: Data came from the Survey of Contemporary Fatherhood (SCF). SCF is a quota sample of 2,300 biological fathers, stepfathers, and other social fathers with children between the ages of 2 and 18. The sample matches Census population estimates of racial/ethnic composition of men over age 18 and geographic regions. Developmentally appropriate measures of father involvement with 2-8 year old children were employed (n= 1107). The endogenous variables were two latent measures: paternal warmth and abusive parenting. The key exogenous variable was the standardized ACEs scale from the Centers for Disease Control. The endogenous mediating variable was depression, as measured by the CES-D depression scale. Control variables included age of child, gender of child, father’s age, father’s relationship to the child, family income, religiosity, father’s education, and father’s employment status. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the mediating relationship between ACEs, depression, and fathering behaviors. The model showed good model fit (Chi-square: 386.18***; RMSEA: 0.04; CFI: 0.95; SRMR: 0.02).

Results: Results indicated that ACEs had a weak direct effect on warmth (β= 0.06, p<.05) and had no direct effect on abusive parenting (β= 0.04, p>.05). However, the effect of ACEs on both affection and abusive parenting were mediated by depression. ACEs had a moderate effect on depression (β= 0.29, p<.001) and significant indirect effects on affection (β= -.04, p<.001) and abusive parenting (β= 0.09, p<.001). ACEs had a significant total effect on abuse (β= 0.13, p<.001). Depression was associated with decreased warmth (β= -0.15, p<.001) and increased the risk for abuse (β= 0.31, p<.001).

Implications: The next step in research regarding ACEs and father involvement is to examine the effects of specific ACEs on fathering. Understanding how ACEs differ in severity can serve as a key indicator when working with individuals in clinical settings and can drastically improve the screening process. These findings also provide an important rationale for ACEs screening in pediatric and prenatal visits as a way to identify individuals who have experienced them and as a way of reducing the intergenerational transmission of its negative influences on physical health, mental health, academic performance, and overall well-being.