Marriage and fatherhood programs

Future of Children

Volumn 20, Issue 2, 2010, Pages 205-230

  Cowan, Philip A ^a   Cowan, Carolyn Pape ^a   Knox, Virginia ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

^b Children's Development at MDRC

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ARTICLE; CHILD; CHILD CARE; CHILD WELFARE; EDUCATION; FATHER CHILD RELATION; FORECASTING; HEALTH SERVICE; HUMAN; MARRIAGE; POLICY; SINGLE PARENT; SOCIAL BEHAVIOR; SOCIAL WELFARE; SOCIOECONOMICS; UNITED STATES;

CHILD; CHILD CARE; CHILD WELFARE; EDUCATION; FATHER-CHILD RELATIONS; FORECASTING; HEALTH SERVICES NEEDS AND DEMAND; HUMANS; MARRIAGE; PUBLIC POLICY; SINGLE-PARENT FAMILY; SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY; SOCIAL WELFARE; SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS; UNITED STATES;

EID: 77957361601     PISSN: 10548289     EISSN: 15501558     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1353/foc.2010.0000     Document Type: Article

References (69)

1. E. Mark Cummings, Patrick Davies, and Susan B. Campbell, Developmental Psychopathology and Family Process: Theory, Research, and Clinical Implications (New York: Guilford Press, 2000).
2. Sara S. McLanahan and others, Unwed Fathers and Fragile Families (Princeton: Center for Research on Child Wellbeing, 1998).
3. Marcia J. Carlson and others, "Coparenting and Nonresident Fathers' Involvement with Young Children after a Nonmarital Birth," Demography 45(2): 461-88.
4. Sara McLanahan and Marcia J. Carlson, "Welfare Reform, Fertility, and Father Involvement. Children and Welfare Reform," Future of Children 12, no. 1 (2001): 147-66.
5. David Blankenhorn, Fatherless America: Confronting Our Most Urgent Social Problem (New York: Basic Books, 1995);
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7. U.S. Department of Treasury. General Explanations of the Administration's Fiscal Year 2011 Revenue Proposals, 2010, available from www.ustreas.gov., p. 305.
8. For a review of limited evidence on the effectiveness of responsible fatherhood programs that attempt to increase economic self-sufficiency and child support compliance, see Virginia Knox, P. A. Cowan, and others, "Policies That Strengthen Fatherhood and Family Relationships: What Do We Know and What Do We Need to Know?" Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, forthcoming.
9. Philip A. Cowan and Carolyn Pape Cowan, "Developmental Psychopathology from Family Systems and Family Risk Factors Perspectives: Implications for Family Research, Practice, and Policy," in Developmental Psychopathology, vol. 1: Theory and Method (2nd ed.), edited by Dante Cicchetti and Donald J. Cohen (Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley and Sons, 2006), pp. 530-587;
10. Philip A. Cowan and others, The Family Context of Parenting in Children's Adaptation to Elementary School (Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 2005).
11. Rand D. Conger and others, "Economic Stress, Coercive Family Process, and Developmental Problems of Adolescents," Special Issue: Children and Poverty, Child Development 65, no. 2 (1994): 541-561;
12. G. H. Brody and D. L. Flor, "Coparenting, Family Interactions, and Competence among African American Youths," in Understanding How Family-Level Dynamics Affect Children's Development: Studies of Two-Parent Families, New Directions for Child Development, edited by J. P. McHale and P. A. Cowan (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1996), pp. 77-91;
13. R. S. Mistry and others, "Economic Well-Being and Children's Social Adjustment: The Role of Family Process in an Ethnically Diverse Low-Income Sample," Child Development 73, no. 3 (2002): 935-951;
14. E. Mark Cummings, M. C. Goeke-Morey, and J. Raymond, "Fathers in Family Context: Effects of Marital Quality and Marital Conflict," in The Role of the Father in Child Development, 4th edition, edited by Michael E. Lamb (Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons Inc., 2004), pp. 196-221.
15. Rand D. Conger and others, eds. Families in Troubled Times: Adapting to Change in Rural America, Social Institutions and Social Change (New York: Aldine de Gruyter, 1994);
16. Gordon T. Harold, J. J. Aitken, and K. H. Shelton, "Inter-Parental Conflict and Children's Academic Attainment: A Longitudinal Analysis," Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 48, no. 12 (2007): 1223-1232.
17. Philip A. Cowan and others, "Supporting Fathers' Engagement with Their Kids," in Raising Children: Emerging Needs, Modern Risks, and Social Responses, edited by J. D. Berrick and N. Gilbert (Oxford University Press, 2008), pp. 44-80.
18. Carolyn P. Cowan and P. A. Cowan, "Interventions to Ease the Transition to Parenthood: Why They Are Needed and What They Can Do," Family Relations: Journal of Applied Family & Child Studies 44, no. 4 (1995): 412-423;
19. A. F. Shapiro, John M. Gottman, and Sybil Carrere, "The Baby and the Marriage: Identifying Factors That Buffer against Decline in Marital Satisfaction after the First Baby Arrives," Journal of Family Psychology 14, no. 1 (2000): 59-70.
20. Gilad Hirschberger and others, "Married with Children: Attachment, Marital Satisfaction, and Divorce in the First Fifteen Years of Parenthood," Personal Relationships 16 (2009): 401-20.
21. Conger and others, "Economic Stress, Coercive Family Process, and Developmental Problems of Adolescents" (see note 9);
22. Brody and Flor, "Coparenting, Family Interactions, and Competence among African American Youths" (see note 9);
23. Mistry and others, "Economic Well-Being and Children's Social Adjustment" (see note 9).
24. Cummings, Goeke-Morey, and Raymond, ''Fathers in Family Context: Effects of Marital Quality and Marital Conflict'' (see note 9).
25. Marcia Carlson and Sara McLanahan, "Strengthening Unmarried Families: Could Enhancing Couple Relationships Also Improve Parenting?" Social Service Review 80, no. 2 (2006): 297-321.
26. Sara McLanahan, Children in Fragile Families (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University, 2009).
27. David Mace and Vera Mace, "The History and Present Status of the Marriage and Family Enrichment Movement," Journal of Psychotherapy and the Family 2, no. 1 (1986).
28. Although the emphasis of this article is on couple-relationship intervention programs with direct contact between provider and participant, other efforts to affect marriage and the quality of couple relationships include changing regulations regarding marriage licenses, self-help books, and information websites, such as the Administration for Children and Families (www.acf.hhs.gov/healthymarriage), the National Healthy Marriage Resource Center (www.healthymarriageinfo.org), Smartmarriages (www.smartmarriages.com,), and One Plus One (www.oneplusone.org.uk).
29. Howard J. Markman, Scott Stanley, and S. L. Blumberg, Fighting for Your Marriage: Positive Steps toward Preventing Divorce and Preserving a Lasting Love, new and revised (New York: Wiley, 2001).
30. M. Robin Dion, "Healthy Marriage Programs: Learning What Works," Future of Children 15, no. 2 (2005): 139-56.
31. Markman, Stanley, and S.L. Blumberg, Fighting For Your Marriage (see note 18).
32. Carolyn P. Cowan and others, "Transitions to Parenthood: His, Hers, and Theirs," Journal of Family Issues 6 (1985): 451-481;
33. Carolyn P. Cowan and P. A. Cowan, When Partners Become Parents: The Big Life Change for Couples (Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2000);
34. A. F. Shapiro and J. Gottman, "Effects on Marriage of a Psycho-Communicative-Educational Intervention with Couples Undergoing the Transition to Parenthood: Evaluation at 1-Year Post Intervention," Journal of Family Communication 5, no. 1 (2005): 1-24;
35. Mark E. Feinberg, M. L. Kan, and M. C. Goslin, "Enhancing Coparenting, Parenting, and Child Self-Regulation: Effects of Family Foundations 1 Year after Birth," Prevention Science 10, no. 3 2009): 276-285;
36. Pamela L. Jordan, S. Stanley, and H. J. Markman, Becoming Parents: How to Strengthen Your Marriage as Your Family Grows (New York: Wiley, 2001), pp. xxi.
37. Cowan and others, The Family Context of Parenting in Children's Adaptation to Elementary School (see note 8).
38. Bernard G. Guerney, Relationship Enhancement: Skill-Training Programs for Therapy, Problem Prevention, and Enrichment, 1st ed., Jossey-Bass Behavioral Science Series (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1977);
39. Rita DeMaria, M. T. Hannah, and L. H. Gordon, Building Intimate Relationships: Bridging Treatment, Education, and Enrichment through the PAIRS Program (New York: Brunner-Routledge, 2003).
40. Marsha K. Pruett and R. K. Barker, "Effectively Intervening with Divorcing Parents and Children: What Works and How It Works," in Strengthening Couple Relationships for Optimal Child Development, edited by M. Schulz, M. Pruett, P. Kerig, and R. Parke (Washington: American Psychological Association, 2009).
41. Paul Florsheim and others, The Young Parenthood Program: Preventing Intimate Partner Violence among Adolescent Mothers and Their Partners (Denver: Society for Research in Child Development, 2009).
42. John Gottman, Julie Gottman, and A. Shapiro, "A New Couples Approach to Interventions for the Transition to Parenthood," in Strengthening Couple Relationships for Optimal Child Development: Lessons from Research and Intervention, edited by M. Schulz and others (Washington: American Psychological Association, 2009), p. 174.
43. Philip A. Cowan and others, "Group Interventions for Parents of Preschoolers: 10-Year Impact on Family Functioning and Teen's Adaptation," in P. Cowan (Chair), From Preschool to High School: Individual and Family Risk and Protective Factors Predicting Teens' Academic and Social Adaptation (San Francisco: Society for Research in Adolescence, April, 2006).
44. Alan J. Hawkins and others, "Does Marriage and Relationship Education Work? A Meta-Analytic Study," Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 76, no. 5 (2008): 723-734;
45. V. L. Blanchard and others, "Investigating the Effects of Marriage and Relationship Education on Couples' Communication Skills: A Meta-Analytic Study," Journal of Family Psychology 23, no. 2 (2009): 203-14.
46. Virginia Knox and D. Fein, "Supporting Healthy Marriage: Designing Marriage Education Demonstration and Evaluation for Low-Income Married Couples," in Marriage and Family: Complexities and Perspectives, edited by H. E. Peters and C. M. K. Dush (Columbia University Press, forthcoming). The website for the study is www.supportinghealthymarriage.org.
47. Florsheim and others, The Young Parenthood Program (see note 25).
48. M. R. Dion and others, Implementing Healthy Marriage Programs for Unmarried Couples with Children: Early Lessons from the Building Strong Families Project (Washington: Mathematica, 2006). The website is www.buildingstrongfamilies.info.
49. Guerney, Relationship Enhancement (see note 23).
50. Jordan, Stanley, and Markman, Becoming Parents (see note 21).
51. Florsheim and others, The Young Parenthood Program (see note 25).
52. P. A. Cowan and others, "Promoting Fathers' Engagement with Children: Preventive Interventions for Low-Income Families," Journal of Marriage and the Family 71 (2009): 663-79.
53. C. S. Tamis-LeMonda and N. Cabrera, eds. Handbook of Father Involvement: Multidisciplinary Perspectives (Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers, 2002).
54. Philip A. Cowan and others., "Supporting Fathers' Engagement with Their Kids," in Raising Children: Emerging Needs, Modern Risks, and Social Responses, edited by J. D. Berrick and N. Gilbert (Oxford University Press, 2008). pp. 44-80;
55. Ross D. Parke and Raymond Buriel, "Socialization in the Family: Ethnic and Ecological Perspectives," in Social, Emotional, and Personality Development, edited by Nancy Eisenberg (John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1998), pp. 463-552.
56. As in the field of couple interventions, there have been many fatherhood interventions at a distance, ranging from social movements (for example, Promise Keepers), to informational organizations (for example, the National Fatherhood Initiative [www.fatherhood.org], the National Center for Fathering [www.fathers.com], the National Center on Fathers and Families [www.ncoff.gse.upenn.edu], and the National Latino Fatherhood and Family Institute [www.nlffi.org]). More recently an informational website was mounted by the National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse (www.fatherhood.gov), sponsored by the Federal Administration for Children and Families.
57. M. Achatz and C. A. MacAllum, Young Unwed Fathers: Report from the Field (Philadelphia: Public/Private Ventures, 1994).
58. K. Martinson and others, The Implementation of the Partners for Fragile Families Demonstration Projects, prepared for U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under Contract no. 100-001-0027 (Washington: Urban Institute, 2007).
59. Virginia Knox and C. Redcross, Parenting and Providing: The Impact of Parents' Fair Share on Paternal Involvement (New York: Manpower Research Development Corporation, 2000).
60. Jay F. Fagan, "Randomized Study of a Prebirth Coparenting Intervention with Adolescent and Young Fathers," Family Relations 57, no. 3 (2008): 309-323.
61. A. Ellwood, "Prove to Me That MELD Makes a Difference," in Evaluating Family Programs, edited by H. B. Weiss and F. H. Jacobs (Hawthorne, N.Y.: Aldine de Gruyter, 1988), pp. 303-13.
62. C. H. Caldwell and others, "Enhancing Adolescent Health Behaviors through Strengthening Non-Resident Father-Son Relationships: A Model for Intervention with African-American Families," Health Education Research 19, no. 6 (2004): 644-656;
63. C. Caldwell and others, "Enhancing Parenting Skills among Nonresident African American Fathers," American Journal of Community Psychology, forthcoming.
64. Caldwell and others, "Enhancing Parenting Skills" (see note 43).
65. Richard P. Barth, "Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect with Parent Training," Future of Children 19, no. 2 (2009): 95-118.
66. J. T. Cookston and others, "Effects of the Dads for Life Intervention in Interparental Conflict and Coparenting in the Two Years after Divorce," Family Process 46, no. 1 (2007): 123-37.
67. Alan J. Hawkins and others, "Increasing Fathers' Involvement in Child Care with Couple-Focused Intervention during the Transition to Parenthood," Family Relations 57, no. 1 (2008): 49-59.
68. William J. Doherty, M. F. Erickson, and R. LaRossa, "An Intervention to Increase Father Involvement and Skills with Infants during the Transition to Parenthood," Journal of Family Psychology, Special Issue: Relational Disorders and Relational Processes in Mental Health 20, no. 3 (2006): 438-447.
69. Philip A. Cowan and others, "Six Barriers to Father Involvement and Suggestions for Overcoming Them" (National Council of Family Relations Report, 2009), p. 54.