Residential status or feelings of closeness: the effects on internalizing and externalizing behaviors over time

The residential status of a father has been linked to negative internalizing and externalizing behaviors for their children. Previous research has focused on the impact the father has on the child as a cause-and-effect relationship, but this linear notion has been proven inaccurate. This study explores the different dynamics between the father and how the child to assess the impact that residential status, feelings of closeness the child has to the father, and the child’s internalizing and externalizing behaviors interact and predict one another over time. Using the Future of Families and Children Wellbeing Study (FFCWS), this analysis examined the relationships between the father’s residential status (residential or nonresidential), the child’s feelings of closeness at ages 9 and 15, the child’s internalizing behaviors at age 9 and 15, and the child’s externalizing behaviors at ages 9 and 15. Cross-sectional and longitudinal generalized liner models were conducted. Results show that negative internalizing behaviors and externalizing behaviors at age 9 predicted negative internalizing and externalizing behaviors at age 15; residential status significantly impacts internalizing and externalizing behaviors at ages 9 and 15; closeness significantly impacts internalizing behaviors for residential fathers more than nonresidential fathers; and the combination of residential status and internalizing behaviors at age 9 predicts externalizing behaviors at age 15. These results suggest that a focus on the residential status of fathers and the relationship quality between the father and the child is needed to understand how to increase feelings of closeness as well as other factors that may influence the relationship quality overall as this dynamic significantly impacts the child’s internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Future research and clinical implications recommendations are also discussed.