Trajectories and Consequences of Nonmarital Fathering

描述（由申请人提供）：该项目的总体目标是调查与男性成为未婚父亲相关的因素，以及未婚父亲参与孩子的性质和后果。这是一个重要的话题，因为越来越多的男性将在婚外至少有一个孩子，而且很大一部分孩子和母亲将接触到他们的父亲行为。然而，我们对非婚父行为及其对伴侣、孩子和父亲本身的影响的了解仍然有限，部分原因是男性在全国调查中往往代表性不足。父亲是儿童的重要资源，理想情况下，父亲投入时间、金钱和情感，促进儿童健康发展和社会化，但未婚父亲往往具有个人和环境特征，阻碍和复杂化了他们积极参与家庭生活的潜力；这些因素包括人力资本低、社会行为问题发生率高、与孩子分开生活的可能性高，以及三个重要但很少被探索的因素，这些因素与未婚父亲与母亲的持续关系（无论是浪漫的还是共同抚养）、未婚男性（和女性）经常与多个伴侣生孩子（所谓的“多伴侣生育”）、事实上，相当多的未婚父亲已经或将要被监禁。利用三个国家数据集（全国家庭成长调查，1979年全国青年纵向调查，以及脆弱家庭和儿童福利研究），本研究将提供有关近期和当代非婚父的轨迹和后果的新信息。本研究包括三个具体目的：1)评估非婚父行为的前因和成为未婚父亲对男性生命历程的影响；2)分析未婚父亲作为伴侣和父母参与家庭的性质和动态，特别是与母亲、多伴侣生育和父亲监禁的关系；3)研究未婚父亲参与对孩子和父亲自身健康的影响，包括这些好处是否受到父亲的特征或背景的调节。本项目将从生命历程的角度出发，借鉴家庭系统理论，评估男性成为未婚父亲和后来成为未婚父亲的关键阶段和转折点，包括随着时间的推移，既能增强也能阻碍积极养育子女的因素。该研究将探讨未婚父亲的种族/民族差异，并考虑与社会选择和缺失数据相关的关键分析挑战。总的来说，这项研究将提供关于非婚父行为对孩子和家庭的过程、内容和后果的新信息，并可能为制定健全的政策和计划来加强家庭提供启示。本研究将提供有关男性成为未婚父亲的相关因素以及未婚父亲与子女关系的性质和后果的新信息。考虑到婚外生育比例的上升以及父亲缺席对孩子的负面影响，本研究将提供信息，以帮助制定健全的政策和计划，使父亲与孩子保持联系，并加强不同背景下的家庭。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overall aim of this project is to investigate the factors associated with men becoming unwed fathers and the nature and consequences of unmarried fathers' involvement with children. This is an important topic, given the large and growing number of men who will have at least one child outside of marriage and the large fraction of children and mothers who will be exposed to their fathering behavior. Yet, our knowledge about nonmarital fathering and how it affects partners, children, and the fathers themselves remains limited, in part because men are often under-represented in national surveys. Fathers represent an important resource for children, ideally investing the time, money and emotion that promote healthy child development and socialization, but unwed fathers often have individual and contextual characteristics that deter and complicate their potential for positive involvement in family life; these include low human capital, high rates of social-behavioral problems, and a high likelihood of living away from their child, as well as three important but little explored factors related to nonmarital fathering fathers' ongoing relationships with mothers (whether romantic and/or co-parenting), the fact that unmarried men (and women) often have children by multiple partners (so-called `multi-partnered fertility'), and the fact that a non-trivial number of unwed fathers have been or will be incarcerated. Using three national datasets (the National Survey of Family Growth, the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, and the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study), this research will provide new information about the trajectories and consequences of recent and contemporary nonmarital fathering. The study includes three specific aims: 1) To evaluate the antecedents of nonmarital fatherhood and the effects of becoming an unwed father on the male life course; 2) To analyze the nature and dynamics of unwed fathers' involvement in families as partners and parents, especially as linked to relationships with mothers, multi-partnered fertility, and paternal incarceration; and 3) To examine the consequences of unmarried fathers' involvement for the wellbeing of children and of fathers themselves, including whether the benefits are moderated by fathers' characteristics or context. Using a life course perspective and drawing on family systems theory, this project will evaluate key stages and turning points in men becoming and then being unmarried fathers, including factors that both enhance and deter positive parenting over time. The study will explore race/ethnic differences in unwed fathering and consider key analytic challenges related to social selection and missing data. Overall, this study will provide new information about the process, content, and consequences of nonmarital fathering for children and families and may shed light on the development of sound policies and programs to strengthen families. PUBLIC HELATH RELEVANCE This study will provide new information about the factors associated with men becoming unwed fathers and the nature and consequences of unmarried fathers' involvement with children. Given the rising fraction of births that occur outside of marriage and the negative consequences of father absence for children, this study will provide information to aid the development of sound policies and programs to keep fathers connected to children and to strengthen families across diverse contexts.