The Effect of Father Involvement in Childcare on the Psychological Well-being of Adolescents: A Cross-Cultural Study

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between the retrospective perception of father involvement in childcare, sometimes after divorce, and self-esteem, life satisfaction, and perceived stress in adults. Participants included 244 and 205 university students in the United States and Japan, respectively; they were asked to reflect on their relationship with their fathers. Results indicated that there were statistically significant positive correlations between father involvement and self-esteem, life satisfaction, and lower perceived stress in the United States; furthermore, there were statistically significant positive correlations between father involvement and life satisfaction in Japan. It was determined that a high frequency of paternal contact after divorce resulted in higher levels of self-esteem and life satisfaction. Further studies would benefit from classifying the gender of children and examining more data on the variation in the frequency of paternal contact after divorce.