Type of Submission
Poster
Keywords
Father figure, social functioning, teens, fatherless, biological father
Abstract
Problem: In America, children under the age of 18 are being negatively affected by the absence of a father in the home. This is important because fatherlessness is on the rise (Census Bureau, 2016) and can harm a child’s future opportunities (Snyder, McLaughlin, & Findeis, 2006). Specifically, depressive symptoms and delinquent behavior have been recognized as two tangible outcomes of growing up without a father. Trending research suggests that delinquency and depressive symptoms are linked to a lack of parental monitoring (Markowitz & Ryan, 2016), yet the aspects of socialization (early father departure) and emotional distress (late father departure) should be further researched. Research Question: How does the level of social functioning in teens without father figures compare to teens with father figures? Design/sample: We will use a cross-sectional descriptive research design. Teens between the ages of 13-19 in enrolled in education, juvenile court/detention center, and local service agencies located in Miami Valley, Ohio will be studied using multistage cluster random sample. Collection/Analysis: A voluntary mobile-online survey will be sent out to the teachers, social workers in the court system and social workers at the social service agencies to distribute to their teenage students and clients. Three statistical tests will be run using SPSS software. Frequency distribution and Chi-square will compare teens living with a biological father, a father figure, or no father figure. One-way ANOVA will examine the differences in social functioning among teens with a biological father, father figure, or no father figure. Expected Findings: We expect to find higher social function in teens with an involved biological father who lives in the home. We also expect to find teens with father figures to have lower social functioning than those with biological fathers living in the home, while having higher social functioning than those with no biological father or father figure. Keywords: Father-figure, social functioning, teens, fatherless, biological father
Campus Venue
Stevens Student Center Lobby
Location
Cedarville, OH
Start Date
4-3-2019 11:00 AM
End Date
4-3-2019 2:00 PM
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
The Effects of Absent Father Figures on the Social Functioning of Teens
Cedarville, OH
Problem: In America, children under the age of 18 are being negatively affected by the absence of a father in the home. This is important because fatherlessness is on the rise (Census Bureau, 2016) and can harm a child’s future opportunities (Snyder, McLaughlin, & Findeis, 2006). Specifically, depressive symptoms and delinquent behavior have been recognized as two tangible outcomes of growing up without a father. Trending research suggests that delinquency and depressive symptoms are linked to a lack of parental monitoring (Markowitz & Ryan, 2016), yet the aspects of socialization (early father departure) and emotional distress (late father departure) should be further researched. Research Question: How does the level of social functioning in teens without father figures compare to teens with father figures? Design/sample: We will use a cross-sectional descriptive research design. Teens between the ages of 13-19 in enrolled in education, juvenile court/detention center, and local service agencies located in Miami Valley, Ohio will be studied using multistage cluster random sample. Collection/Analysis: A voluntary mobile-online survey will be sent out to the teachers, social workers in the court system and social workers at the social service agencies to distribute to their teenage students and clients. Three statistical tests will be run using SPSS software. Frequency distribution and Chi-square will compare teens living with a biological father, a father figure, or no father figure. One-way ANOVA will examine the differences in social functioning among teens with a biological father, father figure, or no father figure. Expected Findings: We expect to find higher social function in teens with an involved biological father who lives in the home. We also expect to find teens with father figures to have lower social functioning than those with biological fathers living in the home, while having higher social functioning than those with no biological father or father figure. Keywords: Father-figure, social functioning, teens, fatherless, biological father
