Neighborhood Disorder and Paternal Involvement of Nonresident and Resident Fathers

Using data of 775 nonresident father families and 1,407 resident father families from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, this study examined whether neighborhood disorder was associated with fathers' supportive involvement in child care. Bivariate analysis indicated that mothers and children of nonresident father families were more likely to live in disordered neighborhoods than those of resident father families. Multivariate analysis indicated that neighborhood disorder was negatively associated with nonresident fathers' involvement in child care, but not with that of resident fathers. In addition, relationship quality between the father and mother, father or mother married to or cohabiting with another person, fathers' income and alcohol dependence, and child health status were associated with nonresident or resident fathers' involvement. Policy and practice implications of the findings are discussed.