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A Peer Reviewed International Journal of Asian

Academic Research Associates

AARJSH
ASIAN ACADEMIC RESEARCH
JOURNALOFSOCIAL
SCIENCE&HUMANITIES
FATHER INVOLVEMENT AND CHILD PSYCHOPATHOLOGY:
AN EXPLORATION.
FATHIMA BUSHRA SALIHA1; JAYAN2
1
UGC-research scholar, Department of psychology, Calicut university
2
Professor and Head, Department of psychology, Calicut university,
Abstract
Children may get separated /detached from the father for many reasons like death,
divorce, and lack of proximity due to job distance and non-flexibility of job patterns.
Nowadays fatherlessness is no longer regarded as an automatic disadvantage, nor is it
rare. Some women choose to have children without involving the father after conception.
Others find single parenthood preferable after trying to collaborate with the father or with
another adult male. The findings of social science and developmental psychology show
associations between variables, such as single parenthood and social-psychological
difficulties. Fathers have been neglected in investigations of the development, prevention,
and treatment of psychopathology in children and adolescents. Present study focuses on
the role of father in children mental health. Data files of child cases (5-18 years of age
and excluding pervasive developmental disorders) for a period of one year from a
psychiatric hospital were analyzed and the result shows that father characteristics do have
a role in child psychopathology. Fathers absence or non-involvement seems to be the
root cause of some of the psychological illnesses.
Keywords: Single parenthood, proximity, father characteristics, psychopathology.

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INTRODUCTION:
Father absence is a term used by researchers to indicate that a child has lived for part or
all of their childhood in a house without their biological father. This will be because the
childs parents have split up or because they never lived together in the first place. It does
not usually apply to children whose fathers have died, as this is a very different kind of
psychological event. It also does not mean that the children had no contact with their
father or that they did not have a good relationship with their father.
In father absent homes, boys, on average, are more likely to be more unhappy, sad,
depressed, dependent, and hyperactive. Girls who grow up in father absent homes are, on
average, are more likely to become overly dependent (Mott et al., 1997) and have
internalizing problems such as anxiety and depression (Kandel, Rosenbaum, & Chen,
1994). For example, African American daughters perceptions of anger and alienation
from fathers was related to greater emotional and behavioral problems for adolescents
(Coley, 2003). In addition, a combination of low father contact and high levels of either
anger or trust in the daughter-father relationship was related to particularly deleterious
psychosocial outcomes for adolescent girls (Coley, 2003). Both boys and girls are more
likely to develop disruptive or anxiety disorders (Kasen, Cohen, Brook, & Hartmark,
1996), have conduct problems (Kandel et al., 1994), suffer from psychological disorders,
or commit suicide (Brent, Perper, Moritz, & Liotus, 1995). Adolescents whose mothers
divorced and remained single, those born outside marriage and their mother remained
unmarried had the greatest behavioral problems when compared with their counterparts
with married biological parents (Carlson, 2006). However, father involvement partially
mediates the effects of family structure on adolescent behavioral outcomes in that it
reduced both the size and the significance of nearly all the statistically significant family
structure effects on adolescent behavior suggesting that father involvement is a critical
factor in predicting adolescent behavioral outcomes (Carlson, 2006).
Children who live without their fathers are, on average, more likely to choose deviant
peers, have trouble getting along with other children, be at higher risk for peer problems
(Mott et al., 1997), and be more aggressive (Horn & Sylvester, 2002). Children who live
without their fathers are, on average, are at greater risk of being physically abused, of
being harmed by physical neglect, or of suffering from emotional neglect (Sedlak &
Broadhurst, 1996). Adolescents in single-mother or single-father families are
significantly more delinquent than their counterparts residing with two biological,
married parents, although these differences are reduced once various family processes
such as supervision, monitoring, involvement and closeness are accounted for (Demuth &
Brown, 2004). Nonetheless, children who live without their fathers are more likely to
engage in criminal behavior (Horn & Sylvester, 2002), or commit a school crime Asian Academic Research Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities

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possessing, using, or distributing alcohol or drugs, possessing a weapon, or assaulting a

teacher, administrator, or another student (Jenkins, 1995), are at higher risk of status,
property, and personal delinquencies (Anderson, 2002; Bush, Mullis, & Mullis, 2000), or
score higher on delinquency and aggression tests (Griffin, Bptvin, Scheier, Diaz, &
Miller, 2000). In addition, Mackey and Immerman (2004) found that father absence,
rather than poverty, was the stronger predictor of young mens violent behavior.
Adolescents in father absent homes face elevated incarceration risks (Harper &
McLanahan, 2004). Absence of paternal influence was a particularly important risk factor
for daughters criminality although mothers and fathers appeared to play a similar role in
controlling their sons antisocial behavior (Kemppainen, Jokelainen, Isohanni, Jaervelin,
& Raesaenen 2002).
Children who live with a single parent or in stepfamilies are more likely to use and abuse
illegal drugs, alcohol, or tobacco compared to children who live with both biological or
adoptive parents (Bronte-Tinkew, Moore, Capps, & Zaff, 2006; Johnson, Haffmann, &
Gerstein, 1996; Kelly, 2000; Painter & Levine, 2000) and report higher rates of drinking
and smoking (Griffin, Botvin, Scheier, Diaz, & Miller, 2000). Mandara and Murray
(2006) found that father absent boys were much more likely than father present boys or
either group of girls to use drugs. Father closeness was negatively correlated with the
number of a childs friends who smoke, drink, and smoke marijuana. Father closeness
was also correlated with a childs use of alcohol, cigarettes, and hard drugs and was
connected to family structure with intact families ranking higher on father closeness than
single-parent families (National Fatherhood Initiative, 2004).
Adolescents who live without their father are more likely to engage in greater and earlier
sexual activity, are more likely to become pregnant as a teenager (Ellis et al., 2003;
McLanahan & Sandefur, 1994; Miller & Moore, 1990; Metzler, Noell, Biglan, & Ary,
1994; US Department of Health and Human Services, 1988), or have a child outside of
marriage (Painter & Levine, 2000). This elevated risk was not explained by familial,
ecological, or personal disadvantages associated with father absence and there was
stronger and more consistent evidence of the effects of father absence on early sexual
activity and teenage pregnancy than on other behavioral or mental health problems or
academic achievement (Ellis et al., 2003). More specifically, women whose parents
separated between birth and six years old experienced twice the risk of early
menstruation, more than four times the risk of early sexual intercourse, and two and a
half times higher risk of early pregnancy when compared to women in intact families
(Quinlan, 2003). Other research indicates similar trends. Teens without fathers were
twice as likely to be involved in early sexual activity and seven times more likely to get
pregnant as an adolescent (Ellis et al., 2003).
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Likewise, early fatherhood, both during the teen years and early twenties, is much more
likely to occur if young men did not grow up living with their own fathers. Young fathers
were also less likely to be living with their children if their own fathers had not lived in
residence with them throughout childhood (Furstenberg & Weiss, 2001). Overall,
research indicates that being raised by a single mother raises the risk of teen pregnancy,
marrying with less than a high school degree, and forming a marriage where both
partners have less than a high school degree (Teachman, 2004).
Children who live without their fathers are, on average, more likely to be poor (Horn &
Sylvester, 2002) with the US Bureau of the Census (2003) reporting that children in
father absent homes are five times more likely to be poor. Children, who live without
their fathers, are, on average, more likely to have problems in school performance (Horn
& Sylvester, 2002; Kelly, 2000). They are more likely to have lower scores on
achievement tests (Painter & Levine, 2000; Pong & Ju, 2000), lower scores on
intellectual ability and intelligence tests (Duncan, Brooks-Gunn, & Klebanov, 1994),
have lower grade point averages, (McLanahan & Sandefeur, 1994), be academic
underachievers working below grade level (Blanchard & Biller, 1971), have lower
academic performance (Kelly, 2000), have trouble solving complex mathematical and
puzzle tasks, (Biller, 1981), or spend an average of 3.5 hours less per week studying
(Zick & Allen, 1996).
Children who live without their fathers, are, on average, more likely to experience
behavior problems at school (Hetherington & Stanley-Hagan, 1997) such as having
difficulty paying attention, disobedience, (Mott, Kowaleski-Jones, & Mehaghan, 1997),
being expelled, suspended (Dawson, 1991), or have poor school attendance. They are
more likely to drop out of school (Painter & Levine, 2000), twice as likely to repeat a
grade (Nord & West, 2001), less likely to graduate from high school, more likely to
complete fewer years of schooling, less likely to enroll in college (Krein & Beller, 1988),
and more likely to be out of school and work or have poor labor attachments in their mid
20's (McLanahan & Sandefeur, 1994).
Boys who live without their fathers consistently score lower on a variety of moral indexes
- such as measures of internal moral judgments, guilt following transgressions,
acceptance of blame, moral values and rule conformity (Hoffman, 1971). Girls who live
without their fathers are more likely to cheat, lie, and not feel sorry after misbehaving
(Parke, 1996). Both boys and girls are less likely to be able to delay gratification, have
poor impulse control over anger and sexual gratification, and have a weaker sense of
right and wrong (Hetherington & Martin, 1979).
Children in father absent homes are more likely to have problems in emotional and
psychosocial adjustment and exhibit a variety of internalizing and externalizing behaviors
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(Horn & Sylvester, 2002; Kelly, 2000). Not living with both biological parents
quadruples the risk of having an affective disorder (Cuffe, McKeown, Addy, & Garrison,
2005). Family structure affects conduct disorders and childhood aggression directly but
the magnitude of the effect declines when tested with family processes and individual
characteristics (Brannigan, Gemmell, Pevalin, & Wade, 2002). However, the heightened
antisocial behavior in children associated with absent biological fathers was not mitigated
by presence of stepfathers and was not accounted for by lower SES (Pfiffner, McBurnett,
& Rathouz, 2001).
Overall, father absence has deleterious effects on a wide range of child development
outcomes including health, social and emotional, and cognitive outcomes (Wertheimer,
Croan, Moore, & Hair, 2003).
AIM
The aim of the study is to explore on the topic father involvement and child
psychopathology.
METHOD
PARTICIPANT
Case files from a mental health centre at Kerala. 103 case files were studied in detail. The
diagnostic criteria used at the centre is ICD- 10 classification for mental disorders.
INCLUSION CRETERIA

Age group 5-18

Case files in the time period June 2010 June 2011

EXCLUSION CRETERIA

Pervasive developmental disorder and developmental delays

Age group other than 5-18
Case reports not in between June 2010 June 2011

PROCEDURE
Researcher met the authority of the mental health centre, took the permission and started
data collection. Case reports were selected based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Each case files were studied. Some of the case files which required a detailed study were
discussed with the consultant clinical psychologist. Gender, impression or diagnosis and
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the child relationship with father as well as the physical proximity with the father was
recorded.
Secondary data analysis was done and the result were tabulated
RESULT DISCUSSION
Graph 1: Various psychopathology diagnoses and its frequency

40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0

FREQUENCY

CD

ED

AD

SD

ADHD

SB

PS

Graph 2: Male female ratio in various psychopathologies

30
25
20
15
10
5
0

male
female

CD

ED

AD

SD

ADHD

SB

PS

Graph 3: Father Absence and presence ratio in various psychopathologies

40
30
ABSENCE

20

PRESCENCE

10
0

CD

ED

AD

SD

SB

PS

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One hundred and three case files consisted of 63 males and 40 females. All the cases
were categorized in to seven groups based on the diagnosis or impression. Diagnosis
included conduct disorder, emotional disorder, anxiety disorder, somatisation disorder,
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and scholastic backwardness. Out of the 103
sample, 72 children came from father absent homes. That is 69 % of the cases. In all the 7
diagnosis categories taken into consideration for the present study, children coming from
father absent homes outnumbered the father present homes. This effect was well
noticeable in conduct disorder, emotional disorder, anxiety disorder, somatisation
disorder and scholastic backwardness.
FATHER ABSENCE AND CONDUCT DISORDER (CD)
The percentage of children diagnosed with conduct disorder was the majority in the
sample. Thirty eight out of 103, 29 males and 9 females. Males dominated females.
Reviews suggest that children from single parent households are prone to conduct
disorder and it may end up in juvenile delinquency. A large majority of the prison
inmates grew up in single parent or mother only households. Research evidence suggests
that the likelihood that a young male will engage in criminal activities increases, if he is
raised without a father and triples if he lives in a neighborhood with a high concentration
of single parent families.
Children in fatherless homes lack a male role model most of the time. Boys usually learn
to behave, by modeling the masculinity of father. When the father is absent, the boy child
has to turn around for a role model and may end up in modeling the masculine figures in
the mass media or in the society. The criteria the child fix for this selection may vary, but
the worst part of it is that the child fails is understand the right and wrong in those
models. And they see the brighter part of those behaviors and not the consequences.
Media even portrays drinking alcohol, being cruel and harsh to women as masculine.
Here child may fail in the moral judgment and may model faulty behaviors.
Girls start learning about the opposite sex through observation and being with their father
or brothers. She learns about male behavior, the way he thinks, the way he show affection
etc. A positive mother-father relationship helps her learn to maintain a mature
relationship with opposite sex. When the father is absent, the adolescent girl, who is
curious to know about the opposite sex, look forward to know more about the opposite
sex and her male friends may exploit her curiosity. She may become promiscuous. They
act upon their impulses and they start experimenting on their curiosity. A study
conducted by Coley in 2003 found that, compared to families without natural parents
living in the home, adolescent from father absent families have been found to engage in
greater and earlier sexual activity. More specifically a study by McLanahan found that,
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women whose parents separated between birth and six years old experienced twice the
risk of early menstruation, than four times the risk of early sexual intercourse, and two
and a half times higher risk of early pregnancy when compared is women in intact
families.
When the father is away due to work the effect is lesser when compared to some other
cases of father absence like divorce, broken families or out-of wedlock mothers. In a
good family atmosphere fathers (even when he lacks physical proximity) play his
fathering role to an extent, in providing the child with support, protection, provision and
in the important decision taking part. If the father absence in due is separation, divorce or
abandonment, the single mother will face a huge challenge in parenting role. She may
face difficultly in dealing with an adolescent child all by her own. She herself lacks the
emotional support and she may display harsh parenting. She may not always be able to
manage her emotions. The child will grow up affected by the fact that he/she was
abandoned by an important person. The feeling of not being good enough or rejected will
stay on as he/she grows.
When the father is away, disciplining is the most difficult role for the mother. Boys most
of the time does not accept a parenting from a female. Sometimes, when the father is
away, the boy child, commonly the elder, take hold of the responsibilities at home and
they themselves feel that they are grown up and nobody can teach them. All the ill effect
of the hunger for father may stay in the mind of the child. The child externalizes the
emotional pain and may act out as abnormalities in conduct and behaviors.
FATHER ABSENCE AND EMOTIONAL DISORDER (ED)
When the child is living in the absence of father, there are many needs that are not
fulfilled for the child. According to Amato (1993) father hunger often afflicts boys age
one or two whose fathers are suddenly or permanently absent. Sleep disturbance, such as
trouble falling asleep, nightmares and night terrans frequently begin with one to three
months after the father leaves their home.
There are emotional needs for the child which has to be satisfied by father, which are the
most affected but least noticed or given importance when the child miss the presence of
his or her father. Childs need for food, shelter, safety etc can be fulfilled by other
significant people. But the emotional support and care, for which the child long for from
the part of father can only be provided by the constant contact and sharing between the
father and the child. When the father in away, the child is not able to share their feelings
and these emotions pile up and may burst out as a dissociative phase and shows the
symptoms of dissociative disorder. The child may feel insecure when the protecting
figure, father is away. When the fatherlessness is due to divorce, separation or out of
wedlock marriages, the effect is double or greater. The effect of father absence itself and
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the guilt, shame and the other negative effects associated with it. The period before
separation also might have been a dark period in the childs life due to the conflicting and
unhealthy environment.
FATHER ABSENCE AND ANXIETY DISORDER (AD)
During the developmental years of the child, mother focus on the caretaking activities
like feeding, toilet training, grooming etc. Even the play activities that the mother
undertake is mostly at the level of the child, proceeds at the childs pace and stress on
emotional security and personal safety. While, fathers play stress on competition,
challenge, initiative, risk-taking, independence etc. Father induces curiosity and
exploration tendencies in the child. Child is less anxious about the situation since he/she
has faith in the support from the father.
When the father is absent the child is less risk-taking and fear to face many situations.
The child develops stress and anxiety to novel situations. They become less socially
competent and less popular among peers. Their self-esteem goes down and they may
even externalize their difficulties as obsessive symptoms. They experience stage fear,
social phobia and other types of phobias. In some cases they experience panic symptoms.
The effect of father absence can affect the child at a very early age itself. The child is
affected by father hunger. According to Carlson (2006), assessing level of adaptation of
one-year olds, when left with a stranger, children whose fathers were highly involved
were less likely to cry, worry, or disrupt play than other one year olds whose fathers were
less involved. When the father is removed from the sight and feel of the child, the child
may experience separation anxiety. And thus later, sometimes the child may develop fear
in getting in to a relationship since he/she is afraid of a loss. His socialization may be
negatively affected by separation anxiety.
FATHER ABSENCE AND SOMATISATION DISORDER. (SD)
Children living in the absence of father, experiences some deficiencies in many aspects of
life. They either internalize or externalize behaviors. Somatisation disorders are the
physical ailments without any physiological cause. The reasons are psychological in
nature. The psychological difficulties are unconsciously expressed as physical pain and
illnesses. Children living away from their father, long for the fathers company. The
father hunger, separation anxiety etc are unconsciously expressed by the child as stomach
pain, head ache, skin problem, eating disorders, other joint pain etc. The child wants the
fathers presence and care. To get the attention from the important people the child
psyche expresses the negative feelings in a way which is acceptable to the people around.
Some children usually show somatic symptoms to avoid going to school. The child thinks
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that when he/she is away, some bad things may happen to his mother. And he fears the
separation from the mother. And if the father is absent, the effect increases.
FATHER ABSENCE AND PSYCHOSIS (PS)
Etiology of psychopathology has been discussed widely based on the nature nurture
controversy. Though there is physiological vulnerability, psychopathology may not arise
if there is no environmental threat. When there is a stress, it brings out the vulnerability to
fully fledged disorder based on the vulnerability-stress hypothesis. In case of psychosis,
may be the child has an inborn vulnerability. Father absence adds to the stress and might
initiate the first phase. And if the stress persists, the chance for relapse increases. When
the father is absent, the chance of stress at home still goes up and hence the chance for
the disease too.
FATHER ABSENCE AND SHOLASTIC BACKWARDNESS (SB)
Mother is for care and father is for achievement. This is a general socially stereotyped
role for parents. And in the present sample also it seems true. There are exceptions also.
Generally father induces curiosity, competence, and independence in the child. These
characteristics increase the child readiness to school. Fathering has a significant role in
the cognitive development of a child (Saliha & Jayan, 2013). When the father is less
involved the childs cognitive skills are less stimulated. Communication patterns between
the father and child are cognitively stimulating and help in the development of the verbal
skills of the child. Father involvement increases the academic achievement of the child as
well.
When the father is absent, the child is less cognitively stimulated and there is a lack
of authority to supervise his studies and academics. The child lacks a schedule and spend
his time as he wish. When the child finds difficulties in the basics of academic
development, it affects the later education also. There is lesser guidance for the child and
hence may become deficient in study skills. The child may be capable of hard work, but
may not be in smart work.
FATHER ABSENCE AND Attention Deficit Hyperactiveity Disorder (ADHD)
Father keeps the control over the disciplining part of the child. He sets limits to the child
and decides boundaries and act as a moral teacher. Father trains the child through causeeffect relationship. When the father is away, the child have no limits or boundaries and he
does not understand the need of such conditions. And hence, he fails to learn impulse
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control. There are many other reasons for ADHD, but father absence adds to the
environmental cause.
CONCLUSION
Fathers have a significant role in the development, prevention, and treatment of
psychopathology in children and adolescents. Fathers absence or non-involvement seems
to be the root cause of some of the psychological illnesses. It does not mean that father
absence is the single cause for all the psychopathology. But, father absence has a major
role to play in the initiation and persistence of some of the psychopathology. In the
present study, majority of the children with one or the other diagnosis or had seeked a
psychiatric/psychological consultation have an unsatisfactory relationship with their
father.
Strong mothering can help a lot and prevent the negative effects of father absence.
Mother can even take the role of both parents. In some cases some intervention strategies
can help strengthen father child relationship. But, it is not always possible. Some children
are living without the sight or knowledge of father. The study does not argue that all the
children living away from father are at risk. But father absence is a risk factor for
psychopathology.

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