Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Effects Of Absent Father Figures On The Social Functioning Of Teens, Sidney M. Beckman, Lindsey M. Silver, Emily I. Deceglie

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

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 …