The influence of father involvement on youth risk behaviors among adolescents: A comparison of native-born and immigrant families

Abstract

This study explores how father involvement is associated with adolescent risk behaviors among youth in first, second, and third-generation families in US. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1997 (Rounds One–Three), and discrete time logit regressions, we find that father involvement predicts a reduced likelihood of subsequent engagement in risky behaviors among adolescents. Being a first-generation immigrant youth is also associated with reduced risky behaviors. Two-way interaction models indicate that father involvement matters more for sons than for daughters. Two-way interaction models also indicate that father involvement does not interact with immigration status to predict adolescent risky behaviors, but is significant for adolescents in immigrant and native-born families. These findings are preliminary because of two important limitations. First, these data did not capture country of origin variations, and the analyses did not take into consideration cultural differences in parenting among immigrant groups that are likely to influence adolescent outcomes. A strength is that all analyses control for maternal involvement.