Father's Involvement and Psychological Adjustment in Indian and White British Secondary School Age Children

The study aimed to explore the relationship between father's involvement and psychological adjustment in Indian and White British secondary school age children.

Psychological adjustment in the 360 White British and 222 Indian children of the study was measured with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). All children lived in biological two-parent families and attended the same secondary school in South England.

Indian girls and White British girls reported similar levels of adjustment and father's involvement, although compared to White British boys Indian boys reported both lower total difficulties scores and higher prosocial behaviour scores, as well as higher levels of father's involvement. Multiple regression analyses showed that even after controlling for age, sibship size, family's socio-economic status, and inter-parental conflict, father's involvement was positively associated with prosocial behaviour in both genders in both ethnic groups. Father's involvement was not related to Indian boys' or girls' difficulties. However, in White British boys father's involvement was negatively related to peer problems, whereas in White British girls father's involvement was negatively related to total difficulties, conduct problems, and peer problems.

There would be merit in future studies extending our knowledge about differences in the relationship between father's involvement and child outcomes.