Transactional Pathways from Early Externalizing Behavior to Adolescent Delinquency: The Roles of Father Engagement...

Although fathers play a critical role in their children's outcomes, the role of fathers in the developmental pathways of delinquency remains understudied. Guided by a developmental cascade framework, this study examined prospective, bidirectional associations among child externalizing behaviors, father engagement, and father aggravation in parenting across childhood in predicting adolescent delinquency. Using data from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 3,296; 47% female; 47% Black Non-Hispanic; 22% White Non-Hispanic; 27% Hispanic), a cross-lagged panel model was estimated to test the reciprocal associations and indirect effects between father characteristics and early child externalizing behavior problems across four waves of assessment (average child age three, five, nine, and 15 years old). Results indicated limited evidence of bidirectional associations among father engagement, father aggravation, and child externalizing behaviors. Early child externalizing behavior was the most consistent predictor of adolescent delinquency. One small, unexpected association emerged in which higher father aggravation at age 3 predicted greater father engagement at age 5. No indirect effects were found. These findings underscore early externalizing behavior as a key developmental precursor of delinquency and suggest that fathers' early engagement and aggravation in parenting play a limited role in the development of adolescent delinquency when considered within broader family processes.