The Father-Child Relationship, Parenting Styles, and Adolescent Risk Behaviors in Intact Families

Abstract

The father-child relationship and father’s parenting style are examined as predictors of first delinquency and substance use, using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1997, Rounds 1 to 3 ( N = 5,345), among adolescents in intact families. Discrete time logistic regressions indicate that a more positive father-child relationship predicts a reduced risk of engagement in multiple first risky behaviors. Having a father with an authoritarian parenting style is associated with an increased risk of engaging in delinquent activity and substance use. Two-way interaction models further indicate that the negative effect of authoritarian parenting is reduced when fathers have a positive relationship with their adolescent. Permissive parenting also predicts less risky behavior when the father-child relationship is positive. The positive influence of the father-child relationship on risk behaviors is stronger for male than for female adolescents.