Positive social interactions and relationships may play an influential role in the academic success of African American adolescent girls. Though studies have suggested that the paternal relationships are particularly consequential to girls’ outcomes, few studies exist that have explored how aspects of the father-daughter relationship contribute to their academic-related outcomes. Using a sample of 122 African American adolescent girls (M= 12.2 years; SD = 1.02), this study examined how father-daughter relationship quality was associated with academic engagement. An equally important goal of this investigation was to explore self-esteem (global and academic self-esteem) as a mediator of girls’ academic engagement. Findings indicated that quality of the father-daughter relationship was positively related to girls’ academic engagement. Also, both global and academic self-esteem mediated the link between father-daughter relationship quality and academic engagement. These findings suggest the importance of father-daughter relationship quality in both the academic engagement and self-esteem of African American adolescent girls.
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