Immigrant Generations and Father Involvement Among U.S. Resident Fathers: The Indirect Role of Cultural and Extra-Family Factors

Abstract

Research on immigrant fathers in the U.S. has primarily focused on first-generation experiences, offering limited insight into how father involvement changes across generations. As first- and second-generation immigrants are expected to drive future growth in the U.S.’ working-age population, understanding how father involvement evolves across generations is critical to capturing the dynamics of fathering and fatherhood in an increasingly diverse society. This study examines how fathers’ immigrant generation relates to their involvement with preschool-aged children. Drawing a sample of 424 resident immigrant fathers from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study, we used path analysis to examine both direct effects of immigrant generation on father involvement and indirect effects through contextual cultural (cultural orientation, gender role beliefs) and extra-family (work-family conflict, social support) factors. Results indicate that immigrant generation is positively associated with fathers’ involvement (i.e., fathers from higher immigrant generation tended to be more involved with children), with significant indirect pathways via cultural orientation and work-family conflict. These findings underscore the critical need to consider the roles of immigrant generation and contextual cultural and extra-family factors in research involving immigrant fathers.