Objective: The objective of this study was to test the factor structure of the Nurturant Fathering Scale (NFS) among an African American sample in the mid-Atlantic region that have neither Caribbean heritage nor immigration experiences but who do have diverse family structures (N = 212). Method: A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted in order to evaluate the factor structure of the NFS. Results: A final, 8-item model, with two error covariances yielded the best fit of the NFS in the current sample. These findings suggest that, with some modification, the NFS is a very promising, short measure of perceived father nurturance that is applicable to African American youth from various family structures and who have varying amounts of interaction with their fathers while growing up.
Ahmeduzzaman, M., & Roopnarine, J.L. (1992). Sociodemographic factors, functioning style, social support, and fathers’ involvement with preschoolers in African-American families. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 54, 699-707.
2.
Amato, P.R., & Gilbreth, J.G. (1999). Nonresident fathers and children’s well-being: A meta-analysis. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 61, 557-573.
3.
Arbuckle, J.L. ( 2009). Amos 18.0.0 (Build 992). NET Framework Version 2.0.http://amosdevelopment.com
4.
Begun, A.L., Murphy, C., Bolt, D., Weinstein, B., Strodthoff, T., Short, L., & ... Shelley, G. (2003). Characteristics of the safe at home instrument for assessing readiness to change intimate partner violence. Research on Social Work Practice, 13, 80-107.
5.
Behnke, A.O., & Allen, W.D. ( 2007). Effectively serving low-income fathers of color. Marriage & Family Review, 42, 29-50.
6.
Brown, T.A. ( 2006). Confirmatory factor analysis for applied research. New York, NY: Guilford.
7.
Coley, R.L. ( 1998). Children’s socialization experiences and functioning in single-mother households: The importance of fathers and other men. Child Development, 69, 219.
8.
Coley, R.L. ( 2001). (In)visibile men: Emerging research on low-income, unmarried, minority fathers. American Psychologist, 56, 743-753.
9.
Coley, R.L., & Chase-Lansdale, P.L. (1999). Stability and change in paternal involvement among urban AfricanAmerican fathers. Journal of Family Psychology, 13, 416-435.
10.
Day, R.D., & Lamb, M.E. ( 2004). Conceptualizing and measuring father involvement: Pathways, problems, and progress. In R. D. Day & M. E. Lamb (Eds.), Conceptualizing and Measuring Father Involvement. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
11.
Coon, H.M., & Kemmelmeier, M. (2001). Cultural orientations in the United States: (Re)examining differences among ethnic groups. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 32, 348-364.
12.
Doyle, O., Pecukonis, E., & Harrington, D. (2007). Unraveling the complexities of fathering: An analysis of the psychometric properties of the Nurturant Fathering Scale. Presented at the Society for Social Work Conference, Washington, DC.
13.
Dubowitz, H., Lane, W., Greif, G.L., Jensen, T.K., & Lamb, M.E. ( 2006). Low-income African American fathers’ involvement in children’s lives: Implications for practitioners. Journal of Family Social Work, 10, 25-41.
14.
Edin, K., Tach, L., & Mincy, R. ( 2009). Claiming fatherhood: Race and the dynamics of paternal involvement among unmarried men. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 621, 149-177.
15.
Finley, G.E. ( 1998). Parental age and university students: Perceptions of parental acceptance-rejection. Revista Interamericana De Psicologia , 32, 241-244.
16.
Finley, G.E., Mira, S.D., & Schwartz, S.J. (2008). Perceived paternal and maternal involvement: Factor structures, mean differences, and parental roles . Fathering, 6, 62-82.
17.
Finley, G.E., & Schwartz, S.J. (2004). The father involvement and nurturant scales: Retrospective measures for adolescent and adult children . Educational and Psychological Measurement, 64, 143-164.
18.
Friedman, M.S., Koeske, G.F., Silvestre, A.J., Korr, W.S., & Sites, E.W. ( 2006). The impact of gender-role nonconforming behavior, bullying, and social support on suicidality among gay youth. Journal of Adolescent Health, 38, 621-623.
19.
Gaines, S.O., Jr., Marelich, W.D., Bledsoe, K.L., Steers, W.N., Henderson, M.C., Granrose, C.S., ... Page, M.S. ( 1997). Links between race/ethnicity and cultural values as mediated by racial/ ethnic identity and moderated by gender. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72, 1460-1476.
20.
Hamer, J. ( 2001). What it means to be daddy: Fatherhood for Black men living away from their children. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.
21.
Harper, S.E., & Fine, M.A. ( 2006). The effects of involved nonresidential fathers’ distress, parenting behaviors, inter-parental conflict, and the quality of father-child relationships on children’s well-being. Fathering: A Journal of Theory, Research, & Practice about Men as Fathers , 4, 286-311.
22.
Hrabowski, F.A., Maton, K.I., Greene, M.L., & Greif, G.L. ( 2002). Overcoming the odds: Raising academically successful African American young women. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
23.
Hrabowski, F.A., Maton, K.I., & Greif, G.L. ( 2006). Father-son relationships: The father voice. In M. E. Connor & J. L. White (Eds.), Black fathers: An invisible presence in America (pp. 17-51). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
24.
Hughes, M.M., Blom, M., Rohner, R.P., & Britner, P.A. ( 2005). Bridging parental acceptance-rejection theory and attachment theory in the preschool strange situation. Journal of the Society for Psychological Anthropology, 33, 378-401.
25.
King, V. ( 1994). Variation in the consequences of nonresident father involvement for children’s well-being. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 56, 963-972.
26.
King, V., Harris, K.M., & Heard, H.E. ( 2004). Racial and ethnic diversity in nonresident father involvement . Journal of Marriage and Family, 66, 1-21.
27.
Kline, R.B. ( 2005). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Guilford.
28.
Lamb, M.E., & Tamis-LeMonda, C. (2004). The role of the father: An introduction. In M. Lamb (Ed.), The role of the father in child development (4th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
29.
McAdoo, H.P. ( 2002). Black children: Social, educational, and parental environments (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA : SAGE.
30.
McAdoo, J.L. ( 1993). The roles of African American fathers: An ecological perspective. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Human Services, 74, 28-35.
31.
McLanahan, S., & Carlson, M.S. ( 2004). Fathers in fragile families. In M. E. Lamb (Ed.), The role of the father in child development (4th ed., pp. 368-396). Hoboken, NJ : John Wiley.
32.
Oyserman, D., Coon, H.M., & Kemmelmeier, M. (2002). Rethinking individualism and collectivism: Evaluation of theoretical assumptions and meta-analyses . Psychological Bulletin, 128, 3-72.
33.
Robbins, S.P., Chatterjee, P., & Canda, E.R. ( 1998). Contemporary human behavior theory: A critical perspective for social work. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
34.
Roggman, L.A., Fitzgerald, H.E., Bradley, H.R., & Raikes, H. ( 2002). Methodological, measurement, and design issues in studying fathers: An interdisciplinary perspective. In C. Tamis-LeMonda & N. Cabrera (Eds.), Handbook of father involvement: Multidisciplinary perspectives. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
35.
Rohner, R.P. ( 1986). The warmth dimension: Foundations of parental acceptance-rejection theory. Beverly Hills, CA: SAGE .
36.
Rohner, R.P., Bourque, S.L., & Elordi, C.A. ( 1996). Children’s perceptions of corporal punishment, caretaker acceptance, and psychological adjustment in a poor, biracial southern community. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 58, 842-852.
37.
Rohner, R. P., & Khaleque, A. (Eds.). (2005). Handbook for the study of parental acceptance and rejection (4th ed.). Storrs, CT: Rohner Research Publications .
38.
Rohner, R.P., & Veneziano, R.A. (2001). The importance of father love: History and contemporary evidence. Review of General Psychology, 5, 382-405.
39.
Roopnarine, J.L. ( 2004). African American and African Caribbean fathers: Level, quality, and meaning of involvement. In M. E. Lamb (Ed.), The role of the father in child development (4th ed., pp. 58-97). Mahwah, NJ: John Wiley.
40.
Schwartz, S.J., & Finley, G.E. ( 2005a). Divorce-related variables as predictors of young adults’ retrospective fathering reports. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, 44, 145-163.
41.
Schwartz, S.J., & Finley, G.E. ( 2005b). Fathering in intact and divorced families: Ethnic differences in retrospective reports. Journal of Marriage and Family, 67, 207-215.
42.
Schwartz, S.J., & Finley, G.E. ( 2006). Father involvement, nurturant fathering, and young adult psychosocial functioning: Differences among adoptive, adoptive stepfather, and nonadoptive stepfamilies. Journal of Family Issues, 27, 712-731.
43.
Schwartz, S.J., Unger, J.B., Zamboanga, B.L., & Szapocznik, J. (2010). Rethinking the concept of acculturation: Implications for theory and research. American Psychologist, 65, 237-251.
44.
SPSS Inc. (2001). SPSS 15.0.1 . Chicago, IL: SPSS Inc.
45.
Steely, A.C., & Rohner, R.P. ( 2006). Relations among corporal punishment, perceived parental acceptance, and psychological adjustment. Cross-Cultural Research , 40, 268-286.
46.
Tamis-LeMonda, C. S., & Cabrera, N. (Eds.). (2002). Handbook of father involvement. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
47.
Trattner, W.I. ( 1989). From poor law to the welfare state: A history of social welfare in America (4th ed.). New York, NY: Free Press.
48.
Triandis, H.C. ( 1994). Culture and social behavior. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Veneziano, R.A. ( 2000). Perceived paternal and maternal acceptance and rural African American and European American youths’ psychological adjustment . Journal of Marriage and the Family, 62, 123-132.
51.
Veneziano, R.A., & Rohner, R.P. ( 1998). Perceived paternal acceptance, paternal involvement, and youths’ psychological adjustment in a rural, biracial southern community . Journal of Marriage and the Family, 60, 335-343.
52.
Zimmerman, M.A., & Salem, D.A. ( 1995). Family structure and psychosocial correlates among urban African-American adolescent males. Child Development, 66, 1598-1613.
