Double disadvantage or buffered by distance? Examining the childhood consequences of father death by prior father absence

Objective: This study examines whether the associations between a father’s death and adolescent wellbeing vary by a father’s history of absence. Background: Parental death is an established risk factor for adolescent wellbeing, but the extent of its significance may vary by the parent-child relationship, including parental absence from the child’s home and/or day-to-day life. Methods: We use data from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study, which follows a cohort of urban youth, among whom more than one tenth experienced a father’s death by age 15. We examine if a father’s history of absence—measured by his nonresidence, incarceration, and/or extended periods without contact—conditions the influence of his subsequent death for adolescent boys’ and girls’ mental health. Results: The results offer three main findings. First, a father’s death corresponds with poor mental health for adolescent boys—a risk that is uniformly experienced regardless of his history of nonresidence, incarceration, and/or extended period without contact. Second, girls demonstrate uniform resilience in the wake of a father’s death. Third, a father’s nonresidence, incarceration, and extended period without contact during childhood corresponds with poor mental health for adolescent boys and girls, even as it is not related to the influence of a father’s death. Conclusion: The loss of a father—either temporarily or permanently—can have lasting mental health consequences for youth that operate independently from one another and are highly gendered in nature.