Gail Dunn, a nurse in Waterville, Maine, was intrigued by an article we summarized in our November 2003 issue, titled “Absentee Dad, Pregnant Daughter”.  Girls were more likely to engage in early sexual intercourse as teens if they lived in single-mother households as toddlers.  Ms. Dunn was very astute to ask whether the same effects were found on boys. 

I could not find a similar study for boys.  However, there are some other known effects of single parenting on boys.  Here are some:

• Socioeconomic disadvantages become more strongly associated with delinquent behavior in males coming from father-absent families.

• Father absence magnifies the negative impact of peer problem behavior.   A positive mother-adolescent relationship can attenuate this risk.

• Boys and girls from single-parent families engage in the highest rates of problem behaviors. Parents who spend time with their children (such as having dinner together each evening), lessen adverse effects of being in a single-parent household.  

• Father-child separation in childhood affects adolescents’ self esteem.

• Father involvement at age 7 protects against psychological maladjustment when the child becomes a 16 year-old adolescent.  

• Antisocial behavior in any family member is more likely if the father is absent and nonparticipating. The heightened antisocial behavior in children associated with absent biological fathers is not mitigated by presence of stepfathers and is not accounted for by lower socio-economic status.

What should also be mentioned when citing these sobering findings is that fathers that remain present in a child’s life and home but who abuse alcohol or other substances may cause more harm.   The lesson here is to help single mothers as much as we can so that they are able to spend quality time with their sons and daughters.      – H.T.