COVID‐19 and the relationships and involvement of nonresident fathers

• Published date: 01 July 2022
• Author: Kari Adamsons
• Date: 01 July 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12663

RESEARCH

COVID-19 and the relationships and involvement

of nonresident fathers

Kari Adamsons

Human Development and Family Sciences,

University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut,

United States

Correspondence

Kari Adamsons, Human Development and

Family Sciences, 348 Mansfield Road, Unit

1058, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT

06269, USA.

Email: kari.adamsons@uconn.edu

Abstract

Objective: To support nonresident fathers in maintaining

involvement and relationships with their children during

the COVID-19 pandemic, we must understand how such

fathers have been impacted thus far by the pandemic.

Background: All families have been impacted by the pan-

demic, but fathers who do not reside with their children are

particularly likely to be negatively impacted. Social distanc-

ing, restrictions on travel, job loss/economic downturn, fam-

ily court closures, and numerous other effects of the

COVID-19 crisis impact the ability of nonresident fathers to

maintain relationships and involvement with their children.

Method: The current study analyzed retrospective data

from 373 nonresident U.S. fathers to assess perceived par-

enting and coparenting changes during the pandemic, as

well as whether coparenting relationships and mental

health were associated with their involvement and relation-

ships with their children.

Results: On average, fathers’involvement, father–child

relationship quality, and coparenting support declined, but

wide variability also existed, with a substantial minority of

fathers reporting increased involvement. Coparenting sup-

port was positively associated with current levels of

involvement and relationship quality as well as changes to

both since the pandemic, but mental health was inconsis-

tently associated with outcomes.

Conclusion and Implications: To keep these average declines

from becoming permanent, future research should investi-

gate what factors foster higher involvement and improved

relationships. Practitioners should offer additional support

to nonresident fathers to promote their involvement and

relationships in wayscompatible with evolving restrictions.

KEYWORDS

coparenting, COVID-19, father–child relationships, nonresident fathers

Received: 8 June 2020Revised: 14 September 2021Accepted: 9 October 2021

DOI: 10.1111/fare.12663

© 2022 National Council on Family Relations.

Family Relations. 2022;71:827–848. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fare 827

The COVID-19 pandemic has created innumerable challenges for individuals and families.

Lockdowns, quarantines, stay-at-home orders, and travel restrictions have had a significant

impact on the ability of people and families to stay connected with one another and have continued

long past initial estimates, and the economic fallout in a variety of industries likely will continue for

years. This is particularly true for nonresident parents, and although the number of single fathers

has increased, the vast majority of nonresident parents (about 80%; Grall, 2020;U.S.Census

Bureau, 2010) are fathers. Even among “joint”parenting arrangements in the United States, time

typically is not split exactly 50–50 between the parents; instead, although every state has its own lan-

guage and regulations around shared parenting, the language in statutes typically includes phrases

such as “significant, but not necessarily equal, periods of time”(Domestic Relations, Missouri State

Statute 452.375, 2018), resulting in mothers still having more time with children than fathers. There-

fore, in a time when traveling between households was restricted and family courts were closed (leav-

ing families unable to seek legal recourse to their parenting disputes), nonresident fathers likely were

particularly affected by the COVID-19 crisis. Research is needed to investigate the ongoing impacts

of the COVID-19 pandemic on nonresident fathers across the United States, in states with varying

restrictions and resources and with varying rates of infection by the disease. Given the importance of

routines and patterns of interaction in families, it is necessary to understand what parenting patterns

families have been implementing to best plan services for these families moving forward.

LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Nonresident fathering

It is well established that nonresident fathers tend to have more strained relationships with their

children and lowerlevels of involvement than residentfathers (Peters & Ehrenberg, 2008). Not sur-

prisingly, moretime spent with children is associated with greater knowledge and understanding of

one another (Ashbourne et al., 2011) and better father–child relationships (Aquilino, 2006;

Bauserman, 2012),and when children perceive that fathers are not invested in the relationship,

father–childrelationship quality is adversely affected (Nixonet al., 2012). In addition, a substantial

body of research demonstrates the importance of father involvement(including nonresident father

involvement) for a variety of child outcomes, whether academic, behavioral, social, physical, or

psychological, and even across generations (Adamsons & Johnson, 2013; Cabrera et al., 2000;

Jessee & Adamsons, 2018; Lamb & Lewis, 2010). As such, the particular impediments that the

COVID-19 pandemic presents to relationship maintenance across households point to a need for

timely research regarding how these factors influence nonresident fathers’ability to maintain

involvementand relationships with theirchildren.

COVID-19 pandemic and parenting

Limited literature is available on the impact of the pandemic, as this is an unprecedented sociohis-

torical event. However, existing research indicates variability in patterns of family adjustment

during the pandemic. In some two-parent households, gendered divisions of labor deepened dur-

ing the pandemic, whereas in others, fathers who were workingfrom home took on greater shares

of housework and childrearing responsibilities (Shafer et al., 2020; Yerkes et al., 2020). Increases

in parents’stress and precipitous declines in mental health also have been reported as a result of

the pandemic and concurrent lockdowns, which adversely affect child outcomes as wellas

parent–child relationships (Russell et al., 2020).

One study of nonresident parents in Hungary found multiple patterns of change in visitation

with children, with approximately one third of parents continuing their usual schedules of in-

828 FAMILY RELATIONS