Paternal behaviours and adolescent development: Examining father-adolescent relationships and academic performance among Singaporean Chinese adolescents

Abstract

Two models were tested. Model 1 examined how warmth, autonomy-granting, and behavioural control were related to attachment to father and satisfaction with the father-adolescent relationship. Model 2 examined how paternal involvement and strictness were related to academic performance and whether adolescent self-efficacy was a mediator in these links. Initial measurement analyses revealed that all the variables of interest were at least partially invariant across the 501 12- and 15-year-olds (and 404 of their fathers) in the sample. Tests of model 1 using adolescentsa?? reports showed that warmth and behavioural control, but not autonomy-granting, were positively linked to attachment and satisfaction, and that these paths were similar for both 12- or 15-year-olds. On the other hand, when fathersa?? reports were used, all paths were significant except for the link between behavioural control and satisfaction. For model 2, results (whether using fathersa?? or adolescentsa?? reports) failed to show support for the model; specifically, self-efficacy was not shown to be a mediator. Generally, across the two models, the patterns of linkages depended on the age of the adolescents and whether it was fathers or adolescents who did the reporting.