Family Facts: Social Science Research on Family, Society & Religion

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This finding looks at the relationship between fathers' absence and daughters' sexual behavior.

Even when controlling for differences in family background, father absence was associated with the likelihood that adolescent girls will be sexually active and become pregnant as teenagers. This association was strongest for daughters whose fathers were absent when they were younger. Compared with the pregnancy rates of girls whose fathers were present, rates of teenage pregnancy were 7 to 8 times higher among girls whose fathers were absent early in their childhoods and 2 to 3 times higher among those who suffered father-absence later in their childhood.

Sample or Data Description
US data came from the Child Development Project, collected in 1987 and 1988; the U.S. sub-sample consisted of 281 girls who were part of the overall 585 families that participated in the study. New Zealand data came from the Christchurch Health and Development Study, a longitudinal study consisting of 1,265 children who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s; the analytical sub-sample consisted of 520 girls.

Source
"Does Father Absence Place Daughters at Special Risk for Early Sexual Activity and Teenage Pregnancy?"
Ellis, Bruce J.
Bates, John E., Dodge, Kenneth A.; Fergusson, David M.; Horwood, L. John; Pettit, Gregory S.; and Woodward, Lianne
Child Development Vol. 74, Number 3. , 2003. Page(s) 801-821.

FindingID: 5550