Father Involvement, Nurturant Fathering, and the Psychological Well-Being of Young Adult Daughters

The present study was conducted to investigate the relationship between father involvement, nurturant fathering, and the psychological well-being among young adult women. A total of 99 young adult, female, university students completed retrospective measures of nurturant fathering, father involvement, and measures of current psychological well-being (measured in terms of self-esteem, life satisfaction, and psychological distress). Results indicated that retrospective perceptions of both father involvement and nurturant fathering were positively correlated with daughters\u27 current levels of self-esteem and life satisfaction. Perceptions of expressive involvement, and nurturant fathering were found to have the strongest relationship with self-esteem and life satisfaction. Results, however, did not indicate any significant correlations between fathering measures and daughters\u27 current psychological distress. Together, the results of the present study provide several important implications for future father-daughter research and the field of marriage and family therapy