Family Processes, Intergenerational Learning, and Involved Fathering
Dr. Sandra Hofferth
This project, funded by NICHD, will investigate the contributions of family interaction, mothering, and paternal residence (viewed as three key family processes), and the contributions of the subjective meaning and contexts of fatherhood, to men's involved fathering. These contributions are analyzed both within family generations, and intergenerationally. The project will use data from the Young Adult samples of the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, the Early Head Start Father component, the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, the 2002 Panel Study of Income Dynamics Child Development Supplement, and the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth.

African American Fathers' Relationship Quality and Fathering within and across Households
Dr. Jaslean LaTalliade and Dr. Sandra Hofferth
This project, funded by NICHD as a Minority Supplement, will examine how longitudinal changes in relationship quality and stability impact changes in father involvement among African American fathers over time. It is suggested that African American fathers and mothers often maintain a good quality relationship, and that the quality of this couple relationship is associated with consistency and quality of father involvement among nonresidential as well as residential fathers. The project will use survey data collected as part of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study and the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth - Young Adult Survey. Findings from the project may assist in the development of preventative and treatment approaches to increase father involvement and to promote satisfactory and stable family relationships within the African American community.

Transracial Adoption
Dr. Leigh Leslie and Dr. Jaslean LaTalliade
A group of faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students, in collaboration with the Center for Adoption Support and Education, are beginning a national study of White families who have adopted racial minority children. The mixed-method study will focus on both parents' and adolescents' perceptions of their families and the factors associated with racial identity development and adjustment for transracially adopted youth.