Table 5.
Simple mediation analysis for well-being in bio fathers with stable families versus separated bio and blended-family fathers, mediated by lack of contact with biological children.
| Outcome: | M (Contactb) | Y (Chronic stress) | M (Contactb) | Y (Life satisfaction) | M (Contactb) | Y (Psychol. distress) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent variables: | ||||||
| Model (a) Separated bio fathers without co-resident children | ||||||
| X (Father typea) | a = 0.15** (0.04, 0.26) | c′ = 4.48** (1.19, 7.76) | a = 0.14** (0.04, 0.25) | c′ = −8.19** (−13.24, −3.14) | a = 0.13* (0.03, 0.23) | c′ = 3.12† (−0.05, 6.29) |
| M (Contactb) | – | b = 1.85 (−3.98, 7.68) | – | b = 1.71 (−3.75, 7.16) | – | b = 0.88 (−4.78, 6.54) |
| Total R2 | 0.088 | 0.120*** | 0.079 | 0.304*** | 0.071 | 0.123*** |
| N = 1852 | N = 1947 | N = 1862 | ||||
| Model (b) Separated bio fathers with part-time co-resident children | ||||||
| X (Father typea) | a = 0.02 (−0.03, 0.07) | c′ = 1.48 (−1.18, 4.14) | a = 0.02 (−0.03, 0.07) | c′ = −2.57 (−7.22, 2.08) | a = 0.02 (−0.03, 0.07) | c′ = 2.27 (−0.45, 4.99) |
| M (Contactb) | – | b = −0.55 (−4.95, 3.86) | – | b = 4.89 (−5.15, 14.94) | – | b = 0.33 (−4.46, 5.12) |
| Total R2 | 0.032 | 0.114*** | 0.029 | 0.293*** | 0.030 | 0.110*** |
| N = 1877 | N = 1971 | N = 1887 | ||||
| Model (c) Blended-family fathers without co-resident children | ||||||
| X (Father typea) | a = 0.52*** (0.27, 0.78) | c′ = 1.14 (−1.56, 3.85) | a = 0.52*** (0.28, 0.75) | c′ = −8.12** (−13.99, −2.24) | a = 0.52*** (0.27, 0.77) | c′ = 1.66 (−1.07, 4.40) |
| M (Contactb) | – | b = 3.91*** (1.59, 6.22) | – | b = −8.10** (−13.62, −2.59) | – | b = 4.17*** (1.83, 6.51) |
| Total R2 | 0.262** | 0.132*** | 0.286** | 0.326*** | 0.258* | 0.153*** |
| N = 1851 | N = 1948 | N = 1863 | ||||
| Model (d) Blended-family fathers with part-time or full-time co-resident children | ||||||
| X (Father typea) | a = 0.19*** (0.13, 0.26) | c′ = −0.05 (−1.22, 1.13) | a = 0.18*** (0.12, 0.23) | c′ = −3.85*** (−5.98, −1.73) | a = 0.19*** (0.13, 0.26) | c′ = 1.07* (0.10, 2.04) |
| M (Contactb) | – | b = −0.08 (−1.23, 1.06) | – | b = −0.43 (−2.44, 1.57) | – | b = −0.35 (−1.32, 0.63) |
| Total R2 | 0.170*** | 0.114*** | 0.158*** | 0.290*** | 0.169*** | 0.122*** |
| N = 2087 | N = 2201 | N = 2105 | ||||
OLS path analyses. Numbers represent unstandardized coefficients, with 95% confidence intervals listed in parentheses. Results are based on 1000 bootstrap samples. All models control for fathers’ age, education, household income, occupation, workload, relationship status and satisfaction, number of children, and age of youngest child. ab = indirect effects, c′ = direct effects.
a0 = bio fathers with stable families, 1 = separated bio fathers (Model a, b) or blended-family fathers (Model c, d).
bNumber of biological children without regular contact.
†p ≤ 0.10.
*p ≤ 0.05.
**p ≤ 0.01.
***p ≤ 0.001 (two-tailed tests).