Adolescent depression in girls offset by presence of 'boomerang father'

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-08/uoh-adi080116.php

Public Release: 2-Aug-2016
Adolescent depression in girls offset by presence of 'boomerang father'
University of Houston

A study of the impact of "boomerang fathers" -- those who cycle in and out of their children's lives -- yielded surprising results for researchers. "Boomerang fathering" provided a type of stability in a daughter's life that staved off her depressive symptoms compared to those adolescent girls whose fathers were completely absent.

•••••

"Previous research has suggested that stressful experiences, like family instability, father absence or stepfather presence, contribute to an adolescent experiencing depression," said Daphne Hernandez, University of Houston assistant professor and principal investigator. "This is not what happened in the cases of these youth. Boomerang fathering served as a protective factor for female adolescent depression compared to female adolescents who experienced instability, but not boomerang fathers."

•••••

Among their findings:

There was no real difference between adolescent depressive symptoms of girls who lived with their biological father from birth to 18 years of age and those with lived with boomerang fathers

Adolescent girls exposed to boomerang fathers had lower depressive symptoms at 18 years of age than those exposed to unstable, non-boomerang fathers

Boomerang fathering was not significantly related to depression in adolescent boys

•••••