Nonresident Fathers and Maternal and Child Well-being: the Role of Extended Visitation

Although nonresident fathers are becoming more involved in their children’s lives, studies have not examined the effect of extended visitation on maternal and child well-being. Extended visitation in this study is defined as relatively long periods of visitation with nonresident fathers and includes (a) visits lasting more than one week to several weeks or months, (b) shared custody, and/or (c) visitation that falls outside standard measures of contact. Analysis of data from the 1997 National Survey of America’s Families indicated that, unlike day-to-day contact, extended visitation was associated with higher mental health scores and lower parental aggravation among resident mothers. The effect of extended visitation on children was mixed, with only marginally significant effects that were not always in the expected direction. An implication of these results is that future studies should provide more detailed and comprehensive measures of visitation to capture nonresident fathers’ greater involvement in their children’s lives.