Magister Psychologiae - MPsych (Psychology)

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    Father-son relationship quality and associated adolescent risks
    (University of the Western Cape, 2010) Hendricks, Lynn Hendricks; Malcolm, Charles
    International research over the past two decades has advanced knowledge in the study of fathers and the protective role they play in the prevention of adolescent risk behaviours. Studies have often investigated parental relationships and their influence on adolescent risk behaviours but rarely the specific role of the adolescents’ relationships with their fathers or father figures in prevention of risk behaviour. Three main hypotheses were investigated: first, that the theoretically aligned dimensions of relationship quality would be nomogically validated; second, that there would be little significance difference in the dimensions of relationship quality across groupings of father residential status; and third, that the quality of the fatherson relationship is a stronger predictor of risk behaviour than father’s residential status (whether the adolescent lived with the father or not), or whether the “father” is a biological father or not. Three samples of adolescents were included: a fatherresident group (biological fathers reside in the adolescents’ homes) (N = 196); a nonresident group (biological fathers live elsewhere) (N = 72); and a father figure group (no contact with biological father) (N = 58). The school-based sample of 331 participants all resided in a low-income area of Cape Town. Risk behaviours were investigated using the Problem Oriented Screening Instrument for Teenagers (POSIT). Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) risk behaviour was assessed on a POSIT sub-scale designed specifically for South Africa, the POSIT HIV/STD Risk iv Subscale.