The Effects of Child Support Payment Factors on Satisfaction With Levels of Parental Involvement by Noncustodial Fathers

Purpose: Research on the influences of child support on the parental involvement of non-custodial father is mixed. Method: This study uses one-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) to examine non-custodial fathers’ satisfaction with levels of accessibility to his child, degree of engagement in daily activities, level of responsibility for child’s wellbeing and custodial parents parenting practices. These variables were measured against child support payment related behaviors to include income levels, monthly child support obligation, view of fairness of payment, maintaining a current status, and the number of additional child support cases. Results: Results indicated significant mean differences in the combined parental satisfaction variable and specifically within custodial parent parenting practices. Mean differences in parental satisfaction with reference to degree of responsibility for the child were also effected by monthly child support payment amounts. No significance differences in parental satisfaction were found regarding fairness of child support payment amount or having multiple child support cases. However, small differences were noted concerning payment status of current or behind. Discussion: Implications for future study of fatherless families are explored.