COHESION AND ADAPTABILITY IN THE NON-CUSTODIAL FATHER-CHILD RELATIONSHIP - THE EFFECTS OF INTERACTION QUALITY

The purpose of this study is to determine if the quality of parental i nteractions and the quality of father-child interactions is related to adaptability and cohesion in the non-custodial father-child relations hip. Data from self-report ratings of 50 non-custodial fathers were an alyzed using multiple regression. Results indicate that families exhib it functional levels of cohesion when the child(ren)'s biological pare nts maintain quality interactions, as well as when the non-custodial f ather and his child(ren) maintain quality interactions. Adaptability i n the non-custodial father-child relationship, however, was not signif icantly associated with either interaction quality.