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Inconsistent Paternal Behavior Predicts Turkish Immigrant and German Children’s and Adolescents’ Mental Health

Julia Jaekel, Birgit Leyendecker and Alexandru Agache

Objective: Data about Turkish immigrant fathers in Germany is scarce and it is not known how their parenting behavior may affect their children’s outcomes. The aim of this longitudinal study was to test whether Turkish immigrant and German fathers’ inconsistent discipline predicted their children’s mental health. Methods: Turkish immigrant (n=115) and German fathers (n=76) were administered the Inconsistent Discipline Scale items of the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire (APQ). One year later, fathers rated their children’s (N=191; age range 6-16 years; n=97 (50.8%) male) mental health with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Results: Self-reported levels of inconsistent discipline were the same among Turkish immigrant and German fathers. Turkish immigrant children had higher peer relationship problem scores compared with German children but there were no ethnic differences in total difficulties, emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivityinattention, and prosocial behavior. Multivariate regression analyses showed that both Turkish immigrant and German fathers’ inconsistent discipline predicted higher total difficulties (ß=0.24; p=0.001), hyperactivity-inattention (ß=0.20; p=0.007), peer problems (ß=0.21; p=0.005), and lower prosocial behavior (ß=-0.21; p=0.004) after statistically controlling for child gender and age, as well as paternal education. There were no effects of inconsistent behavior on emotional symptoms and hyperactivity-inattention. Conclusion: The negative effects of fathers’ inconsistent discipline on children’s and adolescents’ mental health are similar in the Turkish immigrant and German native population. Fathers’ use of consistent parenting behavior may be a potential target for parenting interventions aimed at improving youth mental health.