Despite the clear pattern of our findings, several limitations should be noted. First, this study was cross-sectional, and therefore, conclusions about direction of effects cannot be established. While fathering may produce changes in adolescent outcomes, it is possible that externalizing, for example, may elicit negative fathering behaviors. Longitudinal and experimental/intervention studies are needed to better establish the direction of effects between fathering and adolescent outcomes. The plausibility that variations in parenting can produce changes in child outcomes is evident from recent parenting intervention studies (Cowan & Cowan, 2002) as well as interventions designed specifically for fathers (McBride & Lutz, 2004). However, more intervention studies with MA fathers as well as stepfathers are needed to clearly address the direction of causality issue. Second, although we included parental, adolescent, and teacher behavior outcome assessments, despite mean differences in reported positive and negative parenting across adolescents from EA or MA intact and stepfather families, longitudinal analyses would allow a better understanding of patterns of stability and change across time as a function of family type and ethnicity. Third we recognize the intra group
