The nonlinear nature of the associations between fathering and adolescent adjustment found in the majority of models was unexpected. While some research has conceptualized the relation between harsh parenting and child outcomes as containing a nonlinear component (Deater-Deckard & Dodge, 1997), our work suggests that this nonlinearity may extend to other parenting dimensions as well. Although normative levels of father acceptance and involvement are associated with positive adjustment in adolescents, very high levels of father acceptance and involvement appear to be especially beneficial. This suggests that when fathers are high in adolescent acceptance or are more involved with their adolescent, the adolescent, in turn, is particularly well adjusted. Across reporters, consistent discipline became harmful at very high levels. This may be interpreted as evidence that while parental discipline is beneficial at moderate levels, fathers rated very high in consistent discipline may be harmful. While it may be that adolescents who externalize elicit more discipline from parents, these associations were also found for measures of adolescent internalizing. Finally, while very high levels of monitoring were especially helpful in intact families, very
