The present study examines the relationship between observed behaviors and attitudes of black fathers and the association of these paternal measures with the self-esteem of their preschool children. This research is a part of a larger on-going study of black parent-child interaction and their relationship to the development of social competence of preschool aged boys and girls. The study uses the symbolic interaction perspective as a theoretical framework. The sample consisted of 36 working and middle class black families consisting of 19 boys and 17 girls, living in the suburban town of Columbia, Maryland. Four black male interviewers interviewed the families. The first interview was with the entire family, to explain the project. In the second interview only the father and the child were present during the hour and a half session. It consisted of the Cognitive Home Environment Scale, several questions to gather information on the father's childrearing attitudes and on the father's perception of ethnic differences in childrearing patterns. At the end of the interview, the child was given three puzzles to complete, to justify his/her presence. Having the child remain in the room required that at some point the father would have some control over his child's activities. The results of the study indicated that a great deal of interaction occurred in the father-child relationship. These fathers were found to be very nurturant towards their children. Fathers who physically interacted with their child, tended to be restrictive in their interaction patterns. More fathers of girls interacted on a nonverbal level than fathers of boys. No significant relationship was found between father-child nonverbal interactions and self-esteem in their children. The children, as a group, felt good about themselves. They felt that both their father and mother valued them highly and that their peers and teachers saw them in a positive light. The fathers in this study do not fit the popular stereotypic view of the black fathers who are cold, distant, restrictive, who are either non-existent or have very little to do with their children. (Author/AM)