Dataset Information

The Role of Men's Childbearing Intentions in Father Involvement.

ABSTRACT: An expanding body of research has investigated factors that influence fathers' involvement with their children. Generally overlooked has been the role of pregnancy intentions on men's fathering behaviors. In this study, the authors used nationally representative data from men interviewed in the 2002 and 2006-2010 National Survey of Family Growth to examine relationships between fathers' pregnancy intentions and multiple aspects of their parental involvement. Using propensity score methods to control for confounding, they found that men were less likely to live with a young child from a mistimed than intended pregnancy and that among nonresident fathers, mistimed pregnancies were associated with lower levels of visitation and consequently reduced participation in caregiving and play. Among both resident and nonresident fathers, mistimed pregnancies were also associated with lower self-appraisals of fathering quality when compared with intended pregnancies; for nonresident fathers, however, this association was moderated by other involvement.

SUBMITTER: Lindberg LD

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6029868 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

The Role of Men's Childbearing Intentions in Father Involvement.

Lindberg Laura Duberstein LD Kost Kathryn K Maddow-Zimet Isaac I

Journal of marriage and the family 20161022 1

An expanding body of research has investigated factors that influence fathers' involvement with their children. Generally overlooked has been the role of pregnancy intentions on men's fathering behaviors. In this study, the authors used nationally representative data from men interviewed in the 2002 and 2006-2010 National Survey of Family Growth to examine relationships between fathers' pregnancy intentions and multiple aspects of their parental involvement. Using propensity score methods to con ...[more]

PMID: 29977094

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Project description:Gender norms can lead men to shy away from traditionally female roles and occupations in communal HEED domains (Healthcare, Early Education, Domestic sphere) that do not fit within the social construct of masculinity. But to what extent do men underestimate the degree to which other men are accepting of men in these domains? Building on research related to social norms and pluralistic ignorance, the current work investigated whether men exhibit increased communal orientations when presented with the true norms regarding men's communal traits and behaviors vs. their perceived faulty norms. Study 1 (N = 64) revealed that young Belgian men indeed perceive their peers to hold more traditional norms regarding communal and agentic traits than their peers actually hold. Study 2 (N = 319) presented young Belgian men with altered norms to manipulate exposure to men's actual normative beliefs (i.e., what men truly think), their perceived norms (i.e., what men believe other men think), or a no information control. When men were presented with actual rather than perceived norms, they altered their own self-descriptions, future behavioral intentions, and broader gender-related social attitudes in a more communal direction. In particular, men who were presented with information about men's actual beliefs regarding the compatibility between communal and agentic traits exhibited the strongest movement toward a more communal orientation. The findings show that participants in conditions that uncover pluralistic ignorance adapted their attitudes and behaviors to be more in line with the actual norm: adopting a more communal self-concept, having lower intentions to hide future communal engagement, and supporting more progressive gender-related social change. The results are discussed in terms of influences of norms on men's communal orientations and broader attitudes toward gender-related social change, and the down-stream implications for increased gender-equality in HEED domains where men remain highly underrepresented.

Project description:Evidence on the role of father involvement in children's development from low-resource settings is very limited and historically has only relied on maternal reports of father's direct engagement activities such as reading to the child. However, fathers can also potentially influence their children's development via greater positive involvement with the mother, such as by offering interpersonal support or sharing decision-making duties. Such positive intrahousehold interactions can benefit maternal mental health and wellbeing, and ultimately children's development. We use data collected from mothers, fathers and children in the context of the cluster randomized controlled trial evaluation of Msingi Bora, a responsive parenting intervention implemented across 60 villages in rural western Kenya, to explore the various pathways through which fathers may influence their children's outcomes. In an endline survey in Fall 2019 among a sample of 681 two-parent households with children aged 16-34 months, fathers reported on measures of their behaviors towards children and with mothers, mothers reported on their wellbeing and behaviors, and interviewers assessed child cognitive and language development with the Bayley Scales. In adjusted multivariate regression analyses we found that greater father interpersonal support to mothers and greater participation in shared household decision-making were positively associated with children's development. These associations were partially mediated through maternal wellbeing and behaviors. We found no association between fathers' direct engagement in stimulation activities with children and children's outcomes. Inviting fathers to the program had no impact on their involvement or on any maternal or child outcomes, and fathers attended sessions at low rates. Overall, our results show the potential promises and challenges of involving fathers in a parenting intervention in a rural low-resource setting. Our findings do highlight the importance of considering intrahousehold pathways of influence in the design of parenting interventions involving fathers.

Project description:The role of fathers in (co-)parenting their children among refugee and disadvantaged families in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) remains poorly understood. This study sought to examine the associations among mothers' perceptions of their husband's involvement (hereafter referred to as paternal involvement), and her perceptions of her own well-being and a number of other variables, as well as observed mother-child interactions in families living in refugee and disadvantaged communities in Beirut, Lebanon. We analyzed baseline data from 104 mother-child dyads (mean age of children = 4.34 years; range = 2.05 to 7.93 years of age) who participated in a randomized controlled trial aimed at evaluating the impact of the Mother-Child Education Program in Beirut. In addition to the mother's perception of paternal involvement and the videotaped mother-child interactions, data were collected concerning the mother's well-being and her level of social support, as well as her level of stress as a parent and the way her children were disciplined in the family. Mother-child pairs were videotaped while completing a puzzle together and dyadic interactions were coded. Path analysis showed that paternal involvement was significantly associated with a higher level of maternal well-being and lower distress levels. In addition, higher levels of maternal distress were associated with higher levels of harsh discipline and parenting stress. Correlation analysis showed that higher perceptions of paternal involvement were associated with more positive affect displayed by the child, more positive regard for the child, and better mother-child synchrony during the dyadic interactions. Limitations include the cross-sectional design and the modest sample size, which hinder causal inferences and generalizability of the findings. These preliminary findings suggest that higher levels of paternal involvement may have an impact on markers of maternal mental health and positive mother-child interactions in families living in disadvantaged communities or humanitarian settings. Paternal involvement should be considered when designing and implementing parenting programs in LMICs.

Dataset Information

The Role of Men's Childbearing Intentions in Father Involvement.

Publications

The Role of Men's Childbearing Intentions in Father Involvement.

Similar Datasets

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