Kiwi dads at play: what influences fathers' childcare involvement in New Zealand?

Fatherhood is the act of being a father, as opposed to merely a child. The father has an important potential role at each developmental stage that his children pass through. During pregnancy and birth, the father-to-be plays crucial roles in the transition of the family. Fathers discipline with respect and with love, the goal being to help socialize their children in positive ways. Good fathers set limits and are firmThe present study was undertaken to assess the Impact of father's involvement in child care and development . The study was based upon the sample 120 respondents in South City, RajniKhand, RuchiKhand and Banglabajar were selected purposively from semi urban area in Lucknow city in U.P Interview schedule as used for data collection and Purposive sampling method was used for sample selection. F test and Chi square analysis was used for data analysis. . The result revealed that father's education and occupation had highly significant impact on father's involvement in child care and development. more involved in infant care giving have infants with greater cognitive development. Fathers involved with their children become high in level in their daily activities; they show higher level of sociability and high level of school performance. Psychologist have claimed father's responsibility is the most important for a child's developmental wellbeing (Russel-1983). Fathers have a critical role play in ensuring positive outcomes for their children. There is consistent evidence that father's interest and involvement in their children's learning (which was measured in terms of interest in education, outings and reading to the child ) is statistically associated with better education outcomes (controlling for a wide variety of to their influencing factors). These out comes included better exam results, a higher level of educational qualifications, greater progress at school, higher level of education qualifications greater progress at school, higher educational expectations more positive attitude and better behavior at school. Fathers tend to challenge children to try out and explore, acquire experience and become more independent. This might be one of the reasons that they influence their children's competence. Challenged children are more likely to develop problem-solving skills. Father are involved in their children's lives in a multitude of ways that go beyond the traditional roles of economic provider and playmate. However ,few studies that include fathers tap all aspects of fathers involvement in children's lives. Furthermore, the quality of father- child interactions is not as frequently studied or as well understood as is the quantity of father-child contact. Children with involved, caring fathers have better educational outcomes. A number of studies suggest that fathers who are involved, nurturing, and playful with their infants have children with higher IQs, as well as better linguistic and cognitive capacities. Toddlers with involved fathers go on to start school with higher levels of academic readiness. They are more patient and can handle the stresses and frustrations associated with schooling more readily than children with less involved fathers. The influence of a father's involvement on academic achievement extends into adolescence and young adulthood. Numerous studies find that an active and nurturing style of fathering is associated with better verbal skills, intellectual functioning, and academic achievement among adolescents. For instance, a 2001 U.S. Department of Education study found that highly involved biological fathers had children who were 43 percent more likely than other children to earn mostly As and 33 percent less likely than other children to repeat a grade. OBJECTIVE 1. To impact of father's occupation involvement in child care and development. 2. To influence father's education in child care and development..

This study attempts to determine whether the increasing need for parental assistance with schooling and the improved options for this owing to remote work had an impact on fathers' involvement in childcare, children's education and housework during the COVID‐19 lockdown. We make use of information from a May 2020 online poll of 1359 Russian mothers. Using binary logistic regression, we examine the links between fathers' work schedules, the need for additional school support for children and an increase in father involvement. We compare father involvement in children's education and childcare before and during the lockdown. Our findings partially corroborate the ‘needs exposure’ theory, which holds that greater awareness of family needs can boost fathers' engagement. Furthermore, they emphasize that, given the high likelihood of upcoming pandemics and other crises affecting family life, considerable steps should be taken to promote gender equality in the family and the workplace. Such actions might be advantageous for the health of both parents and children.

Objectives Recently, paternal involvement in childcare has been gaining public attention in Japan. However, studies on the influences of active paternal involvement remain scarce. This study aimed to review the findings on the influence of paternal involvement in childcare on mothers, children, and fathers themselves from studies conducted in Japan and published mainly after 2010. Additionally, we examined methodological issues that need to be addressed when researchers conduct studies on paternal involvement in the future.Methods We reviewed 26 journal articles (22 in Japanese and 4 in English) from four databases: "Igaku Chuo Zasshi Web (Japana Centra Revuo Medicina History and Activities)," JSTPlus, JMEDPlus, and PubMed with conditions such as studies conducted in Japan, families with young children, and questionnaire-based quantitative studies. We described respondents (mothers, fathers, or both) and assessed paternal involvement in childcare, outcomes, and findings.Results We reviewed studies on paternal involvement in childcare published in Japanese after 2010 and English after 2000 and observed two trends across the studies. The first was that if mothers acknowledge active paternal involvement in childcare, mothers' parenting stress seemed to be lower, and they seemed to be happier. Moreover, for children's health and development, active paternal involvement seemed to be associated with positive results, such as prevention of unintentional injuries and obesity. However, in the second trend, we observed that active paternal involvement, assessed by the fathers themselves, were often not associated with lower parenting stress among mothers. We also could not observe a consistent trend on the findings related to the influences on fathers, due to the limited number of studies. We observed that assessment of paternal involvement in childcare was inconsistent across studies included in this review.Conclusion With more social pressure for fathers to be actively involved in childcare, public interest for the influence would be heightened. For future studies, better ways of assessing the quantity and content of paternal involvement in childcare need to be discussed.

This explanatory sequential mixed-methods study investigates the factors influencing Thai fathers' involvement in early childhood Childcare. In the quantitative phase (n = 230), fathers' involvement in Childcare was assessed using a Childcare involvement scale to identify key contributing factors. The qualitative phase (n = 20) further elaborated on these quantitative findings through content analysis. Stepwise multiple regression analysis demonstrated that fathers' perceived Childcare skills, division of Childcare responsibilities, and marital satisfaction explained 53% (p < .001) of the variance in paternal involvement. The qualitative phase expanded on these findings, identifying fathers' involvement experiences, and revealing three central themes: responsible involvement, father-child interaction, and discipline training. These results offer valuable insights for health care professionals into the support needs of Thai fathers engaged in Childcare, facilitating better strategies for encouraging active fatherhood.

MOTIVATION, MARITAL QUALITY, MATERNAL GATEKEEPING, BREADWINNING, AND FATHER IDENTITY: MODELS OF BIOLOGICAL FATHERS’ AND STEPFATHERS’ INVOLVEMENT IN CHILDCARE Jessica Ladage Old Dominion University, 2015 Director: Dr. Bryan E. Porter Compared to biological fathers, there is far less knowledge about stepfathers in reference to their involvement in childcare. As stepfathers continue to increase in number in the United States, it is important to understand the factors that influence a stepfather to be more or less involved in the care of their stepchildren. Few studies have examined both biological fathers and stepfathers together on multiple sets of parenting variables. Thus, the current study aims to compare biological fathers and stepfathers on a model of paternal involvement. Participants were 306 biological fathers and 69 stepfathers. In order to participate, fathers had to have at least one child 12 years or younger living with them at least 50% of the time, as well as be married to the child's biological mother. All fathers completed an anonymous, online survey that assessed their motivation to be involved, marital quality, maternal gatekeeping, traditional parenting views (i.e., breadwinning), father identity, and paternal involvement in childcare. It was hypothesized that breadwinning and motivation would be negatively correlated for biological fathers only; however, results showed breadwinning and motivation were negatively correlated for both types of fathers. Additionally, it was hypothesized that stepfathers’ marital quality would mediate the relationship between motivation and paternal involvement, whereas for biological fathers the mediated relationship would not be significant. This hypothesis was supported, demonstrating that instead, for biological fathers, motivation had a direct effect on involvement. The final hypothesis stated that all five variables (i.e., motivation, marital quality, maternal gatekeeping, breadwinning, and father identity) would influence biological father and stepfather involvement in childcare differently. Although fit statistics did not meet the recommended structural equation modeling (SEM) values, parenting does appear to be different for biological fathers and stepfathers. Father identity was hypothesized to have a direct effect on fathering motivation for both types of fathers, but was found to be significant only for biological fathers. Lastly, maternal gatekeeping was expected to have a direct effect on involvement for stepfathers only. However, this was not supported, nor did gatekeeping have an effect on biological fathers’ involvement. The results indicated that the model of paternal involvement for biological fathers was different than the model for stepfathers. Due to weak SEM fit statistics, readers should interpret these findings within the context of understanding the model is not a finished model of paternal involvement and further research is needed to confirm and expand upon these results. Perhaps a larger sample size of stepfathers would allow more stable and reliable statistical results. Additionally, there were some concerns with maternal gatekeeping, as that factor was not shown to be related to either fathers’ involvement in the hypothesized model. Nevertheless, the current study does contribute knowledge of new patterns and ways of understanding paternal involvement in childcare. It is important for future studies to replicate these results and eventually better understand what makes a father more or less involved.

ObjectiveBuilding on previous analysis conducted by Schober (2012), we explore how paternal involvement in different childcare and housework tasks affects the probability of relationship breakdown between parents.MethodsWe use logistic regression on the U.K. Millennium Cohort Study to predict parental relationship breakdown from nine months to seven years post‐childbirth. Paternal involvement in four childcare and three housework tasks during the first year of parenthood, are used as explanatory variables.ResultsThe amount of time the father spends alone, caring for the baby during the first year of parenthood, is associated with the stability of the parental relationship but the effect of involvement in other tasks is moderated by ethnicity and the mother's employment status.ConclusionThese nonlinear relationships suggest further research is needed to explore the different associations between paternal involvement in childcare and housework and relationship breakdown, which are complex and variable according to different characteristics.

Objectives This study was conducted to investigate the influence of maternal parenting self-efficacy and father involvement in childcare on mothers' parenting stress. Methods An online survey was conducted on 405 mothers with early children aged 3 to 5. Collected data were analyzed using Pearson Correlation Analysis, Simple Regression and Multiple Regression. Results Prior to analyses according to research questions, results of investigating relationship among parenting stress, parenting efficacy and fathers' involvement in child care revealed significant negative correlations. Results of analysis according to the first research question revealed that maternal parenting efficacy negatively influenced on parenting stress and difficulty of parenting role was more influential than confidence of parenting role regardless of sub-variables of parenting stress. And several specific behaviors which were relatively highly related to relief of maternal parenting stress were identified. Results of analysis according to the second research question revealed that fathers' involvement in child care negatively influenced on parenting stress and relative influence differ according to sub-variables of fathers' involvement in child care. And several specific parenting involvement behaviors which were relatively highly related to relief of maternal parenting stress were identified. Conclusions This study revealed that fathers' involvement differently influenced according to sub-variables of maternal parenting stress and identified specific parenting efficacy behaviors and fathers' involvement behaviors which were relatively highly related to maternal parenting stress. Therefore, it is necessary to consider these findings when preparing for measures to cope with parenting stress of mothers with early children.

Unintentional injury is the leading cause of death in young children. A previous study reported the protective effect of maternal parenting on young childhood injury; however, few studies have shown an association between paternal involvement in childcare and young childhood injury. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of paternal involvement in childcare to reduce the likelihood of childhood injury. A population-based birth cohort study in Japan (2001-02), the 'Longitudinal Survey of Babies Born in 21st Century', was used (n = 42 144). The impact of paternal involvement in childcare of 6-month-old infants (feeding, diaper change, bathing, putting the child to sleep, playing, taking a walk) on the incidence of young childhood injury (fall, near-drowning, accidental ingestion or burn) until 18 months of age was analysed by multiple logistic regression. Infants who received a high degree of paternal involvement in childcare at 6 months were less likely to suffer from all unintentional injuries at 18 months than those who received a low degree of paternal involvement in childcare (adjusted odds ratio 0.91, 95% confidence interval 0.85-0.98). Taking the child for a walk by the father strongly prevented all unintentional injuries, and there were dose-effect relationships (P(trend) < 0.001). Paternal involvement in childcare at 6 months of age prevented childhood injury at 18 months of age. Paternal involvement in childcare might be a useful indicator for predicting childhood injury.

In developed countries, the time fathers spend on childcare has increased steadily in recent decades. However, studies on the relationship between paternal care and child outcomes remain scarce. Thus, we examined the association between paternal involvement in childcare and children's developmental outcomes. We used Japan's largest birth cohort data, the Japan Environment and Children's Study, to examine the relationship between paternal involvement in childcare at the child's age of 6 months and developmental milestone outcomes at the child's age of 3 years (n = 28,050). Developmental delays were assessed with Ages and Stages Questionnaire. Potential mediation by maternal parenting stress at the child's age of 1.5 years was also examined. We used log-binomial regression analyses to estimate risk ratios. Fathers' high involvement in childcare was associated with a lower risk of developmental delay in gross-motor, fine-motor, problem solving, and personal-social domains compared with low involvement, adjusting for potential confounders. For example, the risk ratio with 95% confidence intervals was 0.76 [0.67, 0.86] for the gross-motor domain. We also observed that the associations were partially mediated by maternal parenting stress. Fathers' active involvement in childcare during infancy may promote young children's development, partially by reducing maternal parenting stress. Using Japan's largest birth cohort data (Japan Environment and Children's Study), we showed that paternal involvement in infant care might benefit young children's development. Fathers' active involvement in infant care was associated with a lower risk of developmental delays in gross-motor, fine-motor, problem solving, and personal-social domains. Maternal parenting stress may mediate the association between paternal involvement in infant care and child development outcomes at 3 years.

BackgroundPrevious studies have demonstrated that paternal involvement in childcare for infants up to 6 months of age can prevent injuries in children up to 18 months of age. However, the relationship after 18 months of age has not been clearly established. Therefore, this study investigated the association between paternal involvement in childcare at 6 months of age and injuries in children between birth and 4 years of age.MethodsThis study analysed data from 72,343 children and mothers who participated in the Japan Environment and Children’s Study (JECS). Seven items of paternal involvement in childcare at 6 months of age—indoor play, outdoor play, feeding the child, diaper changing, dressing, bathing, and putting the child to bed—were assessed using a 4-item Likert-type scale. The total score was calculated from the responses (0–21) and divided into three tertiles: low (0–11), middle (12–14), and high (15–21). Children were asked about trauma and burn injuries occurring from birth to 4 years of age. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).ResultsThe incidence of traumatic injury in children from birth to 4 years of age was 5.0%, and the incidence of burn injury was 4.0%. The association of trauma and burn with the risk of child injury by tertile of paternal involvement in childcare at 6 months of age showed a protective effect for trauma (P for trend = 0.013). Responses of ‘seldom’ ‘sometimes’, or ‘all the time’ to the items playing at home, playing outdoors, feeding, bathing, and putting the child to sleep were more likely to be associated with a lower risk of trauma in children compared with responses of ‘never’. There was no association between paternal involvement in childcare and burn injuries in children.ConclusionsPaternal involvement in childcare at 6 months of age was associated with a lower risk of trauma in children, and a protective effect against traumatic injuries was shown in 5 of the 7 items of paternal involvement in childcare.

Depression and anxiety are among the most common morbidities during the perinatal period. Very few studies have been conducted to examine the association between paternal childcare involvement and postpartum depression (PPD) and anxiety (PPA) in East Asian cultures. This study aims to examine the association between fathers’ involvement in childcare and mothers’ mental health and explores the potential mediating effects of the mother and child’s health among a national sample of Chinese women. This is a cross-sectional, self-administered online survey of maternal women (N = 778) within 1 year after childbirth in China. The questionnaire comprised of sociodemographics, fathers’ childcare involvement, child and mother’s physical health, and mothers’ postpartum mental health status. A path analysis model was constructed to examine the correlation between paternal childcare involvement and maternal depression and anxiety within 1-year postpartum. The mediating effect of the mother and child’s physical health was also explored in the model. Paternal involvement in childcare was significantly associated with lower PPD (β = − .36, p < 0.001) and PPA (β = − .29, p < 0.001) levels of mothers after covariates were adjusted. Furthermore, women’s physical health partially mediated the association between paternal involvement and PPD, and child’s health partially mediated the association between paternal involvement and PPA and PPD. Our findings emphasize the essential role of father’s childcare involvement and the need to promote culturally tailored intervention programs, which may improve the mental health status among Chinese postpartum mothers.

This study investigated the impact of solution-focused thinking on marital satisfaction via mediating roles of father involvement in childcare and marital conflict. A questionnaire survey was conducted among mothers with infants, living in Busan, Daegu and Yangsan, South Korea. Data from 264 mothers were analyzed using several multiple regression analyses and bootstrapping method with SPSS 25.0 and PROCESS macro (model 6) to test the serial double mediation model. The results of this study are as follows. First, mothers’ solution-focused thinking had a significant direct and indirect positive influence on marital satisfaction through both father involvement in childcare and marital conflict. Second, the sequential mediating effects of father involvement in childcare and marital conflict were statistically significant in the relationship between solution-focused thinking and marital satisfaction. The model accounted for 60% of the variance in mothers’ marital satisfaction. The results highlight the importance of solution-focused thinking that can enhance the marital satisfaction of mothers with infants and act as a resource for increasing father involvement in childcare and decreasing marital conflict. Based on the results, it is necessary to include solution-focused thinking, father involvement in childcare, and marital conflict as key elements in the intervention to improve marital satisfaction of mothers with infants.

A developmental ecological model was used to identify child attributes, father characteristics, and familial factors associated with multidimensional father involvement with preschool children enrolled in Head Start. The relations between father involvement and children's school readiness were also investigated. Eighty-five African American fathers and father figures were surveyed about their involvement in child care, home-based educational and school-based educational activities. Children's school readiness competencies were evaluated via teacher report or direct assessment. Father involvement in child care and home-based educational activities were predicted by different contextual factors and child attributes. Fathers were more involved in child care activities when they lived in a child's home and when a child was highly emotional. Fathers who perceived the existence of a strong parenting alliance reported more involvement in home-based educational activities. Father involvement in child care and home-based educational activities was associated with higher levels of children's emotion regulation. Findings are consistent with a contextual, multidimensional perspective of African American fathering and hold policy implications for fatherhood initiatives in the early childhood education field. Efforts to increase father involvement may be most effective when addressing the multitude of influences on fathering behavior and focusing on father-child activities that occur outside of the preschool setting.

BackgroundNo previous study reported an association of paternal involvement in childcare and housework with maternal physical punishment.MethodsUsing data from the Japanese Longitudinal Survey of Newborns in the 21st century (N = 38,554), we analyzed responses about fathers’ involvement in childcare and housework at 6 months and mothers’ spanking of children at 3.5 years. Fathers’ involvement in childcare and housework was scored and categorized into quartiles. Spanking frequency was asked in the “often”, “sometimes”, or “not at all” categories. Multivariable-adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the mothers’ often spanking children were computed for the fathers’ involvement in childcare and housework. We also stratified the association by fathers’ working hours (40–49, 50–59, or ≥60 hours/week).ResultsAmong the 16,373 respondents, the proportion of mothers who often spanked their children was 4.8%. Compared with the lowest quartile, a higher frequency of paternal involvement in housework was associated with a lower risk of spanking children (Ptrend = 0.001). Adjustment for covariates attenuated the association, but significant association was observed in the 3rd quartile of paternal involvement in housework (OR 0.77; 95% CI, 0.62–0.96). When the fathers worked fewer than 50 hours a week, a significant negative association was observed between the fathers’ frequency of childcare and the likeliness of the mothers’ spanking their children (Ptrend = 0.02).ConclusionThe fathers’ active involvement in childcare and housework could reduce the mothers’ physical punishment for their children.

This study analyses paternal involvement in the daily basic childcare of Italian cohabiting and married fathers with children aged 0–3. The aims are (a) to verify whether cohabiting fathers are more or less involved in childcare than married ones are and (b) to examine the mechanisms behind the possible differences. The focus is on both the daily basic childcare as a whole and on the specific activities of daily basic care (such as putting the child to sleep, dressing the child and changing its nappies). In addition, also potential differences among married fathers are examined, distinguishing between those who marry directly and those with pre-marital cohabitation. Results show that a higher involvement in the daily basic childcare of cohabiting fathers and of married fathers with pre-marital cohabitation may be completely explained by the fact that these typologies of couples are selected by structural differences which are positively associated with the higher fathers’ basic childcare.