Father-child Relationship Research Articles

CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF DIVORCE AMONG HAUSA COMMUNITY OF SOKOTO STATE

The aim of this study is to examine the Causes and Consequences of Divorce among Hausa Community of Sokoto State. Every society in the history of man has upheld the institution of marriage as a bond between a man and a woman, and is seen as the basis for the establishment of the family, it could be in the form of arrangement by relatives, but the most common form of marriage is that which involves the payment of “Bride-Price”. The general objective of this research is to find out the implication of divorce among Hausa of Sokoto State. However, the research specifically, aimed at determining the causes and Consequences of divorce among Hausas in the study area, as well as assessing the implications of divorce among Hausas in the study area. Based on the research findings, there are several factors associated with divorce among the Hausa community of Sokoto State, such as Criminal and non-Criminal Social Problems, differences in priority between husband and self-interpretative issue, which a lot of husbands and wives discuss and anticipate prior to the marriage contract. The qualitative method was adapted for the study. From all the respondent, majority peoples of 66 (57.9%) respondents believe in divorce affect the academic performance of children, another larger percentage (42.1%) of the respondents although lesser than those who believe this in accordance with Bascon and Hersksvits (1990), argued that the implication of this tendency is that the father-child relationship assumes a greater emphasis in society than the mother-child relationship. The Causes of divorce among Hausa people of Rijiya Area Sokoto State. Majority of the respondents believe that Lack of proper upbringing leads to divorce with 35 (30.4%) respondent who strongly agreed to this fact while a larger percentage (48.7%) of the respondents agreed. However, unanticipated matters at times do become a major problem for many marriages.

The role of fathers in children's emotion regulation development: A systematic review

AbstractThis systematic review summarizes the results of 43 studies that explored the potential role of fathers in emotion regulation (ER) development in children. Following a tripartite model, this review investigates the paternal modelling of ER strategies, emotion‐related paternal parenting practices, father–child emotional climate, and fathers' characteristics, by identifying 16 specific themes of paternal factors that could play a role in the child's ER development. Results show that while a large number of studies investigated father–child emotional climate and fathers' characteristics and their association with children's ER, the effects of paternal modelling and the father's emotion‐related parenting practices on children's ER are still understudied. This review reveals that several factors—fathers' modelling of ER strategies; positive reactions and support in responding to their child's expression of emotions; better quality of the father–child relationship; higher father–child attachment security; and positive parenting in terms of sensitivity, engagement, and expressiveness—had significant associations with children's higher ER skills. Conversely, fathers' psychopathology and harsh parenting were associated with poorer ER skills in children.Highlights This study summarized existing literature that explored the association between paternal factors and ER in children. The review showed some evidence supporting the paternal role in children's ER development. Fathers' role in the development of child's ER is most prominent in infancy and toddlerhood. Most paternal factors significantly associated with a child's ER reflected previous findings examining maternal factors.

Getting in touch. Helping parents and new-born babies to connect in the NICU

ABSTRACT About 15 million premature babies are born every year; more than a million preterm babies die, while among those who survive many may have disabilities. The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) becomes a meeting place between life and death. The preterm birth brings with it painful experiences which arouse feelings of guilt, fear of death and the need to mourn the idealised baby. The risk of serious consequences on the mother-child and father-child relationship and on the new-born's psychological and emotional development is a real danger which requires interventions. This paper uses illustrations from work with premature babies and their parents, to describe their dramatic experiences in NICU and the support work offered them, following a psychoanalytic observational model. In this model, active listening to the parents' experiences, as well as observing their baby with them, enables the workers to help the parents who have become parents much earlier than anticipated or wished-for. The workers listen, take in what they see and hear and hope slowly to transform the painful experiences of parents and baby. The work often begins with workers sand parents sharing observation of the new-born. The workers have all observed babies following the teaching of Esther Bick.

Young father-child relationship pattern and nutrition status among under-five children in Jember Regency, Indonesia

The younger age of fathers will affect the pattern of relationship between fathers and their children, particularly in terms of nutrition provision of children under five years. The objective of this study was to identify and measure the correlation between the pattern of relationship between fathers and their children and nutritional status in Jember Regency of Indonesia. A cross-sectional study was conducted from September to December 2019. The participants were 39 young fathers aged 17-19 years who have an infant aged 0-5 years. They were recruited using total sampling technique. Respondents’ characteristics and child-parent relationships were measured using a questionnaire. The Chi-square test was used to analyze the data. Among the 39 young fathers, the young father and children relationship was high (56.4%). Meanwhile, the nutritional status of children was good (48.7%). Furthermore, there was a significant correlation between the pattern of father-child relationship and nutritional status among the children (χ2= 11.83; p<0.001). The higher the pattern of father-child relationship, the better was the nutrition of the children (OR= 12.0; 95% CI= 2.5-57.4). The father-child relationship pattern is related to children’s nutritional status. Therefore, the fatherchild relationship should be well-maintained to fulfill the nutrition needs of under-five children.

Preterm birth and expressive language development across the first 5 years of life: A nationally-representative longitudinal path analysis

Multiple factors including the child's non-linguistic characteristics and caregiving environment can affect language development. Since preterm birth (<37 weeks’ gestation) can negatively affect language development, this study used path analysis to investigate whether the influence of preterm birth on expressive language development at 3 and 5 years of age is mediated by a child's non-linguistic characteristics (temperament and cognitive, motor, and social-personal abilities), caregiving environment (maternal and paternal stress and depression, mother-child and father-child relationship quality), and interactions between these domains. These analyses were conducted using three waves of data (ages: 9 months, 3 years, 5 years) on 8,712 children (4,300 female; 535 preterm) from a nationally-representative longitudinal study in Ireland. Preterm birth was indirectly (but not directly) associated with expressive language at 3 years of age via cognitive and social-personal abilities (but not motor abilities, mother-child relationship quality, or father-child relationship quality) at 9 months. There was no direct or indirect effect of preterm birth on expressive language at 5 years of age. Preterm birth negatively affected mother-child and father-child relationship quality at 3 years via fussy-difficult temperament and mother's/father's stress (but not depression) at 9 months. These findings are discussed with reference to international standards for neonatal care, including the need for long-term developmental monitoring of children born preterm by multidisciplinary healthcare teams, alongside parental supports promoting mental health and confidence in caregiving tasks. Future study recommendations are made to expand the tested models in line with family systems perspectives.

The influence of parents’ educational background on parent-child relationship

This paper illustrates the extent of how education background of parents could affect the relationship between children and parents. The inculcate in children is an essential factor that influences the relationship between children and parents. A strict education method may cause a harsh relationship between a child and his parents, while encouraging education is often beneficial for improving parent-child relationships. Children ‘ s education is decided by the education background of parents, as parents with different education backgrounds would educate child differently. Typically, parents who are well-educated perform better in educating children through a reasonable way. The data in this essay were collected through promoting questionnaires on social media, which uses parent-child sub-scale as the basic questionnaire. What’s more, other evidence from previous researches were also used as a reference to guarantee authenticity. This study assumes that high educated parents can build a better parent-child relationship. Correlation analysis shows that significant positive correlation exists between fathers education background and positive father-child relationship, which is also the same for mothers education background and positive mother-child relationship. Furthermore, non-parametric tests also justifies that the education background of a mother shows a significant positive father-child relationship. These all demonstrates the fact that the more educated the parents are, the better parent-child relationship will be.

The mediating role of cognitive and metacognitive strategies in the relationship between perception of parent-child relationship and test anxiety in girls

Aim: Exam anxiety is a type of anxiety related to the situation and is experienced as an unpleasant experience and hinders the growth and academic progress of the student. Therefore, it is very important to identify the factors that can prevent exam anxiety. The aim of the present study was to determine the mediating role of cognitive and metacognitive strategies in the relationship between parent-child relationship perception and test anxiety. Methods: The research method was descriptive-correlational type. The statistical population of this research included all the female students of the second secondary school in Tehran in the academic year 2018-19, of which 330 were selected using the multi-stage cluster random sampling method. The research tools include parent-child relationship questionnaire; Sarason et al.'s test anxiety scale (1956) and Dawson and McInnery's (2004) cognitive and metacognitive strategies questionnaire. The structural equation modeling method was used to analyze the data. Results: The findings of the research showed that the perception of the father-child relationship (P=0.001, β=-0.120) and the perception of the mother-child relationship (P=0.001, β=-0.161) are indirectly related to exam anxiety. Conclusion: It can be concluded that cognitive and metacognitive strategies play a mediating role in the relationship between the perception of parent-child relationship and test anxiety in girls

An investigation of family factors that predict smoking among high school adolescents

ABSTRACT Background In the last few decades, numerous studies and review papers have examined a wide range of potential risk factors in an attempt to understand adolescent smoking. In the majority of those studies, family is often regarded as an important element in the life of an adolescent. Method The authors investigated whether family factors such as child–parent relationship and parental educational level are predictors of adolescent smoking status in three school types using archival data. Both Spearman correlation and Chi-square test of independence were used to examine the relationships. Results In viewing all the school types as one, the result showed that at (rho = .148, n = 751, p < 0.05), a significant positive relationship existed between child-father relationship and adolescent smoking but not with child–mother relationship. However, in controlling for school types, the Chi-square test of independence revealed (Imam Hatip high school (X2(8) = 7.121, p > 0.05), Anadolu high school (X2(8) = 12.423, p > 0.05) and Vocational high school (X2(8) = 17.744, p < 0.05) a relationship between child–mother relationship and adolescent in Vocational high school. As to whether the influence of child–father relationship on adolescent smoking differed in terms of school types, result suggested a relationship existed in all the three school types (Imam Hatip high school (X2(8) = 30.965, p < 0.05), Anadolu high school (X2(8) = 21.241, p < 0.05), and Vocational high school (X2(8) = 30.804, p < 0.05).

Fatherhood, Behavioral Health, and Criminal Legal System Contact over the Life Course.

Life course theories suggest that fathers' lifetime criminal legal system contact could contribute to poor parent-child outcomes via deterioration in couple relationship quality and fathers' behavioral health. Using paired, longitudinal data from the Multi-site Family Study (N = 1,112 couples), the current study examines the influence of three dimensions of fathers' life course legal system contact on individual and parent-child outcomes. In fitted models, accumulated system contact in adulthood predicts fathers' later depressive symptoms and drug misuse, which in turn predict diminished father-child relationship quality (as reported by both co-parents). Fathers who were older at the time of their first arrest had poorer relationships with their children's mothers and, in turn, poorer behavioral health and parent-child outcomes. Conditions of confinement during fathers' most recent prison stay do not significantly predict later parent-child outcomes, net of the influence of age at first arrest and accumulated criminal legal system contact in adulthood.

The Associations between Father Involvement and Father-Daughter Relationship Quality on Girls' Experience of Social Bullying Victimization.

With much research into physical, cyber, and verbal bullying victimization, social bullying victimization is a type of victimization that can be hidden. Studies about Black father involvement have found involvement to be a buffer to adverse and risky behaviors of children, including different forms of victimization experienced by their daughters. This study examined one gap in the literature: the direct and potentially indirect associations between father involvement and father-child relationship quality on child reports of social bullying victimization among girls. The cross-sectional sample of 368 Black fathers and their daughters was sourced from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing study. Data from wave 5 were selected for the child (age 9) and father because social bullying victimization was first measured at this time point. Logistic regression analysis findings showed father involvement was associated with lower social bullying victimization. In addition, talking and sharing ideas quite well rather than extremely well with their fathers was associated with higher odds of social bullying victimization. Father-daughter relationship quality did not mediate the father involvement and social bullying victimization relationship. Findings provide additional support to include fathers, particularly Black fathers, in intervention/prevention efforts and the importance of increasing awareness and benefits of father involvement in subtle forms of victimization such as social bullying victimization among Black families.

A multidimensional measure of father involvement following parental separation

AbstractObjectiveThe aim of this study is to partially validate the Father's Relative Involvement Postseparation scale (FRIPS).BackgroundSeparated fathers have time and accessibility constraints to their children. To date, models and measures used to study separated fathers' parental involvement have often focused on the amount of time they spend with their child, not considering how they are involved. Pleck's (2010) model of father involvement and the “Who does what” measure type may be relevant in this regard.MethodThis study is based on a representative sample of 656 fathers living in Quebec, Canada, who separated between 2016 and 2018 and who have at least one child under 14 years of age.ResultsConfirmatory factor analysis showed that a second‐order model, including positive involvement activities, indirect care, and decision‐making factors, fits the data well. Convergent and divergent validity is demonstrated with custody time, father–child relationship quality and the father's perceived parental competence. Multigroup analysis showed that the FRIPS scale can be used with confidence regardless of the child's gender and age.ConclusionThe FRIPS is valid for assessing separated fathers' involvement.ImplicationsThis measure can be used to assess separated fathers' involvement, inclusive of nonresident, shared, and sole custody fathers.

Associations between parental mediation and adolescents' internet addiction: The role of parent-child relationship and adolescents' grades.

Family factors, such as parental mediation on Internet use and parent-child relationships, have been shown to play a crucial role in preventing adolescents' internet addiction. Previous studies have shown a change in characteristics of online risk during adolescents' development. However, it is still of great interest whether such differences applied in the relationships among parent-child relationships, different types of parental mediation and adolescents' internet addiction level. In this study, we investigated the associations between different types of parental mediators and adolescents' internet addiction level and how the associations were mediated by father-child and mother-child relationships. We further investigated whether mediating effect differs between primary and secondary school children. Based on a sample of 3,026 school children aged 9-14 years (M = 11.56, SD = 0.71; 55.25% primary school adolescents, 44.75% secondary school adolescents), a series of Structural Equation Models were applied to investigate the relationships among internet addiction, parental mediation, and parent-child relationship. In addition, a series of multi-group analysis were applied to detect whether there are differences in these relationships between the primary and secondary school group. The internet addiction level and intensity of parental mediation was higher among primary school adolescents than secondary school adolescents. Parental active mediation and monitoring on internet use were associated with reduced and increased adolescents' internet addiction. Father-child relationship had stronger partial mediating effects on the relationships between parental mediation and adolescents' internet addiction than the mother-child relationship. The relationships among parental mediation, parent-child relationship and internet addiction were more pronounced among primary school adolescents than secondary school adolescents. The findings suggest that good father-child relationships and adequate parental mediation approach, such as active mediation, may contribute to reduction of internet addiction risk in adolescents, especially in primary school adolescents.

Paternal Closeness in Adolescence: The Association of Sports and Gender

Recent research suggests positive associations between shared recreational activities and father–child relationships for young children. We extend these ideas to adolescents and to recreational activities in which the father’s participation might be limited to audience membership. We use the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health to evaluate whether an association exists between adolescent sports participation and paternal relationships, focusing on the adolescent’s perspective, and whether these associations differ for boys and girls. Findings show positive associations between sports participation and closer relationships between fathers and adolescents. Sports participation was more important for boys’ relationships with fathers than girls’. We discuss our findings in terms of contemporary shifts in gendered norms and conclude that gender may remain salient in how sport participation can promote father–child relationships.

Father–Toddler Bonding during the COVID-19 Lockdown: Qualitative Insights from 17 Families in Britain

The UK lockdowns brought about many domestic changes. One was that many families with young children found themselves in the largely unique situation where fathers who normally worked away and saw little of their children during the day were now at home full-time. This was coupled with the fact that grandparents were now unavailable as lockdown rules prohibited visits and travel and many elderly were especially vulnerable. This study aimed to explore how this novel family situation was regarded by parents of young children and how they thought it would affect their children’s social development. Thematic analysis of interviews with 24 mothers and fathers of toddlers revealed that most parents did not think that the lockdown negatively impacted their child’s development, although they worried about it nonetheless. Having fathers at home was overwhelmingly seen as a positive for both the dad’s attachment to the toddler and the toddler’s attachment to their dad. The narrative around grandparents was more divided; there was an almost even split between parents thinking grandparental absence had a negative impact on the grandparent–child relationship and those who thought it made no difference. This study provides qualitative insight into an unusual domestic situation suggesting that parents felt father-child bonds were strengthened by the lockdown, although it remains to be seen if father-child relationships are improved long-term.

Paternity leave, family dynamics, and children's behavior in Singapore

AbstractObjectiveConduct the first empirical study to examine whether a father taking paternity leave is related to children's social–emotional development in Asia and the extent to which family dynamics mediate this relationship.BackgroundThe provision of paid paternity leave in Asia is relatively recent compared to many western societies. The impact of this policy on family dynamics and children's well‐being in Asia, where patriarchal ideology is more prevalent and women's labor force participation is high, is understudied. This study investigates this relationship in Singapore where government‐paid paternity leave was initiated in 2013.MethodThis study uses data from the Singapore Longitudinal Early Development Study which consists of 3895 children aged under 7. Multivariate regressions and propensity score matching analyses are conducted to assess the relationships between paternity leave‐taking, family dynamics, and children's behavioral outcomes. The KHB method is used to test the mediation effects of family dynamics.ResultsA 2‐week or longer paternity leave is significantly associated with lower family conflicts, mothers' parenting aggravation, higher marital satisfaction, fathers' involvement, and closer father–child relations. Paternity leave‐taking, mediated through positive family dynamics, is significantly associated with lower behavior problems in children.ConclusionRelatively short paternity leave (2 weeks) can benefit both family dynamics and children's social–emotional outcomes. These results have implications for policies that aim to enhance work‐family life balance and gender equality in society.

THE BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE ON THE ROLES OF FATHERS IN CHILDREN’S UPBRINGING

The study is a conceptual investigation of the biblical ideas that address and support the fatherly role in children’s upbringing both spiritual development and at-home training. The information was acquired using a biblical lexicon, commentaries, the internet, journals and other sources that discuss at-home instruction on children's spiritual development. The primary claim of responsibility for children’s upbringing belongs to the parents. The father’s involvement has huge implications on their children in terms of cognitive, social and emotional developmental abilities and a decrease in negative behavioural outcomes. The study exposed the fathers to the reputation of raising their children in the way of the Lord. It was deduced that God holds parents responsible for the teaching and upbringing of their children. The father-child relationship quality plays an active role in organizing family life and also strengthens the relationship with the children’s upbringing. It was recommended that Christian fathers should be educated about their role and responsibilities in children’s upbringing, live an exemplary life for their children and disengage from using abusive words or curses on their children.

The Pandemic Period and the Parent-Child Relationship

The aim of this study is to investigate parents’ relationships with their children during the pandemic period. The study is a qualitative research study and was conducted with a case study design. The study group of this research consisted of 19 parents. The study group was selected using the criterion sampling method of purposive sampling. The criteria specified in this research were that parents should have a child attending preschool and at least a secondary school level of education. The research data were gathered during the 2019-2020 academic year via interviews conducted with parents having at least one child who was still receiving preschool education, using a semi-structured interview form. The study variables were age, occupation, education level, number of children, and cohabitation status of the parents. The data obtained from the interviews were analysed using the content analysis method. Accordingly, the researcher aimed to assess, through content analysis, the reasons for directly unobservable or non-quantifiable behaviours of the parents by conducting interviews. The research findings revealed that the positive aspects of the parent-child relationship during the pandemic were stated to be spending time together, sharing, doing activities, and communication, while the negative aspects were reported as social isolation, domestic conflicts, and mobile phone addiction. Changes in the mother-child relationship during the pandemic were revealed to be related to knowing each other, spending time together, conflicts, and obeying rules, while in terms of the father-child relationship, changes were seen in communication, doing activities and sense of responsibility. While participants evaluated domestic relationships positively with regard to being together, being supportive and positive communication, they regarded them negatively in terms of conflicts, communication problems and boredom. Lastly, participants stated that educational activities, playing games, watching educational videos and preparing food were the activities on which the most time was spent.

Disentangling the Long-term Effects of Divorce Circumstances on Father–Child Closeness in Adulthood: A Mediation Analysis

Many studies have shown that the relationship between nonresidential fathers and their children in youth has a lasting influence on their relationship in adulthood. Comparatively less is known about the process through which divorce affects father–child relationships. We assess if and how the divorce circumstances of interparental conflict, the presence of new partners, and geographical distance between parents affect nonresidential father–child closeness in adulthood. Using a path model, we test whether father–adult child closeness is mediated by fathers’ involvement after divorce. The results of this study demonstrate that the level of interparental conflict and the presence of a fathers’ new partner after the divorce negatively affect the closeness between fathers and children in adulthood. Our mediation analysis demonstrates that both the effects of interparental conflict and new partnerships on closeness are partially mediated by father involvement and contact frequency during childhood. In other words, it is partly through the negative effect that interparental conflict and new partners have on fathers’ involvement that fathers and children become less close later in life. Our study highlights the importance of disentangling the effects of different factors associated with divorce when examining nonresidential father–child relationships.

Explaining the long reach of prenatal behaviors and attitudes in unmarried men at birth on father engagement in early and middle childhood and adolescence.

The current study examined three research questions: (a) Are unmarried at birth fathers' prenatal and birth-related behavioral, attitudinal, and identity adjustments directly related to father engagement in child-related activities during early childhood and father-child closeness in middle childhood and adolescence? (b) Do father engagement in child-related activities during early childhood, coresidence, and coparenting at age 5 mediate the association between unmarried fathers' prenatal and birth-related variables and father-child relationship in middle childhood and adolescence? (c) Do father-child closeness, coresidence, and coparenting in middle childhood mediate the association between fathers' prenatal and birth-related variables and father-child relationship during adolescence? Using a subsample of Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing data (N = 2,647), we found support for our hypotheses that fathers' prenatal and birth-related variables significantly predicted father-child engagement during early childhood and father-child closeness during middle childhood and adolescence, although not all prenatal and birth-related variables are related to outcomes during each stage of childhood development. Father involvement and coparenting cooperation significantly mediated the associations among fathers' prenatal and birth-related variables and father-child closeness at ages 9 and 15. Our findings indicate that researchers, practitioners, and policymakers should take advantage of the prenatal period and direct resources to facilitate and strengthen prospective unmarried fathers' early relationships with their partners and children. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

66.3 Fatherhood in Korea: A Key to Understand Korean Immigrant Fathers

Fatherhood in Korea has evolved over time. Knowing its cultural contexts may help mental health clinicians to better understand Korean father-child relationships. The objectives of this presentation are to: 1) discuss the evolving role of fathers in Korea and its historical background; 2) understand factors associated with positive father-child bonding in Korea; and 3) learn how to support the father-child bonding in Korean immigrant households.