Fathers Of Children Research Articles

Individual Psychology in 2023

Individual Psychology in 2023 Jon Sperry and Len Sperry We are most pleased to share this open issue with you. This issue consists of five noteworthy articles that offer clinical and theoretical applications of Individual Psychology. These editors' notes were written during an unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. As the war rages on, many of our Adlerian colleagues have embodied the spirit of social interest by housing Ukrainian refugees, offering counseling services to Ukrainians in need of mental health services, and donating funds for various essential items. We are hopeful that the Adlerian community will continue to find ways to support and contribute to those experiencing unnecessary suffering and who are geographically displaced by this war. This issue begins with an article titled "Freud's Disavowal of Adler and Adler's Subsequent Influence on Psychoanalytic Thought," by Richard Watts, Noah Thorne, and Marina Bluvshtein. This article is particularly meaningful, as its original version was written by Richard Watts while he was a doctoral student. He informed us that this will be his last publication because of his current health status. As editors, we are beyond grateful to Richard for his various articles, conference presentations, and other contributions to this theory. The next article, by Shantell A. Johnson, Natalie Noble, Lily Slavin, and Timothy Hartshorne, offers a wonderful contribution to the CHARGE and Individual Psychology literature in "Fathers and CHARGE Syndrome: Impact on the Life Tasks." The authors present their study that examined how 93 fathers of children with CHARGE syndrome experience the life tasks. They examined the challenges and resiliency of the fathers faced with parenting a child with this rare genetic condition. Len Sperry's article, "Adlerian Case Conceptualization and Therapy: The Pattern-Focused Approach," compares his pattern-focused case conceptualization and psychotherapy approach to the more common way in which Adlerian therapy is conceptualized and practiced. Described are the [End Page 423] clinical value, indications and counterindications, and the evidence base of this new approach. Then case material illustrates similarities and differences between the approaches. Calvin Armerding presents a timely article, "Contemptuous Political Partisanship: An Adlerian Conceptualization and Call to Action." The increasing ideological polarization in the United States and around the globe makes political compromise or cooperation seem almost impossible. Armerding conceptualizes this sociopolitical trend with an Adlerian framework and also proposes that Adlerians must model healthy political engagement by engaging in Gemeinschaftsgefühl in political discourse with one another and their respective communities. The final article, by Philip Davis, an internal medicine physician, reviews an article written by Rudolf Dreikurs in 1934 that highlighted the mind–body connection for a patient with gastrointestinal symptoms and psychological symptoms. Davis's article, "Rudolf Dreikurs Speaking Truth Across the Ages," identifies the present-day relevance of Dreikurs's original article in his daily practice, particularly with patients experiencing gastrointestinal symptoms. [End Page 424] Copyright © 2022 University of Texas Press

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.

Parental Burden and Quality of Life in 5q-SMA Diagnosed by Newborn Screening.

The aim of this study was to assess the psychosocial burden in parents of children with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), detected by newborn screening (NBS), for which first pilot projects started in January 2018 in Germany. The survey, performed 1-2 years after children's diagnosis of SMA via NBS, included 3 parent-related questionnaires to evaluate the psychosocial burden, quality of life (QoL)/satisfaction and work productivity and activity impairment in the families. 42/44 families, detected between January 2018 and February 2020, could be investigated. Interestingly, statistical analysis revealed a significant difference between families with children that received SMN-targeted therapy vs. children with a wait-and-see strategy as to social burden (p = 0.016) and personal strain/worries about the future (p = 0.02). However, the evaluation of QoL showed no significant differences between treated vs. untreated children. Fathers of treated children felt more negative impact regarding their productivities at work (p = 0.005) and more negative effects on daily activities (p = 0.022) than fathers of untreated children. Thus, NBS in SMA has a psychosocial impact on families, not only in terms of diagnosis but especially in terms of treatment, and triggers concerns about the future, emphasizing the need for comprehensive multidisciplinary care. Understanding the parents' perspective allows genetic counselors and NBS programs to proactively develop a care plan for parents during the challenging time of uncertainty, anxiety, frustration, and fear of the unknown.

Stress, Eating Behavior and Adverse Health in Parents of Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Mothers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often experience chronic stress and are at risk for adverse health. However, little is known about fathers, especially when their child is in early childhood. Parenting stress, eating behavior and physical health was evaluated in mothers (n = 48) and fathers (n = 43) of young children (3–7 years) with ASD by questionnaires and physical measurements. Mother’s prevalence rates of obesity (39.1%), abdominal obesity (59.6%) and metabolic syndrome (21.6%) were higher than the norm. In fathers, the prevalence rate of clinical parenting stress (33%) was higher than the norm. Parenting stress was positively related to disinhibited eating in mothers, not in fathers. It is crucial to monitor stress and health of parents of children with ASD.

Birth defects associated with paternal firefighting in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study.

Few studies have evaluated birth defects among children of firefighters. We investigated associations between birth defects and paternal work as a firefighter compared to work in non-firefighting and police officer occupations. We analyzed 1997-2011 data from the multi-site case-control National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Cases included fetuses or infants with major structural birth defects and controls included a random sample of live-born infants without major birth defects. Mothers of infants self-reported information about parents' occupations held during pregnancy. We investigated associations between paternal firefighting and birth defect groups using logistic regression to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Referent groups included families reporting fathers working non-firefighting and police officer jobs. Occupational groups included 227 firefighters, 36,285 non-firefighters, and 433 police officers. Twenty-nine birth defects were analyzed. In adjusted analyses, fathers of children with total anomalous pulmonary venous return (TAPVR;OR = 3.1; 95% CI = 1.1-8.7), cleft palate (OR = 1.8; 95% CI = 1.0-3.3), cleft lip (OR = 2.2; 95% CI = 1.2-4.2), and transverse limb deficiency (OR = 2.2; 95% CI = 1.1-4.7) were more likely than fathers of controls to be firefighters, versus non-firefighters. In police-referent analyses, fathers of children with cleft palate were 2.4 times more likely to be firefighters than fathers of controls (95% CI = 1.1-5.4). Paternal firefighting may be associated with an elevated risk of birth defects in offspring. Additional studies are warranted to replicate these findings. Further research may contribute to a greater understanding of the reproductive health of firefighters and their families for guiding workplace practices.

Emotional and Financial Challenges of Raising Children with Autism: The Experience of Fathers in Malaysia

This study explored the emotional and financial challenges faced by fathers in Malaysia when raising and managing children with autism. This qualitative study adopted a phenomenological research design and involved a total of seven fathers in Kedah, Malaysia. The sampling method used in this study was purposive sampling. This study used the interview method entirely as the data collection approach. Meanwhile, semi-structured interviews were conducted to obtain data from participants. The results showed that the fathers of children with autism faced numerous emotional and financial challenges in handling children with special needs. The findings provide more direction and insights for future research to study and explore various aspects of parenting children or individuals with autism. The outcomes also make it necessary for the relevant authorities to enhance the facilities and provision for better management of these children.

Self-compassion Intervention for Parents of Children with Developmental Disabilities: A Feasibility Study.

Parents of children with developmental disabilities (DDs) experience greater psychological distress (e.g., stress and depression) compared to parents of children without DDs. Self-compassion (i.e., responding with compassion to oneself during times of stress and difficulty) is associated with greater self-care as well as lower levels of stress, depression, and internalized stigma among parents of children with DDs. In this study, we tested the feasibility of a 4-week brief, asynchronous, online intervention targeting self-compassion among parents of children with DDs. Participants were fifty parents (48 mothers; 2 fathers) of children with DDs. Participants' ages ranged from 25 to 62years (M = 42.1years, SD = 7.9years), and 88% of participants had one child with a DD, and the remaining parents had two or more children with DDs. Child diagnoses included Down syndrome, autism spectrum disorder, and intellectual disability. Feasibility was assessed in five domains (i.e., acceptability, demand, implementation, practicability, and limited efficacy) using a combination of self-report measures, qualitative feedback, and data on attrition. Most parents (84%) completed ≥ 3 modules, and 74% completed all four modules. Almost all parents (> 90%) reported that they would recommend the intervention to others. Paired-samples t-tests demonstrated significant pre-intervention to post-intervention increases in self-compassion and well-being, and significantreductions in parent depression and stress. Overall, data support feasibility of the 4-week intervention targeting parent self-compassion and provide preliminary efficacy data that need to be followed up in a larger randomized control trial.

A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Paternal Intimacy Problems, Stress Levels, and Satisfaction from Families with Children Born with Mucoviscidosis.

There is an increasing interest in father-child interactions and their effects. Due to the rising number of working mothers, marital interruptions, divorces, and child custody arrangements, paternal duties and the relevance of fathering continue to be re-evaluated. As there are rising expectations for men to undertake more childcare and household responsibilities, it was hypothesized that the presence of a disabled or chronically ill child would have a significant impact on the couple's future family situation, marital conduct due to paternal dissatisfaction, and increased stress levels. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine paternal intimacy problems, stress levels, and couple satisfaction inside families that have children with cystic fibrosis. The study followed a cross-sectional design with five questionnaires that were answered by a total of 107 fathers of children with cystic fibrosis from the "cases" group as the reference group, and 124 fathers of healthy children from the "control" group. The statistically significant findings of the current study show that men who were taking care of their child with mucoviscidosis engaged less frequently in sexual activity. A significantly higher number of these respondents were smokers. A higher proportion of them reported marital distress (OR = 2.54) and inhibited sexual desire (OR = 2.02), all in association with a higher number of men taking psychiatric medication (7.5% vs. 1.6%). More than 40% of all respondents declared high levels of general stress and parenting distress, while the most frequently used coping mechanism for stress was avoidance-oriented (45.8% vs. 25.8%). Other important findings were the high levels of dissatisfaction and lower levels of marital quality on the SII scale, equivalent to the intimacy problems on the MIQ scale. It is likely that paternal stress is higher when parenting children with cystic fibrosis, and the lack of intervention in this vulnerable group seem to be associated with intimacy problems, couple dissatisfaction, and maladaptive coping mechanisms. It is recommended that these concerns should not only be raised for the mothers of children with mucoviscidosis, but also for the child's father or the male caretaker partner since they might experience the same problems as the opposite gender.

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.

Magnitude of husbands’ involvement in skilled birth attendant service utilization in Deder town, Oromiya, Ethiopia

BackgroundHusbands’ involvement strategies are employed to support their wives to access care, address the influence of gender inequality on maternal and newborn health, and promote husbands’ positive involvement as fathers. Yet, evidence of the husbands’ involvement in skilled birth attendant service utilization in Ethiopia is scarce, which limits the facility to improve institutional delivery services. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the magnitude of husbands’ involvement in skilled birth attendant service utilization among fathers of children of less than one year in Deder town, Oromiya, Ethiopia.MethodsA community-based cross-sectional study was conducted using a structured questionnaire among 399 fathers selected by a simple random sampling technique. Data were collected through face-to-face interview from March 24 to April 20, 2021. Data entry was done by Epi-data version-4.2 and analyzed with SPSS version-21. Descriptive statistics used frequency, mean and median and presented by tables and figures. The level of significance was set at p-value ≤0.05 for multivariable logistic regression and an adjusted odds ratio with a 95% confidence interval was used to measure the degree of statistical significance of dependent and independent variables.ResultThe prevalence of husbands’ involvement in skilled birth attendant service utilization was 84.2%. The age group of 25 to 29 years (AOR = 2.63, CI: 1.124–6.142), prior knowledge of skilled-delivery attendants (AOR = 2.75, CI: 1.456–5.205) and good attitude towards skilled birth attendants (AOR =2.46, CI: 1.227–4.948) were statistically significant determinants of husbands’ involvement in skilled birth attendants service utilization.Conclusion and recommendationThis study revealed that the husbands’ involvement in skilled birth attendants was high. Age, level of knowledge and attitude were the significant determinants of husbands’ involvement in promoting skilled-delivery attendants. Therefore, improving husbands’ level of knowledge and attitude towards skilled birth attendants is needed.

Is Parental Mathematics Anxiety Associated with Young Children’s Arithmetical Performance?

It has been suggested that parental mathematics anxiety may influence their children’s mathematics anxiety, attitudes, and performance. It remains an open question whether these parent-child associations differ by parental sex or parental involvement. We tested 249 Dutch-speaking Belgian participants, forming 83 (biological) mother–father–child trios. The 83 children (age: M = 5.74; SD = 0.30) attended Kindergarten. We tested their nonsymbolic comparison, symbolic numerical magnitude processing, numeral recognition, arithmetic, and matrix reasoning. We assessed both parents’ arithmetic skills, math anxiety, educational level, and division of care. More math-anxious parents tended to be less highly educated (r~0.42) and poorer at math (r~0.30). Compared to fathers, mothers had lower arithmetic, higher math anxiety, and higher educational level. Assortative mating (i.e., a significant spousal correlation) was found for educational level and arithmetic. Mothers’ (but not fathers’) educational level predicted children’s arithmetic scores (r = 0.31). Other parent-offspring correlations were non-significant. Most of the children’s test scores are intercorrelated. The parental characteristic that best predicted five- and six-year-olds’ arithmetic performance was maternal educational level rather than mathematical anxiety or performance. We discuss these findings in relation to the used measures, parental gender and involvement, children’s age, statistical power, and genetic and environmental transmission. The field is just starting to understand whether and how mathematics anxiety and the skills of parents influence those of their offspring.

Is helicopter parenting related to college students’ mental health? A typological and cross‐cultural approach

AbstractObjectiveThe goal of this study is to uncover latent classes of maternal and paternal helicopter parenting among American and Chinese college students, and to examine whether latent classes of maternal and paternal helicopter parenting are related to college students’ mental health (depression and self‐esteem).BackgroundPrevious studies have examined the association between helicopter parenting and college students’ well‐being. However, less is known about how the multidimensional construct of helicopter parenting is related to college students’ mental health across Western and Eastern cultural contexts.MethodWe conducted three‐step latent class analyses using nine helicopter parenting indicators for 1,386 mother–child and 1,214 father–child groups in the United States and 520 mother–child and 454 father–child groups in China. Next, we tested the association between the class membership of maternal and paternal helicopter parenting and college students’ mental health.ResultsWe identified distinct helicopter parenting latent classes among four American and Chinese parent–child groups. We also found that American college students in the strong maternal helicopter parenting latent class reported poorer mental health than those in other latent classes.ConclusionOur findings indicate that the multidimensional construct of helicopter parenting can be interpreted differently by parents and college‐aged children according to their social and cultural contexts.ImplicationsThe findings of this study suggest that it is necessary to strengthen understanding of the multidimensional construct of helicopter parenting for parents with college‐aged children to enable them to develop more appropriate parenting practices as well as support their children's well‐being.

The Current Concept of Paternal Bonding: A Systematic Scoping Review.

Bonding is crucial to perinatal mental health. Despite an extensive body of literature on maternal bonding, few studies have focused on paternal bonding. This scoping review aimed to clarify the current state of the concept of paternal-infant/fetus bonding. The eligibility criteria were drawn from the population concept and context elements to answer the following questions: "what is paternal bonding?" and "what are the constructs of the concept of paternal bonding?" The review comprised 39 studies. Paternal bonding was associated with both positive and negative paternal behavior and thought and may be determined based on fathers' beliefs and rearing history. Most studies showed that father-child interaction is one of the factors promoting paternal bonding. However, fathers generally felt more distant from their babies post-delivery than mothers. Only a few studies originally defined paternal bonding; most relied on the definitions of maternal bonding. We found different descriptions lacking consensus. Few studies examined the differences between paternal and maternal bonding. No consensus exists on the concept, constructs, and assessment of paternal bonding. The causal relationship between paternal bonding and other variables is unexplored. Future studies should explore fathers' perspectives and experiences, focusing on the unknown aspects of paternal bonding identified in this review.

The Gendered Effects of Divorce on Mothers’ and Fathers’ Time with Children and Children’s Developmental Activities: A Longitudinal Study

How divorce influences parents’ and children’s time use has received very little scientific attention. This study uses high-quality longitudinal time-diary data across six waves from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children to examine how parental separation shapes parent–child time and children’s daily activities. Results show that separation leads to a strong increase of gender inequalities in parents’ time use. After separation, mother–child time doubles, two-parent time declines by three, and father–child time remains low. Parental separation also leads to a decline in children’s time allocated to educational activities (e.g., studying, reading) and an increase in children’s time in unstructured activities (e.g., TV watching, video gaming, smartphone use). Additionally, the effect of separation on children’s time use is twice as large for boys than for girls, with gender gaps in children’s unstructured time increasing over time. Finally, mother–child time returns to similar pre-separation levels over time, but only after 4 years since separation occurred. The study findings are robust to different panel regression strategies. Overall, this study implies that parental divorce negatively affects children’s developmental time use, especially among boys, and leads lone mothers to experience increasing ‘time penalties’ associated with gender inequalities in society.

Attachment Styles and their Demographic Association Among Adult Children of Alcoholic Fathers in Pakistan

Objectives: To study the relationship between demographics and attachment styles among adult children of alcoholic fathers.
 Study Design: Cross-sectional study.
 Place and Duration of Study: Private Rehabilitation Centers, Lahore Pakistan, from Jan to Apr 2020.
 Methodology: A sample of almost equal participation of both genders (202 males and 198 females) were included in the study. Two measuring tools were used, a Demographic questionnaire and the Adult Attachment questionnaire.
 Results: Chi-square test indicated that attachment style was significantly associated with age [p < 0.001], education [p < 0.001], and birth order [p < 0.001], However, gender [p =0.374] and number of siblings [p=0.876] were not significantly associated.
 Conclusion: There is a relationship between attachment styles and associated demographics of adult children of alcoholic fathers. Based on these findings, the alcoholics and their families could be educated, an intervention plan could be developed, and literature could educate the masses about alcoholism and its impact on children.

Parent–child dyads with greater parenting stress exhibit less synchrony in posterior areas and more synchrony in frontal areas of the prefrontal cortex during shared play

ABSTRACT Parent–child dyads who are mutually attuned to each other during social interactions display interpersonal synchrony that can be observed behaviorally and through the temporal coordination of brain signals called interbrain synchrony. Parenting stress undermines the quality of parent–child interactions. However, no study has examined synchrony in relation to parenting stress during everyday shared play. The present fNIRS study examined the association between parenting stress and interbrain synchrony in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) of 31 mother–child and 29 father–child dyads while they engaged in shared play for 10 min. Shared play was micro-analytically coded into joint and non-joint segments. Interbrain synchrony was computed using cross-correlations over 15-, 20-, 25-, 30- and 35-s fixed-length windows. Findings showed that stressed dyads exhibited less synchrony in the posterior right cluster of the PFC during joint segments of play, and, contrary to expectations, stressed dyads also showed greater synchrony in the frontal left cluster. These findings suggest that dyads with more parenting stress experienced less similarities in brain areas involved in emotional processing and regulation, whilst simultaneously requiring greater neural entrainment in brain areas that support task management and social-behavioral organization in order to sustain prolonged periods of joint interactions.

Fathers of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Literature Review

Objectives: The involvement of parents in raising children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is crucial for both the child’s development and family functioning. However, studies relating to parental involvement in parenting children with ASD mainly focus on the mother’s perspective, resulting in a lack of understanding of the father’s role. On the other hand, the father involvement in parenting plays a vital role in children, partners, and family dynamics. Methods: The current research is a literature review utilizing a database called Scopus. The main objectives of the paper are to examine predictors of father involvement in parenting children with ASD and to provide an overview of fathers’ experiences in raising children with ASD. Results: A total of 100 articles were found. After the screening and review process, 21 articles were included in the main review. The literature review found that studies relating to father involvement in parenting children with ASD are dominated by research on the impacts on parents and descriptions of fathers’ experiences raising children with ASD. Discussion: Therefore, it is necessary to conduct studies on the predictors of father involvement in parenting children with ASD. In addition, the majority of studies on the parenting of fathers of children with ASD examine the issue from a Western perspective, thus necessitating broader studies. The research limitations are outlined in the article.

Transforming Fatherless Children through Faith as a Strength Perspective: Challenging Father-Absence as a Social ill in South African Society

The Children’s Act, 38 of 2005, (South Africa) states that children in need of care and protection face social ills such as father absence and in addition some children abuse alcohol and drugs, among other things. The Act defines the essence of parental responsibilities and rights regarding children, and fatherhood in this context can be a notable trending topic. This research posits that fatherhood occurs predominantly within the context of families. Notwithstanding this, the nature of fatherhood is changing within an African context. Suspicion of attributing to men any positive aspect is evidenced within the social sciences, let alone appreciation of the role of men in families. The present project results show that transforming fatherless children and fatherhood can be ambiguous and challenging in a world dominated by men. Yet, this paper suggests and embraces faith as a strength perspective where God is seen as Father and parent apropos establishing his Fatherhood in the hearts of men, which characterizes the fatherhood of men, while it is life-giving in a world staggered by father absence. Father absence impedes children from receiving and giving love, and therefore, the manifest constant behavioural problems of children. Poor academic performance and selfperception are linked to father absence and children may suffer due to a lack of educational support and access to health care. Social workers try to collaborate with fathers and mothers to nurture a healthy relationship with their children. Unfortunately, these efforts fail in many instances and children become vulnerable due to a lack of care and love from both parents.

Polish migrant fathers using parental leave in Norway

Objective: This article explores how the Norwegian care regime impacts Polish migrant fathers' caring practices. Background: The present study illustrates the importance of context sensitive research when describing the consequences of migration from migratory-source countries in Eastern Europe. When a father’s labor migration takes place in an institutional context with a care regime which includes earmarked parental leave rights for fathers, it can result in the father having more time with his children. Method: To gain insight into fathers' experiences, in-depth research interviews were carried out with Polish fathers of young children. The majority of the informants live in Norway with their children and partners. Results: A main strength of the present study is the illustration of context-sensitive research when describing the consequences of migration from migratory-source countries in Eastern Europe. Conclusion: The findings in this article show how earmarked leave provides opportunities for the migrant fathers to be accessible and responsible and to interact with their child. These caring practices result in fathers bonding with their children and learning how to care for them. In addition, the migrant fathers experience emotional gains.

Effectiveness of Behavior Change interventions for smoking cessation among expectant and new fathers

Abstract Background The perinatal period is an optimal time to intervene for achieving smoking cessation in expectant parents and offers multiple health benefits for women and the newborn. While Behavior Change Technique (BCT) interventions are a promising approach to support pregnant smokers to quit smoking, effectiveness of these interventions among expectant and new fathers is not equally well documented. Better understanding of the potential utility of these BCT interventions for this group is important for the development of effective gender-sensitive programmes. Methods This systematic review examines the existing evidence on effectiveness of BCTs on smoking cessation outcomes when offered to expectant and new fathers (child < 1 year) both through individual and/or couple-based interventions. Eight databases were searched for peer-reviewed articles. Studies were subjected to systematic retrieval and quality-assessment by two independent reviewers. Results We identified 9 randomised control trial studies (including 4,681 men) that fulfilled the inclusion criteria. In terms of quit outcome data, 8 studies reported biochemically verified quit rates for men. While 5 BCT interventions targeted expectant/new fathers, 3 were directed to couples and 1 primarily focused on women with a component directed at men. Though most of the interventions were found to be effective, they showed small significant positive effects on cessation outcomes. Findings are suggestive of gender specific interventions being more likely to have positive outcomes. High heterogeneity across the studies made it difficult to determine the most effective BCT approach. Conclusions This review suggests that use of BCT interventions for smoking cessation among expectant and new fathers is effective in achieving positive quit rates; however, these studies are limited. Further research is needed to determine the most effective BCT approach associated with smoking cessation among this group. Key messages • BCT interventions for smoking cessation among expectant and new fathers are a promising approach to increase quit rates. • Future research needs to develop evidence based BCT interventions for smoking cessation specifically targeting expectant and new fathers to inform policy and practice.