Father-infant Relationship Research Articles

Father-infant interaction and parent stress with healthy and medically compromised infants

Laboratory observations of fathers and infants were made for 24 healthy infants, 23 infants with cystic fibrosis (CF) and 31 with congenital heart disease (CHD) to study possible effects of child chronic illness on father-infant relationships. In addition, both parents completed the Parenting Stress Index on joining the study, at the time of the observation, and a year later. Although the three groups did not differ in reported father stress at any time period or in father-infant interactions, mothers of medically compromised infants reported higher stress at the first two assessments. These findings are consistent with clinical impressions that mothers bear a larger share of the psychological burden of a child's illness than fathers. In spite of the lack of group differences, there was modest evidence within the CF group that fathers who were more involved in treatment were more positively interactive with their infants. Regardless of medical status, higher initial stress reported by both parents and concurrent stress for fathers was associated with less positive father behavior toward the infant. To our knowledge, these are the first observational data concerning father-infant interactions in these two clinical groups. They suggest that differences in father behavior are more likely to be related to the manner in which the family manages the child's illness than the illness per se.

Supporting the Father When an Infant is Breastfed

Breastfeeding is the best form of infant nutrition for mother and infant, but because it perpetuates the exclusive mother-infant relationship that existed during pregnancy, the father may feel excluded, jealous, and resentful to the detriment of breastfeeding success and the adult couple relationship. Supporting the father during breastfeeding may help improve the mother's satisfaction with breastfeeding, duration of breastfeeding, and adaptation of both parents to parenting. This paper provides recommendations for education and support related to breastfeeding based on recent research findings on the male experience of expectant and new parenthood. Recommendations based on these findings focus on anticipatory guidance about breastfeeding, anticipatory guidance to support the adult couple relationship during the transition to parenthood, and ways to enhance the father-infant relationship.

Neonatal Bathing and Massage Intervention with Fathers, Behavioural Effects 12 Weeks after Birth of the First Baby: The Sunraysia Australia Intervention Project

A total of 32 first-time families from the Sunraysia district in Victoria, Australia participated in a study on the effects of a training programme (demonstration of baby massage and the Burleigh Relaxation Bath technique) with a particular emphasis on the father-infant relationship. The infants, whose parents received the training at 4-weeks post-partum, differed from comparison group infants on a constellation of behaviours at the 12 week home observation. Treatment group infants greeted their fathers with more eye contact, smiling, vocalising, reaching, and orienting responses and showed less avoidance behaviours. As well, in a 10 minute observation, the treatment group fathers showed greater involvement with their infants than comparison group fathers. The brief intervention at four weeks seems to have favourably affected the father-infant relationship in ways which would assist in the establishment of a positive bond between the first-time fathers and their infants.

Breastfeeding and Fathers: Illuminating the Darker Side

Although breastfeeding may be the best form of infant nutrition and be an important practice for mother and infant, it may be perceived as negative by the father and thus inhibit the development of the father-infant relationship. This study provides a summary of data from a longitudinal study of the male experience of expectant and new parenthood, and a summary of the literature on breastfeeding and fathers. Fathers' concerns about breastfeeding included the lack of opportunity to develop a relationship with their child, feeling inadequate, and being separated from their mate by the baby. The professional literature fails adequately to represent the negative aspects of breastfeeding for fathers. The parents' literature contains one father's candid and humorous account that caregivers might use, together with other techniques, to make parents aware of these aspects.

Fathers' Hospital Visits to Their Preterm Infants as a Predictor of Father-Infant Relationship and Infant Development

This short-term longitudinal study assessed the degree to which the frequency of fathers' visits with their preterm infants in the hospital was associated with the quality of ongoing and long-term fathering and infant development. Data on fathering and infant development were collected during the hospital stay, at discharge, at 8 months of age, and at 18 months of age, using both questionnaires and observational schedules. The frequency of visits was significantly correlated with more extensive and positive patterns of fathering at discharge and later periods. It was also associated with more positive perceptions of the infant, as well as with weight gain during hospitalization and psychosocial aspects of later infant development during the first 18 months. The discussion emphasized possible ways in which early paternal contact in the hospital might influence fathers, mothers, and infants. The frequency of paternal visits was high-lighted as a variable useful in predicting high-risk parenting.

Cesarean childbirth in sweden: Effects on the mother and father-infant relationship

Cesarean childbirth in sweden: Effects on the mother and father-infant relationship

The Pennsylvania Infant and Family Development Project, I: Stability and Change in Mother-Infant and Father-Infant Interaction in a Family Setting at One, Three, and Nine Months

In order to further understanding of the development of the father-infant relationship, patterns of mothering and fathering in 72 families were observed longitudinally (at 1, 3, and 9 months) and from the perspective of the family system. Analyses of variance revealed comparable developmental change in maternal and paternal behaviors, but striking differences between parents, with mothers engaging in far more interaction at all ages studied. Analyses of individual differences in maternal and paternal behavior revealed consistent stability over time, especially from 3 to 9 months, thereby highlighting points of similarity in mothering and fathering. Within-age correlational analyses revealed consistent positive associations between measures of father-infant and husband-wife interaction, yet little relationship between measures of mother-infant and spousal interaction. These findings and others are discussed in terms of similarities and differences in mothering and fathering.

The effect of demonstration of the Brazelton neonatal, assessment scale on the father infant relationship

Acute granulocytic hyperplasia was produced in mice by injection of endotoxin and, using the labelled mitosis method, the duration of DNA synthesis was compared to that in mormal mice. No difference was found. Taken in conjunction with previous studies using labelling indices, the results indicate that in mice showing acute granulocytic hyperplasia, there is only a moderate increase in proliferation of mitotable granulocytes. Thus the major factor responsible for hyperplasia is increased differentiation of precursor cells.

The Father-Infant Relationship: Observational Studies in the Family Setting

The Father-Infant Relationship: Observational Studies in the Family Setting

The Father-Infant Relationship: Observational Studies in the Family Setting.

The Father-Infant Relationship: Observational Studies in the Family Setting.

Measurement of Paternal Attitude Toward Infant Caretaking

Reliable self-report tools which examine the father-infant relationship are scarce This brief report describes the development of a Likert-type attitude instrument which examines the attitudes of fathers toward participation in infant caretaking activities Reliability measurements obtained when the instrument was tested are discussed.

The father's role in the socialization of his infant

Although research on fathers and infants increased dramatically during the past decade, it did so largely in a theoretical vacuum. Theories of development emphasize mother-infant relationships, with little attention, if any, given to father-infant relationships. As a result, studies of father-infant interactions tend to replicate procedures that have been used in mother-infant research. While useful, mimicking mother-infant research paradigms may blind investigators to salient aspects of development that are unique to and critical for father-infant relationships. In traditional families, study of mother-father-infant triadic interactions may reveal more useful information about the father's role in infant socialization, than the study of father-infant dyadic interactions. However, the study of triadic interactions may yield little useful information about father-infant interaction in the single parent family. Until a number of methodological issues are resolved, the literature on the father's role in the socialization of his infant must be interpreted cautiously.

Father-Infant Relationships: Their Nature and Importance

Father-Infant Relationships: Their Nature and Importance

The Nature and Importance of the Father-Infant Relationship

The authors discuss several studies which invalidate the common presumption that fathers play an insignificant role in the sociopersonality development of their infant children. It is shown that fathers are extremely salient individuals in the lives of their children, particularly their sons. Fathers may play an important role in the adoption of cultural mores and sex-typed behavior. The social and practical implications of these findings, and their relevance to family practitioners, are stressed.

Father participation in infancy.

Although the importance of paternal influence on child development is now generally accepted, we actually know very little about normal father-infant relationships. This study, undertaken to define some of them, found a wide variation among a homogeneous middle-class group. No factor was consistent for infants of both sexes. But results showed enough significant correlations to support the need for more developmental studies.