Involvement In Childrearing Research Articles

On the Origins of Fathering: Implications of an Evolutionary Perspective for Understanding Links Among Marriage, Divorce, and Men's Parenting

Geary and Flinn offer an intriguing perspective on the involvement of fathers in parenting that explains why human fathers, nearly alone among mammals, actively participate in their children's upbringing. Their model may enhance the contemporary study of fatherhood by highlighting the role of environmental and cultural forces on parenting, but important questions regarding the links between marriage and parenting need to be addressed to understand the wide variation in fathers' involvement in childrearing.

Marital Satisfaction and Child Adjustment: Direct and Mediated Pathways

We explored whether there is a direct association between marital satisfaction and children's psychological adjustment. We also investigated a competing model to assess whether marital satisfaction is indirectly related to child outcomes through its associations with parents' depression and involvement in childrearing. Analyses of data from 1,101 participants in the National Survey of Families and Households indicated that mothers' and fathers' reports of marital satisfaction were significantly associated with child symptomatology. Moreover, mothers who experienced marital dissatisfaction were less involved with their children, which in turn was associated with greater child psychological distress. This mediated pathway was not significant for fathers.

Father Involvement in Childrearing and the Perceived Stability of Marriage

The central hypothesis of this article, that large by fathers in childrearing are associated with high stability, is tested against two competing hypotheses about stability. The hypotheses are examined using data from a national survey of households in the Netherlands. Investments are measured with retrospective questions about the degree to which fathers were involved in childrearing tasks. Divorce is measured indirectly, with questions about husbands' and wives' perceptions of the stability of their marriage. Multivariate analyses indicate that when fathers are more involved in childrearing, they have a stabler marriage. When indicators of the wife's satisfaction are included, however, the effect of the father's involvement disappears. Involved fathers have stabler marriages, not because they have much investment to lose after a possible breakup, but because the wife is happier if the husband is strongly involved with the children. One of the better-documented findings in the divorce literature is that couples with children are less likely to divorce than childless couples. The between stability and number of children has been documented with vital statistics early in this century (Van Zanten & Van den Brink, 1938) and has been confirmed in sophisticated multivariate analyses of large-scale survey data (Booth, Johnson, White, & Edwards, 1984; Heaton, 1990; Morgan, Lyle, & Condran, 1988; Waite & Lillard, 1991). Recent American analyses indicate that, after controlling for the duration of marriage, age at marriage, and educational attainment, the divorce rate for childless couples is almost 40% higher than for couples with one child and is about 60% higher than for couples with two children (Heaton, 1990). Similar differences are observed in other modern industrial societies, such as Germany (Diekmann & Klein, 1991) and the Netherlands (Manting, 1994). A common interpretation of the association between children and divorce is that children function as marital (Becker, Landes, & Michael, 1977). According to this theoretical perspective, people produce a set of goods in a that are more valuable inside than outside the relationship. The production of such goods can be seen as investments [that] increase commitment and help lock the individual into his or her relationship (Rusbult, 1983, p. 103; see also Weesie & Raub, 1995). Examples of relation-specific are a common circle of friends, knowledge of each other's personal traits, and the accumulation of shared life experiences. In relationships, children are probably the best example of such because both spouses have more to lose after a divorce when they have children. Divorced women with children have more difficulty entering the labor market than childless women and, consequently. experience a greater decline in economic well-being (Smock, 1994). Divorced women with children are also less likely to remarry, which further limits the chances of improving their living standard after divorce (Smock, 1990). The costs of divorce for men are primarily psychological and social. In most breakups, mothers get custody of the children. Fathers see their children infrequently after a divorce, and the contacts they maintain with them are less intense and of lower quality (Furstenberg & Cherlin, 1991). In short, the expected costs of divorce are higher when couples have children. The high cost of divorce may not prevent marriages from breaking up, but it clearly provides both men and women incentives to work out problems and, in doing this, reduces the likelihood of divorce. Although the notion of capital is a plausible interpretation of the between divorce and number of children, it is not the only one. Some have argued that couples stay together not because they, themselves, have more to lose, but because they think a divorce would hurt their children. …

An Exploratory Study of Korean Fathering of Adolescent Children

The author examined variation in contemporary Korean fathering (e.g., warmth of fathering, frequency of father involvement, and task share of father involvement) in 129 2-parent families with 11- to 14-year-old children. Parents and children completed standardized survey questionnaires addressing their childrearing practices, parental role involvement, spousal support, and sex role orientations. Data were analyzed via multiple analyses of variance, t tests, correlational analyses, and multiple regression analyses. Socioeconomic status (SES), maternal support, fathers' femininity, parents' education, and maternal work status had predictive ability for the 3 dimensions of fathering. Overall, compared with lower SES fathers, middle-class fathers reported significantly more warmth (regardless of the sex of the child), less frequency of involvement in childrearing, and less task-sharing involvement in childrearing. Regardless of SES, fathers with working wives reported higher levels of task-sharing involvement relative to their spouses. These findings support the ecological view that fathering is a dynamic process predicted by personal characteristics as well as contextual factors.

Juggling Jobs and Kids: The Impact of Employment Schedules on Fathers' Caring for Children

Gender equality in the future depends partly on how women and men combine employment and family responsibilities in the present. The decisions that mothers and fathers make about work and family, especially about how they care for their children, help shape children's cognitive maps, social behavior, and personal expectations. Parents, in everything they do, from the jobs they choose to the way they allocate household chores, provide powerful models of female and male behavior for their children. Although the traditional arrangement of a father working outside the home and a mother staying home full-time is less typical of families today than it was 25 years ago, women are still the principal childrearers and men are the major breadwinners (Hochschild, 1989). Thus, parents, inadvertently or intentionally, prepare their children for similar future roles in the economy and the family by reinforcing gender traits such as independence in boys and mothering in girls (Chodorow, 1978; Gilligan, 1982). Several scholars claim that only when fathers fully share childrearing and caregiving with mothers will the cycle of gender inequality be broken (Chodorow, 1978; Gilligan, 1982). The potential effects of fathering on the gender role conceptions of daughters and sons and on gender inequality are not the only reasons for encouraging men's participation in child care. Gender differences in parenting styles appear to have substantial effects on the socialization and well-being of children (Pruett, 1993; Starrels, 1994); fathers' involvement in childrearing is related to better outcomes for their children in terms of academic achievement, social competence, and self-esteem (see Russell & Radin, 1983). Likewise, mothers benefit from men's participation in raising children; fathers who take a major responsibility for child care ease the burden of the second shift for employed mothers, and they reduce maternal stress from work overload, anxiety about adequate childcare and supervision, and a shortage of time for rest and leisure (Hoffman, 1983, p. 174). Fathers who are actively involved in caring for their children may enjoy the positive effects of multiple roles, closer father-child bonds, and enhanced husband-wife relationships (Russell & Radin, 1983). Men, like women, who combine different life roles, such as worker, parent, and spouse, may be better off emotionally than are those with fewer life roles (Crosby, 1991). Although most fathers in the United States avoid primary responsibility for child care, many fathers do take care of their children on a regular basis. In fact, nearly 3 million children of employed mothers, currently married and otherwise, were cared for primarily by their fathers in 1988 (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1992). Nevertheless, the proportion of children principally cared for by their father has remained relatively stable since the 1970s; among children of dual-earning married couples, 16.8% of preschool-age children and 8.7% of children aged 5 to 14 relied on their father as their primary caregiver in 1988 (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1992). What prevents more fathers from taking greater responsibility for child care on a regular basis? Contrary to popular belief, it is not a lack of paternal desire or ideological commitment alone. Some researchers speculate that many fathers would increase their involvement with children if the time demands of their jobs were reduced (Barnett & Baruch, 1988). Although the number of hours a father spends in paid work may negatively affect his domestic responsibilities (Coverman, 1985; Davis & Sanik, 1991), the mere amount of job time in and of itself does not explain why some fathers do and others do not care for their children. The scheduling of paid work--when and how often a father works in terms of whether the hours are regular or rotating, on weekdays or weekends, and during the day or night--provides a more useful framework for understanding the relationship between employment and child care (see Nock & Kingston, 1988; Pleck & Staines, 1985; Presser, 1989; Staines & Pleck, 1983). …

The Effects of a Parent Education/Play Group Program on Father Involvement in Child Rearing

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of a parent education/play group program on the types of involvement fathers have with their children and on their perceived sense of competence in parenting skills. Subjects were 30 fathers (15 treatment, 15 wait-list control) and their preschool-aged children. Significant program effects are found on treatment group fathers' responsibility, forms of involvement, and their perceived sense of competence in parenting skills. The relationship between parental competence and paternal involvement is also examined. Implications for future program development are discussed.

Evolution of pediatric psychology: historical roots to future trends.

The brief history of pediatric psychology is reviewed, emphasizing the early descriptions and conceptualizations. The current status of the field is then evaluated with special emphasis on continuity with pediatric psychology's historical roots. A discussion of promising future trends follows highlighting the historical traditions that have not been fully developed. More research on problems specific to pediatric psychology, greater involvement in normal childrearing, more emphasrs on prevention, and training seem the most fruitful directions for future expansion. The field of pediatric psychology is a rapidly developing area which is meeting important health service needs and the juture seems bright iJ' we can continue to focus on relevant issues.