Positive Father Involvement Research Articles

Going beyond remedial learning support: reframing learning development as a catalyst for practice learning. A case study exploring father involvement in social work education.

This conference paper presents Learning Development as transcending remedial and deficit notions of academic support. A Learning Developer based at London Metropolitan University, presents a case study that illustrates the values and impact of Learning Development and Praxis.
 This research project piloted a Problem Based Learning (PBL) methodology in the curriculum area of Social Work. The project worked in collaboration with social work students, lecturers and university partners between 2019 to 2021. This session may be of particular interest to those working with students in the social professions and work based learning courses.
 Key challenges and implications for practice:
 
 Subject specialists seeing the Learning Developer role as one of ‘fixing students’.
 Potential of Problem Based Learning as part of accredited Social Work courses.
 Integrating Learning Development; embedded vs bolt on quick fixes.
 Learning Development as scaffolding reflective writing practice.
 
 The project overcame these issues with a reach that rippled across six north east London Local Authorities as part of a Teaching Partnership. It has also been included as a topical issue for reflection, titled: ‘Promoting Positive Father Involvement’ as part of modules in practice learning. Both students and staff engaged in a workshop programme that scaffolded a dialogue between them, addressing issues of father engagement as part of practice.
 Students were able to synthesise themes of theory, policy, legislation and its application to practice. As a result, some students developed substantial case studies at both level 5 and 6, and these even informed their later dissertations and research projects. This demonstrates the social value and wider impact that Learning Development has had on improving outcomes for not only students, but fathers, children and their families.

Promoting father engagement among low-income fathers: fathers’ narratives on what matters in a fatherhood programme in the western US

ABSTRACT Over the past two decades increased attention has been paid to promoting positive father involvement. Much of this effort has occurred through the development of fatherhood education programmes, however, examining the ways in which these programmes impact how men enact their fatherhood roles, especially those from diverse backgrounds is limited. Based on focus group data derived from ethnically diverse low-income fathers (n = 40), participating in a fatherhood education programme, we identified the following programme themes as integral to increasing father engagement: (1) social support from facilitators, (2) peer support among fathers, (3) feeling valued in family relationships, (4) improvements in co-parenting relationship, and (5) increased knowledge of child development. These findings provide critical information on the aspects of fatherhood programmes that men deem as most impactful to their fatherhood role and identity. The data also highlighted the positive ways in which the programme impacted fathering behaviours. Moreover, these qualitative results highlight key focus areas for practitioners, scholars, and policy makers in their continued efforts to support father involvement.

Predicting Chinese father involvement: Parental role beliefs, fathering self-efficacy and maternal gatekeeping.

Despite the well-established importance of positive father involvement for child adjustment, father involvement tends to be much lower compared to mother involvement. Furthermore, there are few empirical studies on Chinese fathers and their involvement in parenting. Given the importance of father involvement, it is necessary to examine the factors that may facilitate or hinder Chinese father involvement in parenting. This study used survey methodology to examine the predictors of Chinese father involvement with their preschoolers. The sample consisted of 609 Chinese parent dyads in Mainland China. Fathering self-efficacy and their beliefs about parental roles directly predicted father involvement in parenting. Maternal gate-opening had both direct and indirect associations with father involvement via fathers' beliefs and fathering self-efficacy. Maternal gate-closing was not associated with father involvement. The findings suggest that fathers' beliefs about parental roles, fathering self-efficacy, and maternal gate-opening are likely to play an important role in facilitating father involvement with their children. Family interventions and programs could target these modifiable factors to facilitate father involvement in Mainland China.

Part 2: exploring views from fathers and perinatal practitioners on the inclusion of fathers by perinatal services

BackgroundThis is the second of a two-part series exploring father's inclusion in the perinatal years. The first paper was published in volume 29, issue 4 of the British Journal of Midwifery. This paper explores the results of the study and discussion in relation to previous literature and to professional practice. Positive father involvement during the perinatal period has important implications for families. However, previous research suggests that fathers experience marginalisation, while staff report a lack of training and time for engaging fathers.AimsThis study explored fathers' and perinatal professionals' experiences of fathers' involvement during the perinatal period, and ideas for paternal support.MethodA Delphi method was employed. Thematic analysis from focus groups informed an online survey which was completed by 24 fathers and 22 professionals. A third-round survey finalised group consensus.ResultsBoth groups agreed on the importance of fathers. Participants suggested improvement ideas, such as supporting fathers with psychological change. Groups disagreed on some ideas, such as fathers receiving a session alone to discuss concerns.DiscussionThe findings support the inclusion of fathers in perinatal services and a focus on the whole family system. Limitations of this study include low participant diversity and possible selection bias. Implications for further research are discussed.

Part 1: exploring views from fathers and perinatal practitioners on the inclusion of fathers by perinatal services

BackgroundThis is the first of a two-part series exploring father's inclusion in the perinatal years. Part 2 will explore the results of the study and discuss in relation to previous literature and to professional practice. Positive father involvement during the perinatal period has important implications for families. However, previous research suggests that fathers experience marginalisation, while staff report a lack of training and time for engaging fathers.AimsThis study explored fathers' and perinatal professionals' experiences of fathers' involvement during the perinatal period, and ideas for paternal support.MethodA Delphi method was employed. Thematic analysis from focus groups informed an online survey which was completed by 24 fathers and 22 professionals. A third-round survey finalised group consensus.ResultsBoth groups agreed on the importance of fathers. Participants suggested improvement ideas, such as supporting fathers with psychological change. Groups disagreed on some ideas, such as fathers receiving a session alone to discuss concerns.DiscussionThe findings support the inclusion of fathers in perinatal services, and a focus on the whole family system. Limitations of this study include low participant diversity and possible selection bias. Implications for further research are discussed.

NICU and postpartum nurse perspectives on involving fathers in newborn care: a qualitative study

BackgroundPerinatal care nurses are well positioned to provide the education and support new fathers need to navigate the transition to fatherhood and to encourage positive father involvement from the earliest hours of a child’s life. To effectively serve fathers in perinatal settings, it is important to understand the attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors of healthcare providers that may encourage and engage them, or alternatively alienate and discourage them.MethodsThis qualitative study involved structured interviews with ten NICU and postpartum nurses from hospitals in two large Texas cities. The interview protocol was designed to elicit descriptive information about nurses’ attitudes and beliefs, sense of efficacy and intention for working with fathers, as well as their father-directed behaviors. Nurses were recruited for the study using a purposive sampling approach. Interviews were conducted by telephone and lasted approximately 25 to 35 min. Data were analyzed using a qualitative descriptive approach.ResultsOverall, study participants held very positive subjective attitudes toward fathers and father involvement. Nevertheless, many of the nurses signaled normative beliefs based on race/ethnicity, gender, and culture that may moderate their intention to engage with fathers. Participants also indicated that their education as well as the culture of perinatal healthcare are focused almost entirely on the mother-baby dyad. In line with this focus on mothers, participants comments reflected a normative belief that fathers are secondary caregivers to their newborns, there to help when the mother is unavailable.ConclusionsNurse attitudes and practices that place mothers in the role of primary caregiver may be interpreted by fathers as excluding or disregarding them. Further research is needed to validate the results of this small-scale study, and to assess whether and how provider attitudes impact their practices in educating and engaging fathers in newborn care.

Home visiting: A lifeline for families during the COVID-19 pandemic

Home visiting: A lifeline for families during the COVID-19 pandemic

Do Responsible Fatherhood Programs Work? A Comprehensive Meta‐Analytic Study

ObjectiveTo investigate the effectiveness of fatherhood programs targeting unmarried, low‐income, nonresident fathers.BackgroundPrograms for unmarried, nonresident, and low‐income fathers increased in number and scope over the past decade. Programs for fathers have typically targeted five broad areas: positive father involvement, parenting, co‐parenting, employment, and child support payment.MethodWe conducted a systematic search for published and unpublished evaluations of fathering programs targeting unmarried, never married, and low‐income fathers. We identified 25 reports with 30 independent studies. Of these, 21 employed a control–treatment design, and nine employed a one‐group/pre–post design.ResultsThese programs produce small but statistically significant effects (d = .099, p < .01). We found that only father involvement (d = .114, p < .05), parenting (d = .110, p < .01), and co‐parenting (d = .167, p < .05) were significantly affected; the strongest effect size was in co‐parenting. Unfortunately, these programs did not significantly influence father employment and economic well‐being, nor did they significantly impact father payment of child support.ConclusionAlthough programs for low‐income, unmarried, nonresident fathers have a small statistically significant effect, evaluation work may increase the impact of these programs.Implications.There is a continued need for evaluation focused on unmarried, nonresident, low‐income fathers. There is also need for improved statistical reporting, reports of attrition, assessment of child outcomes, observational measures of outcomes, and better assessment of moderators, such as father age, program location, child developmental stage, multipartner fertility, and other barriers to father involvement.

What Nonresident Mothers and Fathers Have to Say About a Mother-Only Coparenting Intervention: A Qualitative Assessment of Understanding DadsTM

Coparenting between mothers and nonresident fathers is a consistent predictor of positive father involvement and is shown to have a direct positive impact on children’s behavioral outcomes. While many fatherhood programs attempt to improve coparenting relationships using father-only interventions, the information on their effectiveness is mixed. Couple interventions may be more effective than father-only approaches but are very hard to achieve with nonresident parents. Engaging mothers may be more practical and beneficial, although there is very little literature on the impact of mother-only interventions on coparenting relationships. The current study begins to address that gap. It presents qualitative reactions by mothers and fathers to a mother-only coparenting intervention and finds that a mother-only approach can achieve some important goals such as improved communication, reduced conflict, and mother’s understanding of the father’s point of view. Fathers whose parenting partners participated in the mother-only group agreed with mothers’ assessments and also reported less undermining.

A meta-analysis of the relationship between father involvement and problem behaviour among preschool children

ABSTRACT The meta-analysis presented in this paper was conducted with the aim of clarifying the differences in the research on the relationship between father involvement and problem behaviour among preschool children, and also to analyze the reasons behind these research differences. By applying a literature retrieval and screening strategy, 41 studies were sourced, with a total of 269 independent samples and 22635 participants. The meta-analysis found a low negative correlation between positive father involvement and the externalizing problem behaviour of preschool children, and the same correlation between such involvement and internalizing problem behaviour. Negative father involvement was found to be moderately positively correlated with the latter behaviour. The moderating effects of each variable emerged as different, complex, and interactive. The implications of these findings are that families, kindergartens, communities and the government should work together to guarantee father involvement and improve the quality of the latter.

Fatherhood Matters: An Integrative Review of Fatherhood Intervention Research.

Positive father involvement is critical to the healthy social, emotional, and academic outcomes of children at all stages of development. The purpose of this integrative review was to identify, categorize, and evaluate the potential impact of fatherhood interventions on father and child outcomes. A systematic search of four major research databases yielded 44 studies published between 1988 and 2018 that met study inclusion criteria. The most effective interventions were delivered in the community, with fathers convened in groups. Content focused on promoting positive parenting, co-parenting, and father/child relationships. Consequently, father involvement and child cognitive and socioemotional development were improved. Academic settings were underutilized in the fatherhood interventions in this review. We conclude that in order to optimize healthy child development, school officials must adopt a more inclusive stance toward the involvement of fathers in their children's education. Future randomized trials of fatherhood interventions delivered within school-based settings are warranted.

Using an Initial Clinical Interview to Assess the Coparenting Relationship: Preliminary Examples From the Supporting Father Involvement Program

ABSTRACTThe current study uses an initial intake interview as an assessment tool in the Supporting Father Involvement (SFI) intervention and considers it from a family systems theoretical perspective. SFI includes a 32-hour group for parents with young children that aims to reduce child abuse and promote family well-being through a curriculum focused on enhancing positive father involvement and coparenting. For this study, the initial clinical interview assessed partners’ synchronies and dissonance in parenting, coparenting, and relationship satisfaction domains. Using thematic analysis, we qualitatively analyzed interviews with 15 committed, heterosexual couples, exploring themes that correspond with higher versus lower couple satisfaction measured by the Quality of Marital Satisfaction Index. Results showed a strong concordance between partners’ satisfaction scores, with fathers less satisfied than mothers. Thematic differences between higher and lower satisfaction parents centered on approach to discipline, coparenting communication, and quality of support systems. The importance of father involvement and fathers as “learning” parents and coparents were recurring themes for mothers and fathers, especially among higher satisfaction couples. Higher substance abuse and employment/financial stress were indicative of lower satisfaction couples. Discussion reflects on the utility of an initial clinical interview as an assessment and intervention planning tool and future directions for research.

Family Poverty, Family Processes and Children’s Preschool Achievement: Understanding the Unique Role of Fathers

Developmental research has highlighted the importance of fathers for children’s early academic success, and growing evidence suggests that children living in poverty may benefit the most from positive father involvement. Using a subsample of children from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (ECLS-B), this study examined direct and mediated pathways from family poverty to children’s preschool achievement. Analyses revealed that poverty had a more consistent negative association with fathers’ parenting than mothers’ parenting and fathers’ parenting was a more consistent mediator of links between poverty and child achievement than mothers’ parenting. Specifically, fathers’ and mothers’ warmth as well as fathers’ home learning stimulation mediated the relation between poverty and children’s reading scores. Furthermore, fathers’ warmth and mothers’ home learning stimulation mediated the relation between poverty and children’s math scores. Results point to the unique contribution of fathers to children’s preschool achievement and imply that poverty is differentially associated with fathers’ and mothers’ parenting practices during the early childhood period.

Father Involvement and Father–Child Relationship Quality: An Intergenerational Perspective

SYNOPSISObjective. The present study looks at predictors that may be associated with father–child relationship quality and whether relationship quality appears to be transmitted across generations. Design. This study includes 2,970 U.S. families who participated in the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study. Structural equation modeling was used to assess associations between fathers’ relationship with paternal grandfathers (PGF) during their own childhood and when their own children are 1 year old, father involvement at age 1, and child reports of father-child relationship quality at age 9. Results. Paternal grandfathers involvement with fathers during childhood was positively associated with the father-paternal grandfathers relationship at child age 1, which in turn was associated with greater father involvement at age 1. More father involvement at age 1 was associated with child reports of better father-child relationships at age 9. The pathways from paternal grandfathers involvement during fathers’ childhood and father–paternal grandfathers relationships at age 1 to father–child relationship quality at age 9 were fully mediated by father involvement at age 1. Conclusions. Patterns of father involvement and the quality of father–child relationships tend to be passed down across generations. To ensure an active, positive father involvement and its associated benefits for children, parenting interventions should focus promoting positive fathering behaviors to promote positive relationships with children in their own and future generations.

Study protocol for a randomized clinical trial of a fatherhood intervention for African American non-resident fathers: Can we improve father and child outcomes?

PurposeAfrican American (AA) fathers who live apart from their children face multiple obstacles to consistent and positive involvement with their children. Consequently, significant numbers of children are bereft of their father's positive involvement. Intervention research that is explicitly focused on promoting the positive involvement of non-resident AA fathers with their young children is limited. The purpose of this article is to describe the study protocol of a randomized trial (RCT) designed to test the Building Bridges to Fatherhood program against a financial literacy comparison condition; and discuss early implementation challenges. MethodsFathers (n=180) are recruited to attend 10 group meetings, reimbursed for transportation, given dinner and activity vouchers for spending time with their child, and incentivized with a $40 gift card at each data collection time point. Mothers are incentivized ($40 gift card) at data collection and must be amenable to father child interaction. Intervention targets include father psychological well-being, parenting competence, communication, problem-solving ability; father-mother relationship quality; and child behavioral and emotional/social development. ResultsTo date, 57 fathers have been randomized to study condition. Recruitment has been influenced by father and mother hesitancy and the logistics of reaching and maintaining contact with participants. Strategies to surmount challenges to father and mother recruitment and engagement have been developed. ConclusionsThe prospective benefits of positive father involvement to children, fathers and families outweigh the challenges associated with community-based intervention research. The findings from this RCT can inform the body of knowledge on engaging AA non-resident fathers in culturally relevant fatherhood programming.

Individual variation in fathers' testosterone reactivity to infant distress predicts parenting behaviors with their 1-year-old infants.

Positive father involvement is associated with positive child outcomes. There is great variation in fathers' involvement and fathering behaviors, and men's testosterone (T) has been proposed as a potential biological contributor to paternal involvement. Previous studies investigating testosterone changes in response to father-infant interactions or exposure to infant cues were unclear as to whether individual variation in T is predictive of fathering behavior. We show that individual variation in fathers' T reactivity to their infants during a challenging laboratory paradigm (Strange Situation) uniquely predicted fathers' positive parenting behaviors during a subsequent father-infant interaction, in addition to other psychosocial determinants of paternal involvement, such as dispositional empathy and marital quality. The findings have implications for understanding fathering behaviors and how fathers can contribute to their children's socioemotional development.

Designing an Intervention to Promote Child Development Among Fathers With Antisocial Behavior

Objective: This article describes an intervention development focusing on the early design stages of a model to improve psychosocial and behavioral health outcomes among children of fathers with incarceration and antisocial behavioral histories. Method: We use a synthesis of the literature and qualitative interviews with key informants to inform a theoretical model and the next steps in building an intervention. Results: Findings suggest gaps in effective interventions that promote father involvement among men with histories of incarceration and antisocial behavior. Considerations for future interventions include addressing the complex needs of fathers’ post-incarceration, sequencing intervention components using flexible treatment approaches, and employing intentional recruitment and retention strategies. Conclusion: The negative relation between fathers’ imprisonment and antisocial behavior and children’s outcomes calls for interventions to promote positive father involvement. This article proposes a systematized approach to design such an intervention concluding with next steps in the planning for a future intervention study.

Dad2K: An Adaptation of SafeCare to Enhance Positive Parenting Skills With At-Risk Fathers

Positive father involvement in the lives of their children is critically important. This article describes pilot data from the Dad2K program, an adaptation of the evidence-based SafeCare Parent-Child Interaction module, which targets positive parenting skills and the prevention of child neglect and physical abuse. Dad2K includes a unique approach to intervention delivery utilizing computer software, and instruction and practice with a home visitor provider. The development process of the Dad2K program is described, and data are presented from four fathers of young children who completed the program. The article concludes with describing the next steps in the examination of the Dad2K program, which includes a large randomized control trial funded by the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities.

Understanding Today's Changing Families

When their children are born, most unmarried parents have high expectations for the future, but they are particularly vulnerable to financial and relationship instability. Their children are disproportionately likely to experience negative health and wellbeing outcomes, in part because of low father involvement. We provide an overview of the findings in this area, drawing primarily from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study and two studies conducted by the Child and Family Research Partnership at The University of Texas at Austin. We conclude that father involvement is largely a function of parental relationship quality, and that interventions designed to improve child outcomes should focus on enhancement of co‐parenting skills. Key Points for the Family Court Community Relative to their married peers, unmarried parents face distinct barriers to financial and relationship stability. Children of unmarried parents are more likely to experience negative outcomes for health and wellbeing, in part because of low father involvement. One of the most consistent predictors of father involvement is the quality of the father's relationship with the mother. Interventions that teach co‐parenting skills may enhance relationship quality and increase positive father involvement.

African American and Hispanic Fathers’ Work Characteristics and Preschool Children’s Cognitive Development

Father involvement is a salient predictor of children’s cognitive development and recent studies suggest that African American and Hispanic fathers, who are highly involved, have children who enter school more poised to succeed. Little is known, however, about contextual barriers to positive father involvement in ethnic minority families. This study examined prospective relations between fathers’ work characteristics (i.e., total work hours per week, job satisfaction, and work shift) and children’s cognitive development in preschool (i.e., reading and math scores). A total of 2,340 children were included in the study (35% African American, 65% Hispanic). Fathers’ total work hours per week positively predicted children’s reading and math scores. Fathers’ work shift (i.e., nonstandard) positively predicted reading, but not math. In contrast, fathers’ job satisfaction negatively predicted children’s math achievement. Findings were evident even after controlling for a host of demographic factors (e.g., father education, mother education, home-learning environment, and family income).