Studies involving fathers: Subject refusal, attrition and sampling bias

Agreement between mothers', fathers', and teachers' ratings of behavioural and emotional problems in 3-5-year-old children

BACKGROUND

The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), a valid and reliable instrument for measuring children's mental health, is available in parent- and teacher versions, making it an ideal tool for assessing behavioural and emotional problems in young children. However, few studies have evaluated inter-parent agreement on the SDQ, and in most studies on SDQ agreement, parent scores are either provided by only one parent or have been combined into one parent score. Furthermore, studies on SDQ inter-rater agreement usually only reflect degree of correlation, leaving the agreement between measurements unknown. The aim of the present study was therefore to examine both degree of correlation and agreement between parent and teacher SDQ reports, in a community sample of preschool-aged children in Sweden.

METHODS

Data were obtained from the Children and Parents in Focus trial. The sample comprised 4,469 children 3-5-years-old. Mothers, fathers and preschool teachers completed the SDQ as part of the routine health check-ups at Child Health Centres. Inter-rater agreement was measured using Pearson correlation coefficient and intraclass correlation (ICC).

RESULTS

Results revealed poor/fair agreement between parent and teacher ratings (ICC 0.25-0.54) and good/excellent agreement between mother and father ratings (ICC 0.66-0.76). The highest level of agreement between parents and teachers was found for the hyperactivity and peer problem subscales, whereas the strongest agreement between parents was found for the hyperactivity and conduct subscales.

CONCLUSIONS

Low inter-rater agreement between parent and teacher ratings suggests that information from both teachers and parents is important when using the SDQ as a method to identify mental health problems in preschool children. Although mothers and fathers each provide unique information about their child's behaviour, good inter-parent agreement indicates that a single parent informant may be sufficient and simplify data collection.

Emotional state of “young” fathers

<b>Background</b><br /> The birth of the first child begins a new stage in family life, and the woman and the man must adopt new roles in society. However, adapting to the new conditions of life and the requirements of the new role can be difficult.<br /> <b>Participants and procedure</b><br /> The main tools used in the study were the SUPIN scale, the STAI inventory and a questionnaire constructed by the authors. The participants were 90 men who became first time fathers in the period of 6 months prior to the study.<br /> <b>Results</b><br /> The results indicate that the first time fathers show a medium level of state anxiety related to the current situation and a low level of trait anxiety understood as an enduring disposition. The level of anxiety is related to the age of the child, but only in the men who fathered a son: the older the son was, the greater was the intensity of state anxiety in the father.<br /> <b>Conclusions</b><br /> The deep conviction that the father should be a role model for the son can be a source of anxiety about the ability to manage and the ability to meet the related responsibility. According to the tradition of our culture, the father has to prepare the son to be a man, to assume a man’s roles in society and teach him how to live. The lower intensity of positive emotions related to the birth of a daughter can be explained from the point of view of the true man stereotype – a daughter does not fulfil it.

Conducting Nonsexist Research, Prevention, and Treatment with Fathers and Mothers

In published research and in unpublished doctoral dissertation research, fathers are underrepresented in the investigation of child and family functioning. A number of possible explanations for this underrepresentation are discussed, including researchers' use of sexist theories that either directly or indirectly result in mother blaming, family demographics that suggest fathers are less present in the lives of their children when compared with mothers, and researchers' perceptions of fathers' unwillingness to participate in research. In order to encourage nonsexist family research that includes both mothers and fathers, recommendations are provided to increase the inclusion of fathers in child and family research. Specifically, researchers are encouraged to always provide parallel investigations of paternal factors when maternal factors are investigated. Researchers are also encouraged to investigate similarities as well as differences between mothers and fathers in relation to their children's functioning. Implications for the involvement of fathers in prevention and clinical interventions are discussed. In order to move beyond nonsexist research, feminist research issues are also raised.

Fathering an ADHD child: an examination of paternal well-being and social support

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of having a child diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) on the social and emotional well-being of fathers. While mothers have been carefully scrutinized in ADHD-related literature, fathers have been largely excluded from research designs developed to explore the effects of raising a child with ADHD. Prior research has been primarily based on small, clinically referred and homogenous samples, often without comparisons or controls. This research utilizes a nationally representative sample from the 2001 U.S. National Health Interview Survey to determine differences between fathers of children with ADHD and control fathers and to analyze how the ADHD status of the child, problematic behavior, use of medication, and paternal social support influences fathers’ sense of well-being. This research is also designed to determine whether there are child and family contexts in which the effect of ADHD status on paternal well-being is moderated. Contrary to previous findings about the emotional and social burden associated with raising an ADHD child, few differences between fathers were found.

Associations between paternal depression and behaviour problems in children of 4-6 years

Maternal depression is associated with adverse child development, however little is known about paternal depression and child outcome. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of paternal depression and assess its association with abnormal child behaviours among 4- 6-year-olds. Parents of 4- 6-years-olds were recruited via general practices and completed measures on child behaviour (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire), depression (Patient Health Questionnaire), and other covariates. The association of major and other paternal depressive syndrome with mother reported child behaviour was analysed. Eight percent (29/365) of fathers had depression (3.3 and 4.77% a major and other depressive syndrome, respectively). Major but not other paternal depressive syndrome was associated with an 8 and 36 times greater likelihood of child prosocial behaviour problems and peer problems respectively.

A feasibility study on recruiting fathers of young children to examine the impact of paternal depression on child development

Fathers are underrepresented in research on mental health and child outcome. We tested a range of methods of recruitment of fathers to establish feasibility and recruitment rates to obtain a sample for a study on paternal depression and child development. The study took place in North London. Fathers of children aged 6 years and under were approached via: general practice surgeries by post and by face-to-face contact with attendees; child health surveillance clinics face-to-face or via their partners and via hospital postnatal wards face-to-face or by post. Researcher time and associated costs were monitored for each method, and symptoms of depression and anxiety measured using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Face-to-face recruitment of fathers on the postnatal ward generated the highest return rate of HADS (28/37; 76%), followed by postal recruitment through general practice (41%;124/303). Lower response rates were observed with postal recruitment via postnatal wards (31%), recruitment in child health surveillance clinics (20%) and approaching attendees in general practice (16%). Twelve percent (23/194) and 30% (58/194) of fathers respectively reported depression and anxiety above the cut-off for case-definition. Costs were calculated on pro-rata researcher time. Costs of recruiting one participant ranged from 3 pounds sterling (general practice postal) to 11.75 pounds sterling (child health surveillance clinics), however the general practice attender method was disproportionately expensive (52.50 pounds sterling). This feasibility study shows that it is possible to recruit fathers to mental health studies and provides clear guidance on planning, costing and the expected levels of recruitment for future studies on fathers of young children.

Fathers' participation in family research: is there a self-selection bias?

The representativeness of fathers who participate in family research was examined among 661 families. Approximately two thirds of eligible fathers participated. Mothers' and observers' reports on families of participating and non-participating fathers were compared. Participating fathers underrepresented fathers with less education, later-born children, more ambivalent marriages, partners with more traditional child-rearing beliefs, families with less optimal parenting environments, and infants who were unplanned, had more difficult temperaments, and were less healthy. Also underrepresented were ethnic minority families and working-class fathers. However, no differences were found in regard to child gender, family income, mothers' psychosocial functioning, either parent's employment experiences, or child-care arrangements. Implications for the generalizability of findings and the recruitment of fathers are discussed.

Recruiting older adults for clinical trials

More than 400 community-dwelling older adults were recruited into a clinical trial which compared the effectiveness of diagnosis and treatment through geriatric assessment with that provided through usual community physician care. Six recruitment methods were utilized: referrals, solicitations, presentations, media, mailings, and fliers. Each method is described and its results reported in terms of numbers recruited, yield, and cost per participant. The most efficient method was referrals; the method producing the largest number was presentations; the least effective method was fliers. Problems and solutions are discussed, and guidelines for recruiting older adults are suggested. These guidelines include: monitoring with accompanying adaptation, targeting the groups most likely to benefit, providing incentives, and reducing uncertainty among potential participants.

Family demographics of clinically referred children: what we know and what we need to know

Published empirical studies were reviewed to establish family demographics of clinically referred children and adolescents. Data on parental marital status were collected from studies of referred and nonreferred children and adolescents in six empirical journals. Data on family socioeconomic status (SES) and child race or ethnicity were also collected. Based on 86 studies that presented parental marital status, 56.4% of clinically referred children and adolescents live with both their biological mother and biological father. Family SES data were difficult to summarize because of the different methods of presenting this information. When considering race and ethnicity, 86% of the children and adolescents in the clinical samples were Caucasian American. Of the studies that were originally reviewed, 80.4% did not include parental marital status and 36.7% did not include SES, race, or ethnicity of the participants. There were no significant differences between journals in the rates of inclusion of family demographic data. In addition to revealing family demographic information about children and adolescents who participate in clinical research, these data highlight the lack of consistency in the presentation of family demographic data in published research. Suggestions are provided to help researchers collect and present meaningful family demographic data in clinical and nonclinical research with children and adolescents.

The incidence of reporting consent rates in nursing research articles

The study described the incidence of reporting consent rates (CRs) in nursing research articles, ascertained the mean CR for nursing research articles, ascertained differences between those studies that reported a CR and those that did not report a CR, and compared studies that used clinical populations to studies that used nonclinical populations. Research articles (371) from three nursing research journals were examined. Results showed that: (a) 40.7 percent of articles reported a CR, (b) the mean CR was 71.8 percent, (c) 41.1 percent reported inadequate CRs, (d) studies reporting a CR differed from those that did not on five of nine variables, and (e) studies employing clinical populations reported higher consent rates than did studies that employed nonclinical populations.