Parenting Predictors of Father-Child Attachment Security: Interactive Effects of Father Involvement and Fathering Quality

Conflict and Father Involvement: The Unique Role of Postpartum Destructiveness for Fathers' Direct Care in Toddlerhood

Father involvement in childcare is associated with positive outcomes for children. Growing evidence supports many predictors of fathers' involvement, including maternal gatekeeping and father characteristics. The present study focuses on fathers' postpartum experiences, exploring parallel insights from environmental, interpersonal, and internal factors after having a baby to predict later involvement. We investigated how early household chaos, couple conflict, and father depressive symptoms in infancy predict later direct involvement in toddler care. The current study utilized data from 202 families participating in a parenting intervention program. We longitudinally assessed father reports of household chaos and their depressive symptoms, and employed an observational measure of conflict, at 6, 12, and 18 months postpartum to predict mother and father reports of father direct contributions to childcare at 18 months. Latent variables were created for household chaos, depressive symptoms, and destructiveness to incorporate reports 6 months apart. A structural equation model indicated father appraisals of household chaos were positively associated with depressive symptoms over time. Furthermore, couple destructiveness was negatively predictive of mothers' reports, but not fathers' reports of father direct care at 18 months after controlling for direct care behavior within 6 months postpartum. These results suggest that although father appraisals of his environment likely relate to his mental health, couple functioning played a greater role over time in direct care. We emphasize including fathers' appraisals of their experience in future research and underscore the potential impact of intervening at the couple level postpartum to support fathers' direct involvement in childcare over time.

Fathers' contributions to attachment in adolescence and adulthood: the moderating role of race, gender, income, and residential status

Fathers play a critical yet underappreciated role in adolescent development. To examine contributions of fathers' parenting to attachment in adolescence and adulthood, this longitudinal study followed 184 adolescents from ages 13-24. At age 13, adolescents reported on their fathers' parenting behavior and were observed in a father-teen conflict task; at ages 14 and 24, they completed the Adult Attachment Interview. Adolescents who lived with their father showed higher attachment security at age 14 (Cohen's d = .72), compared to those with non-residential fathers. Fathers' positive relatedness and support for teens' psychological autonomy predicted attachment security at age 14. Fathers' physical aggression predicted attachment insecurity in adolescence, whereas fathers' verbal aggression predicted insecurity in adulthood, illuminating developmental shifts. Pathways to security were moderated by father residential status, adolescent gender, and race. Findings underscore the importance of fathers' presence, autonomy support, and non-aggression in predicting adolescents' state of mind in close relationships.

Contributions of Multilevel Family Factors to Emotional and Behavioral Problems among Children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder in China

Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) is one of the most prevalent childhood mental health disorders and is extremely affected by family factors. However, limited studies have addressed the issue from the perspective of family systems. The current study examines the associations between multilevel family factors (i.e., family cohesion/ adaptability at system level, mother-child and father-child attachment at a dyadic level, and child self-esteem at an individual level) and emotional and behavioral problems among children with ODD in China. The participants were 256 Chinese children with ODD and their parents and class master teachers. A multiple-informant approach and structural equation model were used. The results revealed that system level factors (family cohesion/adaptability) were associated with child emotional and behavior problems indirectly through factors at the dyadic level (mother-child attachment) and the individual level (child self-esteem) in sequence. Mother-child, but not father-child, attachment, mediated the linkage between family cohesion/adaptability and the emotional problems of children with ODD. Moreover, child self-esteem mediated the association between mother-child attachment and child emotional and behavioral problems. The findings of the present study underscored that multilevel family factors are uniquely related to emotional and behavioral problems in children with ODD.

The Role of Child’s Age, Sex, and Temperament in Father Involvement during the Pre-School Years

(1) Background: The aim of the study was to explore how child’s characteristics (age, sex, and temperament) were associated with father’s involvement in child-related activities. In a sample of 410 bi-parental families with pre-school age children. (2) Methods: Dividing the sample into two age groups, OLS regression models were conducted for each dimension of father involvement with child characteristics as predicting variables. (3) Results: for the younger children (3 and 4 years) fathers were more involved in teaching/discipline and played with their more extroverted daughters. With older children (5 and 6 years), fathers were more involved in teaching/discipline and played when children were higher on negative-affectivity. An interaction was found with boys’ higher negative-affectivity, predicting fathers’ higher involvement in teaching and discipline. (4) Conclusions: Our results suggest that children’s characteristics have an impact on what fathers do, particularly in a dimension salient to pre-school years such as teaching/discipline. This can help build tailored empirical-sustained programs aiming to encourage and support fathers’ positive involvement.

Still Mother after All These Years: Infants Still Prefer Mothers over Fathers (If They Have the Choice)

Fathering and mothering have changed in many ways within the last decades. Earlier studies showed a clear hierarchy in infant attachment figures with a preference for mothers. This study examined whether infants in the 21st century still prefer mothers over fathers in their expression of attachment behaviors, whether differences in parental involvement still exist, and whether this will result in differences in attachment security to mother and father. A total of 50 German families with infants between 10 and 19 months were observed in an experimental setting and during home visits. Parents reported on their involvement. The results revealed a clear hierarchy with regard to the duration of attachment behaviors directed towards mothers, followed by fathers and strangers. Mothers reported to be more involved in child care on weekdays compared to fathers. Involvement was not associated with attachment variables. Attachment security to mother and father was positively related and did not differ significantly. Infants in the 21st century in a Western country still prefer mothers over fathers in their expression of attachment behaviors. Mothers were more involved in child care than fathers. However, these differences did not result in differences in attachment security to mother and father.

Gender and parental involvement in parent-child reminiscing in a Scandinavian sample

Despite the extensive bulk of literature on maternal reminiscing style, only a handful of reminiscing studies have investigated gender differences in parental reminiscing style, with none of these studies having explored the possible relationship between parental involvement level and parental reminiscing style. The current study investigated gender differences in parental reminiscing style across positive and negative event types in an egalitarian Scandinavian context while exploring the potential relationship between parental reminiscing style and parental involvement level. Mothers and fathers from N = 88 families reminisced about shared happy and sad events, respectively, with their 4-year-old children. Overall, parental involvement level was not related to parental reminiscing style. However, mothers' elaborations and positive evaluations were associated with their level of involvement level in the sad event conversations. Although mothers and fathers did not differ in their reminiscing style overall, gender differences appeared in the consistency of parental reminiscing style across event types.

Factors associated with autism severity among Malaysian children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

BACKGROUND

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) of different levels of symptom severity may exhibit a wide range of behaviours and characteristics. There is a limited nutrition-related study on children with ASD of different severity in Malaysia.

AIMS

This cross-sectional study aims to determine the association between sociodemographic factors, parental factors, and lifestyle factors with autism severity in children with ASD.

METHODS AND PROCEDURES

A total of 224 children with ASD were included in this study. Their mothers completed a self-administered questionnaire on sociodemographic characteristics, autism severity, parenting style, parental feeding practices, parenting stress, child's sleep habits and eating behaviours.

OUTCOMES AND RESULTS

As high as 78.1 % of the children with ASD demonstrated a high level of autism severity. Multiple linear regression showed that father's employment status (B = 6.970, 95 % CI = 3.172, 10.768, p < 0.001) and perceived child weight (B = 3.338, 95 % CI = 1.350, 5.327, p = 0.001) predicted autism severity.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

Children with ASD in this study had a high level of autism severity. Regular anthropometric measurements by healthcare professionals should be conducted at the autism intervention centres. It is important to have multidisciplinary collaboration in future research to develop customised guidelines for parents with autistic children.

Parents or Peers? Predictors of Prosocial Behavior and Aggression: A Longitudinal Study

The aim of this longitudinal study was to determine the associations among peer attachment, warmth from the mother and father, strict control by the mother and father, prosocial behavior, and physical and verbal aggression in adolescence. Few longitudinal studies have examined how peer attachment and parenting styles of the mother and father relate to prosocial behavior and aggression. Participants were 192 boys and 255 girls (M = 14.70 years; SD = 0.68) in wave 1. In the study participated 11 schools. For three successive years, participants reported on their fathers’ and mothers’ warmth and strict control, peer attachment, prosocial behavior, and aggression. Structural equations modeling was employed to explore two longitudinal models. Results show the influence of the mother and father on prosocial and aggression during adolescence. In addition, strong peer attachment predicted prosocial behavior in subsequent years. Therefore, the findings indicate that despite the increasingly important role of friends during the transition from childhood to adolescence, parenting styles play a key role in the personal and social development of their children. Programs aimed at preventing aggression should be designed considering the importance of stimulating and strengthening prosocial behavior, peer attachment and a family environment of affect, support and communication.

Pleasure in parenting and father-child attachment security

This study examined relations between father-child attachment security and both paternal sensitivity and fathers' pleasure in parenting. At 12 months of age sensitivity was coded from father-infant interactions and pleasure in parenting was coded from fathers' interviews assessing attitudes toward the parenting role. Father-child dyads participated in the Strange Situation Procedure assessing attachment relationship quality. Sensitivity was related to more pleasure in parenting, but neither variable alone predicted attachment security. However, pleasure in parenting moderated the association between sensitivity and attachment. Moreover, the concordance between sensitivity and pleasure in parenting differed markedly across attachment classifications. In secure relationships fathers showed strong concordance between sensitivity and pleasure in parenting. Fathers in avoidant relationships demonstrated high sensitivity coupled with low pleasure in parenting, whereas fathers in disorganized relationships showed low sensitivity coupled with high pleasure in parenting. Results speak to the importance of integrating cognitive, affective, and behavioral aspects of parenting in father-child attachment research.

Adoptive gay fathers' sensitivity and child attachment and behavior problems

Fathers' sensitivity and child attachment security and externalizing and internalizing problems were investigated among families headed by two adoptive gay fathers. A sample of 68 fathers and their 34 children aged 1-6 years participated in the study. Fathers completed a sociodemographic questionnaire and the Child Behavior Checklist. Parental sensitivity and child attachment security were assessed by independent coders with Q-sort methodology during parent-child interactions at home. Results indicate that few children had low attachment security scores and behavior problems in the clinical range. Fathers' sensitivity within parenting couples appeared similarly high, as did children's attachment security. In contrast to the weak association found in past studies among heterosexual fathers, a significant moderate correlation was found between paternal sensitivity and child attachment security. Also, children with higher levels of attachment security had less externalizing problems.

Social–ecological predictors of externalizing behavior trajectories in at-risk youth

Extant research consistently links youth externalizing problems and later maladaptive outcomes, and these behaviors are particularly detrimental given their relative stability across development. Although an array of risk and protective factors for externalizing problems have been identified, few studies have examined factors reflecting the multiple social–ecological levels that influence child development and used them to predict longitudinal trajectories of externalizing problems. The current study examined externalizing behavior trajectories in a sample of 1,094 at-risk youth (539 boys, 555 girls) from the Longitudinal Studies in Child Abuse and Neglect multisite longitudinal study of child maltreatment. Normed Child Behavior Checklist externalizing scores were used to estimate group trajectories via growth-based trajectory modeling at ages 10, 12, 14, and 16 using the SAS PROC TRAJ procedure. Model fit was assessed using the Bayes information criterion and the Akaike information criterion statistics. Analyses revealed optimal fit for five distinct behavioral trajectories: low stable, mid-increasing, mid-decreasing, medium high, and high stable. Multinomial logistic regressions revealed that a combination of risk and protective factors at individual, family, school, and neighborhood levels contribute to distinct trajectories of externalizing problems over time. Predictors of low and decreasing trajectories can inform interventions aimed at addressing externalizing problems among high-risk adolescents.

Father involvement and maternal depressive symptoms in families of children with disabilities or delays

This study examined the longitudinal association between fathers' early involvement in routine caregiving, literacy, play, and responsive caregiving activities at 9 months and maternal depressive symptoms at 4 years. Data for 3,550 children and their biological parents were drawn from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort data set. Analyses in a structural equation modeling framework examined whether the association between father involvement and maternal depressive symptoms differed for families of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and for families of children with other disabilities or delays from families of children who were typically developing. Results indicated that father literacy and responsive caregiving involvement were associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms for mothers of children with ASD. These findings indicate that greater father involvement may benefit families of children with ASD and highlight the need to support and encourage service providers to work with fathers.

Examining antecedents of infant attachment security with mothers and fathers: An ecological systems perspective

Taking an ecological systems perspective, early parent-child relationships can be affected by interactions between systems where some are more proximally linked to the child than others. Socioeconomic status, a distal factor, is associated with social functioning during childhood, but research on its association with functioning during infancy, particularly attachment, is scant and inconsistent. Moreover, it is not clear how distal factors affect infant functioning. Other systems such as marital adjustment and parenting may moderate or mediate relations between distal factors and infant attachment. The current longitudinal study (n=135) examined the role of various systems - parental resources, marital functioning, parental sensitivity and involvement - in early infancy (3-, 5-, 7-months) on infant-mother (12-months) and infant-father (14-months) attachment security. Findings supported moderating processes but in different ways for infant-mother versus infant-father dyads. Implications for future studies and interventions are discussed.

Concordance between the quality of maternal and paternal parenting behavior within couples

There is compelling evidence that the quality of maternal and paternal parenting behavior bears critical importance for child development. Yet, less is known of the degree of similarity between maternal and paternal parenting behavior in families, and especially little is known about the factors that may explain variation in degrees of similarity. This article aims to examine (a) the concordance (similarity) between the quality of mothers' and fathers' interactive behavior with their child and (b) the sociodemographic determinants of this concordance. The sample included 74 families (mother, father, and their child). The quality of maternal and paternal interactive behavior was assessed independently, and rated with the Maternal Behavior Q-Sort (mother-infant, 12 months; D. R. Pederson et al., 1990) or the Mutually Responsive Orientation scale (father-toddler, 18 months; N. Aksan et al., 2006). The results indicated that the overall correlation between the quality of mothers' and fathers' behavior was moderate. The concordance was greater among higher socioeconomic status families or when interacting with a boy, but did not differ according to the presence or absence of siblings in the family.

An initial examination of the association of reflective functioning to parenting of fathers

Parental reflective functioning (RF) is a parent's capacity to understand and take into account the mental states of their children. Research on RF is somewhat scarce and has focused primarily on mothers. Mothers high in RF have improved parent-child relationships in terms of attachment, sensitivity, and more balanced mental representations of their children, in addition to displaying more caregiving behaviors than do those low in this characteristic. Moreover, better maternal RF appears to be a key to the parenting success of substance-abusing mothers and predicts changes in the caregiving behaviors of these mothers following attachment-based interventions. Research on RF in fathers, on the other hand, has been limited to a few studies. This research has suggested that about half of new fathers have deficits in RF, but did not assess predictors of RF or measure RF in relation to parenting. The present study sought to present an initial exploration of the association of RF to the parenting of fathers in a sample of 79 fathers, approximately half with substance-abuse and violence problems and half without. Fathers were administered the Parent Developmental Interview-Revised (A. Slade, J.L. Aber, I. Bresgi, B. Berger, & M. Kaplan, ) and self-report measures of parenting. Results suggested that less education and increased drug use are associated with lower RF. RF was not predictive of self-reported parenting behaviors in this sample. Although RF may vary with substance-abuse level and socioeconomic status among men and women, these results indicate that RF may be less associated with parenting behaviors of fathers. However, further research in this area is needed.

Marital satisfaction and quality of father-child interactions: the moderating role of child gender

The authors aimed to investigate the prospective links between normative variation in fathers' marital satisfaction and the observed quality of father-toddler interactions, as well as the moderating role of child gender in these associations. Sixty-three fathers reported on their marital satisfaction when their children were 15 months of age, and were observed interacting with their child at 18 months. The results suggested that marital satisfaction was positively associated with the quality of father-son interactions, while no relations emerged among fathers of girls. These findings reiterate the importance of marital relationships for the quality of fathers' parenting, while reaffirming previous suggestions that the role of child gender in the marriage-parenting connections requires further investigation.

Daily parenting engagement among new mothers and fathers: the role of romantic attachment in dual-earner families

We investigated the association of prenatal assessments of mothers' and fathers' self-reported romantic attachment anxiety and avoidance with the time mothers and fathers reported in proximity-focused and exploration-focused engagement with their infants at 9 months postpartum. Our sample of 136 dual-earner couples came from a larger longitudinal study of the transition to parenthood. Time in proximity-focused (interactions that emphasize physical or emotional connection) and exploration-focused (activities that stimulate and build knowledge of the world) engagement on workdays and nonworkdays were measured using time diaries. Using actor-partner interdependence models, we found significant across-partners associations between romantic attachment and parental engagement. In particular, analyses revealed interesting interactions: fathers higher in avoidance spent more time in exploration-focused engagement on workdays when mothers were more anxious, whereas mothers higher in anxiety spent more time in proximity-focused engagement on nonworkdays when fathers were more avoidant. Moreover, fathers demonstrated a compensatory pattern of engagement in response to mother's greater attachment anxiety or avoidance. Findings support the utility of studying romantic attachment within a family system and extend the literature on correlates of early parental engagement.

IVF-Conceiving Fathers' Experiences of Early Parenthood

This study explored the experiences of fathers during early parenthood, with a particular focus on relationships with their partners, their children and the impact of infertility treatment. Eight fathers who had a child conceived through in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) participated in in-depth interviews and responses were analysed using Modified Analytic Induction. Findings indicated that in the first year of their child's life fathers deferred primary caretaking to their partners, as they perceived them as more able to meet the needs of the child at that developmental stage. However, as the child grew older, and fathers could interact more they came to view themselves as the friend or playmate of the child, a role they experienced as highly rewarding. Reasons that may have accounted for deferring the primary caretaker role in the first year included low self-efficacy beliefs about their ability to care for a newborn infant, perceived partner criticism of their parenting abilities, and the complementary parenting roles adopted in their family. Findings also revealed that fathers experienced relationship concerns due to increased parenting responsibilities limiting the time and energy they had to engage in companionate activities with their partners. Fathers in this research explicitly reported that the difficulties associated with conception and IVF treatment had no impact on early parenthood.

Parental Involvement, Child Temperament, and Parents' Work Hours: Differential Relations for Mothers and Fathers

This study examined how child temperament was related to parents' time spent accessible to and interacting with their 2-year-olds. Bivariate analyses indicated that both fathers and mothers spent more time with temperamentally challenging children than easier children on workdays, but fathers spent less time with challenging children than easier children on non-workdays. After accounting for work hours, some associations between temperament and fathers' workday involvement dropped to non-significance. For fathers, work hours also moderated the relation between irregular temperament and workday play. For mothers, work hours moderated the relation between both difficult and irregular temperament and workday interaction. Mothers also spent more time with girls (but not boys) who were temperamentally irregular. Results speak to the influence of child temperament on parenting behavior, and the differential construction of parenting roles as a function of child characteristics and patterns of work.