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Journal Article The authors compared the involvement in children's development and education of 38 fathers of preschoolers with hearing loss to the involvement of a matched group of 36 fathers of preschoolers with normal hearing, examining correlations between child, father, and family characteristics. Fathers completed self-reports regarding their parental involvement and parenting self-efficacy and reported on their family cohesion and adaptability. Mothers also reported on their husbands' involvement. Similarly high levels of involvement on the part of both groups of fathers were found. Involvement…
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Journal Article Although many fathers today spend more time with children than was the case in the past, physical care of young children remains primarily mothers' work. Yet some fathers claim that they do work traditionally seen as the "mother's job" every day. Using subsample data from the male respondent file of the National Survey of Family Growth 2002 (n = 613), this study examines factors associated with married or cohabiting fathers' daily involvement in physical care of children under age 5 years. Logistic regression results show that daily involvement is more likely if fathers were raised by their…
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Journal Article Purpose: The primary objective of this study was to report on the occurrence of mental health difficulties for a large national sample of Australian fathers of children aged 0-5 years ( n = 3,471). Secondary objectives were to compare fathers' mental health against normative data for the general male adult population, and to examine the course of mental health problems for fathers across the early childhood period. Methods: Secondary analysis of data from the infant cohort of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children at three waves when children were 0-12 months, 2-3 and 4-5 years.…
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Journal Article This article develops an account of the emotional dimension of minimally decent parenting, with reference to the capability approach to thinking about need. It outlines social interests at stake in ensuring children's healthy emotional development, and evaluates public policy implications of its account of children's emotional needs. Proposals to license parents are rejected in favor of increased public education around the needs of children and the demands of parenting, increased public recognition of the need for social supports for parenting, and more diffused social responsibility for…
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Journal Article The present study examined whether fathers' additive risk and resilience when the child is an infant and age 5 predicted paternal engagement with children at age 5. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing study (N = 4,898), we found that the results confirmed the hypothesis that early risk has a negative effect and early resilience has a positive effect on engagement 4 years later. Later father risk had a stronger negative effect on nonresidential fathers than on residential fathers. The effect of early father risk on engagement at age 5 was moderated by father engagement…
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Journal Article This study deals with how substance-dependent men perceive their paternal identity. Data were based on in-depth semi-structured interviews with 12 Israeli fathers who were enrolled in methadone maintenance treatment. Content analysis revealed that participants had undergone a process of parental identity formation composed of four distinct stages: absence, awakening, taking responsibility, and resolution to re-form oneself as a father. The discussion highlights the developmental nature of this process. Also discussed are the effects of three factors on the formation of paternal identity: the…
