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Journal Article Following an earlier randomized clinical trial, now with broadened sample criteria, 236 low-income White, Mexican American, and African American couples participated in 16-week Supporting Father Involvement couples groups, with assessments at baseline, 2-, and 13-months postintervention. Because couples in the earlier control condition experienced no benefits and some declines in adaptation, a control condition was not offered. Data from the original couples groups (n = 96) and controls (n = 98) served as benchmarks for evaluating the current results. Of 11 measures in this study, 10 revealed…
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Journal Article This study examines the relationships among nonresident fathers' financial support, informal instrumental support, mothers' parenting and parenting stress, and their children's behavioral and cognitive development in single-mother families with low income. Informed by stress-coping and social support models, this study estimates the mediating effects of nonresident fathers' financial support on children's outcomes transmitted through mothers' parenting and parenting stress. The analyses use the longitudinal data from a subsample of 679 single mothers in the Fragile Families and Child…
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Journal Article Background: Despite robust evidence of fathers' impact on children and mothers, engaging with fathers is one of the least well-explored and articulated aspects of parenting interventions. It is therefore critical to evaluate implicit and explicit biases manifested in current approaches to research, intervention, and policy. Methods: We conducted a systematic database and a thematic hand search of the global literature on parenting interventions. Studies were selected from Medline, Psychinfo, SSCI, and Cochrane databases, and from gray literature on parenting programs, using multiple search…
There's no tougher job than being a parent, or so the saying goes. This sentiment seems to be confirmed by a new Pew Research Center analysis of government time use data. Parents find caring for their children to be much more exhausting than the work they do for pay. At the same time, parents find much more meaning in the time they spend with their children than in the time they spend at work. (Author abstract)
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Journal Article The association between paternal involvement in therapy, adolescent outcomes and maternal depression was examined within the context of Multisystemic Therapy (MST), an empirically supported, family- and community-based treatment for antisocial adolescents. Ninety-nine families were recruited from five mental health agencies providing MST. We compared families with paternal involvement in therapy (PIT) to families with no paternal involvement in therapy (NPIT) in pre-post change in adolescents' externalizing and internalizing behaviours and also in maternal depression. There was a significant…
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Training Materials This manual contains tested group education modules intended for fathers and their partners, most often spouses, in the plantation region (or tea estates) of Sri Lanka. It offers a series of tested activities and group discussions that provide a strong foundation for addressing and transforming norms within families, communities, and, of course, masculinity, and aims to promote gender equality within the home and children's healthy development and overall well-being. (Author abstract)
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Journal Article The Triple P Positive Parenting Program is a public health parenting intervention aimed at reducing risk factors associated with poor developmental outcomes in children. In 2007, the New South Wales Government funded universal free access the program for all families with children aged between three and eight years. Two years later, Nexus Management Consulting was commissioned to evaluate the impact of the initiative on processes and practices and child and parent outcomes, as well as cost effectiveness. This article provides an overview of the evaluation's key findings, focusing on the…
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Journal Article The high prevalence of mental health problems in foster children is well-documented (e.g., Armsden, Pecora, Payne, & Szatkiewicz, 2000; Tarren-Sweeney, 2008). From an ecological perspective, it can be expected that several factors in different systems (e.g., foster child, foster family, biological parents, and community) influence foster children's behavioral problems. Mainly, the influence of pre-care experiences, such as a history of maltreatment (Oswald, Heil, & Goldbeck, 2010), and in-care experiences, such as the number of out-of-home placements (Newton, Litrownik, &…
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Journal Article Positive attachment experiences during infancy are linked to positive developmental outcomes of children later in life. The parent-infant relationship does not start upon the birth of the child, but already evolves during pregnancy. In this exploratory study, fathers' experiences during pregnancy are investigated, focusing on their relationship with the unborn baby. At 26 weeks gestational age, expectant fathers from a Dutch community-based sample (N = 301) completed questionnaires concerning feelings of attachment to the fetus and psychological well-being. The semistructured Working Model of…
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Journal Article A large percentage of men who perpetrate intimate partner violence (IPV) are fathers who continue to live with or have visitation with their children. Yet, providers rarely consider that fathers who perpetrate IPV may benefit from a parent-child focused intervention. Therapeutic work with men who perpetrate IPV, especially with their children, is complex, considering that issues of child safety take precedence. This article is meant to provide (a) a rationale for considering father-child intervention in the context of IPV, (b) specific strategies for assessment, (c) guidelines for determining…
