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Journal Article This paper reviews the research of the past two decades that addresses the relationship between family structure and early child health outcomes. Specifically, we focus on family structure's influence on child health during pregnancy, birth, and infancy. We briefly summarize the most pervasive changes to family structure in the US during recent decades and discuss how early child health is linked to future outcomes for children and adults. We review research that highlights the mechanisms linking family structure to early child health and identify key risk and protective factors for children…
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Journal Article Adult men often report a sense of feeling a father wound when reflecting on their own father-son relationship. Perhaps in part due to a rejection of traditional fathering practices that may have contributed to such wounds, fathers today are increasingly adopting a 'new involved father' role that is more welcoming of emotional expression and involvement in a child's life. This paper argues that adopting this new role may allow men to not only connect with their sons, but also to come to terms with problematic aspects of their own father-son relationship. In this way, fathering a son may allow…
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Journal Article Background: Factors related to parents and parenting capacities are important predictors of the development of behavioural problems in children. Recently, there has been an increasing research focus in this field on the earliest years of life; however, relatively few studies have addressed the role of fathers, despite this appearing to be particularly pertinent to child behavioural development. This study aimed to examine whether father-infant interactions at age 3 months independently predicted child behavioural problems at 1 year of age. Method: A sample of 192 families was recruited from…
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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 Using data from 182 dual-earner couples experiencing the transition to parenthood, this study examined associations between prenatal involvement, gender-role beliefs, and maternal gatekeeping and new fathers' involvement in child health care. Results indicated that prenatal father involvement was associated with fathers' direct engagement in child health care and perceived influence in child health-related decision making. Fathers also demonstrated greater direct engagement in child health care when mothers held more nontraditional beliefs about gender roles. Moreover, when mothers were more…
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Journal Article Gay men are becoming increasingly involved in reproduction despite significant barriers limiting their access to reproductive technologies or legal parentage in many jurisdictions. Based on in-depth interviews with gay men in the United States and Australia who have become parents through surrogacy, I explore how gay men understand their desire to have children and what frames their parenthood experiences. The notion of choice is widespread in understandings of gay parenthood and family formation. Most of the men in this study did not develop a "procreative consciousness" as a result of…
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Journal Article This article reports on a qualitative study about male involvement in parenthood decision making (i.e., decisions related to becoming a first-time parent) in which the focus was on White, heterosexual men. Little is known about the roles and involvement of these men in decision-making processes. They comprise an invisible norm in research as heteronormative assumptions about parenthood cause them to be overlooked. This oversight-exacerbated by the pervasive problem perspective in social science-forms the research rationale. Conducted within a gender-relational framework, the study included 23…
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Journal Article Purpose: To examine evidence of the continuity in abusive discipline across two generations (G1 and G2) and the role of safe, stable, and nurturing relationships (SSNRs) as protective factors. Methods: Data are from the Lehigh Longitudinal Study, a prospective investigation of the causes and consequences child maltreatment that began in the 1970s with a sample of 457 children and their parents. Data were most recently collected in 2008-2010 from 80% of the original child sample (N = 357) when they were adults age 36 years on average. Of those assessed as adults, 268 participants (G2s) were…
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Journal Article Purpose: We examine two research questions. First, does a history of child maltreatment victimization significantly increase the likelihood of maltreatment perpetration during adulthood? Second, do safe, stable, and nurturing relationships (SSNRs) during early adulthood serve as direct protective factors, buffering protective factors, or both to interrupt intergenerational continuity in maltreating behaviors? Methods: Data come from the Rochester Youth Development Study that followed a community sample from age 14 to 31 with 14 assessments. Maltreatment victimization records covering birth…
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Journal Article This study investigated the associations between fathers' contributions to housework and childcare and both spouses' parenting aggravation. It was hypothesized that greater father contributions to domestic labor would be associated with more paternal aggravation but less maternal aggravation. Data are from a four-wave study of 178 married couples undergoing the transition to first parenthood. Dyadic growth-curve models revealed gender differences in aggravation trajectories over the first year of the child's life. Fathers were higher in initial aggravation, but mothers' aggravation grew at a…
