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Journal Article Despite the good reasons in which poor health could impede parenting, relatively little research considers this possibility. This study uses data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N?=?3,376) and propensity score matching to examine the relationship between maternal and paternal health limitations—health conditions that limit the amount or type of work one can do—and mother- and father-reported parenting stress, cooperation in parenting, and engagement with children. First, the authors find that mothers' and fathers' health limitations are associated with greater parenting…
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Journal Article While research exists on maternal preferences and decisions about child care, fathers are an underrepresented population in this literature. In an effort to fill this gap, this study examines the types of child care preferred, the level of involvement in the decision-making process, as well as the importance of certain characteristics of nonparental care in a sample of 130 fathers of children under the age of 6 years (6.2% of whom did not live with the child). Sixty-four percent of fathers in this sample indicated active involvement in making child care decisions with the child’s mother and…
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Journal Article This editorial shares lessons learned from providing a parenting intervention, employment support, an internship, case management, and behavioral health services to young fathers in a community-based program, FatherWorks (an adaptation of Supporting Father Involvement), designed to reduce unintended pregnancies. These lessons were identified through monthly team meetings over the course of a six-year grant from the Personal Responsibility Education Innovative Strategies Program of the Family and Youth Services Bureau. (Author abstract modified)
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Journal Article Recent estimates indicating that approximately 10% of fathers experience Paternal Perinatal Depression (PPND) and the increasing evidence of the impact of PPND on child development suggest that identifying and assisting distressed fathers is justified on public health grounds. However, addressing new fathers’ mental health needs requires overcoming men’s infrequent contact with perinatal health services and their reluctance to seek help. Text-based interventions delivering information and support have the potential to reach such groups in order to reduce the impact of paternal perinatal…
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Journal Article The purpose of the present study was to evaluate generic and pediatric parenting stress in an international sample of fathers of children with type 1 diabetes. Two-hundred forty-nine fathers of children ages 2 to 10 years with type 1 diabetes completed the Parenting Stress Index, Pediatric Inventory for Parents, Dads' Active Disease Support Scale (DADS), Self-Care Inventory, and a demographic/disease-related questionnaire online. More frequency of pediatric parenting stress was associated with greater general parenting stress (r = −0.25, P < .001), DADS Involvement (r = 0.18, P < .01…
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Journal Article Past research typically has used questionnaires and structured laboratory studies to understand children's emotion expressions, parent behavioral responses to their negative emotions, and children's subsequent emotional reactions. This study was designed to investigate how these behaviors unfold during families' everyday lives. Thirty‐one families were recorded going about their daily lives as part of a larger study of the everyday lives of families and footage of target parent-child interactions was isolated and analyzed. (Author abstract modified)
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Journal Article Research suggests that many fathers struggle balancing hegemonic masculine norms with new fatherhood ideals. This study uses data on 2,194 fathers from a national study on fathers of children aged 2 to 18 and incorporates a comprehensive assessment of masculine norms to examine whether adherence to masculine norms is associated with father involvement and whether this relationship is mediated by fathers' adherence to the new fatherhood ideal that promotes engaged, nurturing parenting. Results suggest that fathers who more closely adhere to masculine norms are less involved in instrumental…
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Journal Article The emerging literature on fatherhood is contributing to the reframing of public perceptions of low-income nonresident fathers by focusing on father presence rather than absence. Insights into how and when fathers contribute to their children beyond financial support provides for astrengths-based perspective to engage fathers in services provided for their children. A review of this literature includes practice implications related to the need for: (a) father engagement training for agency staff, (b) father-friendly programs and services, (c) child support policy reform, and (d) more…
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Journal Article Despite high heritability, no research has followed children with ADHD to parenthood to study their offspring and parenting behaviors. Given greater prevalence of ADHD in males and lack of research involving fathers, this study evaluated offspring of fathers with and without ADHD histories for ADHD and disruptive behavior and compared fathers’ parenting behaviors. Male fathers (N = 29) from the Pittsburgh ADHD Longitudinal Study (PALS) participated with their preschool-aged offspring. Fathers completed self-reported measures, and father-child dyads completed an interaction task. ADHD…
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Journal Article High-quality father involvement in childrearing is associated with positive child outcomes. Yet, variability between fathers in parenting quality remains. The present study examined associations between maternal gatekeeping and fathers’ observed parenting quality in 182 dual-earner families who transitioned to parenthood in 2008–2009. Maternal gatekeeping, or beliefs and behaviors that may serve to discourage (gate close) or encourage (gate open) father involvement in childrearing, was measured using fathers’ reports at 3- and 9-months postpartum. Fathers’ parenting quality was assessed…
