Doing It All For My Baby: Determinants of Multidimensional Paternal Involvement with Infants

Abstract

The measurement of paternal involvement as a multidimensional construct has evolved with current societal trends of fathering and corresponding advanced theories. As a result, research must keep pace by continuing to examine predictors of the dynamic ways that fathers are involved with their children, particularly with infants. The current study built upon Belsky’s theoretical model of determinants of parenting to posit that paternal involvement with their infants (dependent variable) will be influenced by a combination of father, child, and contextual factors (independent variables). A total of 456 participants were recruited within the United States. Paternal involvement was categorized into five subfactors from the Paternal Involvement with their Infants Scale (PIWIS). Five separate linear regressions were conducted using each of the PIWIS subscale domains as the dependent variable. Results provide support for examining paternal involvement with a multidimensional approach. Characteristics of the child, and psychosocial and relational and contextual variables of the father were uniquely related to the five domains of involvement measured by the PIWIS. Clinical and programmatic implications as well as future directions for research are discussed.

Determinants of Paternal Engagement: Investigating Low-Income Fathers’ Caregiving, Play, and Verbal Engagement With Infants

“…In addition to infant age, evidence suggests that infants’ health may influence fathering. Specifically, Cole et al (2020) found fathers of infants with colic and reflux reported higher levels of warmth and attunement. The authors suggested that through comforting their infants, fathers may form greater emotional connections with their children.…”

“…Although early work using this model focused on maternal parenting, several subsequent studies have applied the framework to fathers (e.g. Cabrera et al, 2014; Cole et al, 2020; Coley & Hernandez, 2006). Thus, Belsky’s process model of parenting suggests that contributions from the child, the father, and the broader social context may influence low-income fathers’ engagement in verbal engagement, physical play, and caregiving behaviors with their infants.…”

“…Empirical evidence corroborates Belsky’s theoretical claim that the broader social context in which the parent–child relationship is embedded influences parenting. Contextual predictors of parenting include elements within the interparental relationship (e.g., relationship type and conflict; Fagan, 2014; Hohmann-Marriott, 2011), as well as elements of the broader social network (e.g., friendships, familial support; Cole et al, 2020). One extensively explored element of the interparental relationship is coparenting.…”

“…Likewise, our study tests four domains: child characteristics, father demographic characteristics, father psychological characteristics, and the broader social context. Through the division of Belsky’s parent domain, intervenable parent characteristics are isolated to better inform practice and policy (Cole et al, 2020). For a similar reason, fathers’ work hours, originally considered an element within the broader social context, is instead evaluated within our father demographic characteristics domain.…”

Development and validation of the Hope for Parenting Scale.

“…The only dimension of father involvement with infants that was not significantly correlated with hope for parenting in this study was indirect care, which includes behaviors such as taking your child to medical appointments or arranging childcare. Previous research has shown that a related construct of parenting satisfaction was not correlated with fathers of infants' indirect care (Cole et al, 2020). Limited research on the impact of hope for parenting contributes to a lack of knowledge regarding how hope for parenting is related to parental factors as well as how to support and encourage hope in parents.…”