Fathers’ frightening behaviours and sensitivity with infants: relations with fathers’ attachment representations, father–infant attachment, and children’s later outcomes

Abstract

This longitudinal study of 125 families investigated whether negative child outcomes related to fathers' frightening (FR) behaviours with infants would be mitigated if fathers were also sensitive. Results indicated that children whose fathers were frightening and insensitive with them during infancy showed the highest emotional under-regulation at 24 months and highest teacher ratings of attention problems at age 7, whereas those whose fathers were frightening and sensitive did not differ from children whose fathers were sensitive but not frightening. Sensitive caregiving mitigated the negative impact of FR behaviours on child outcomes for fathers, but not mothers. Perhaps fathers who can be sensitive but also engage in stimulating, albeit frightening, interactions with their infants may actually be scaffolding their ability to regulate their affect in intensely emotional situations. FR behaviours by mothers may be more problematic for child outcomes since these behaviours conflict with the primary caregiver's role of providing comfort.Since the early 1970s, research on fathers and their role in children's development has steadily increased. Studies have shown that infants become attached to fathers as well as mothers (Lamb, 1997), and that fathers make important contributions to their children's developmental outcomes (Lamb, 2002). Still, research on father-infant attachment and its relation to paternal caregiving and child outcomes has lagged far behind the research on mother-infant attachment, primarily because attachment theory characterises fathers as secondary attachment figures, and there has been relatively little discussion of what the role of a "secondary" attachment figure is. As the secondary attachment figure, do fathers have the same function as mothers, but to a lesser degree, or do they serve qualitatively different functions?Most of the research on father-infant attachment and caregiving has assumed the latter and thus has focused on replicating findings from the mother-infant attachment literature with fathers, using the same assessments and hypotheses. Specifically, recent research has indicated that both fathers and mothers who have secure-autonomous

Marital conflict and parental responses to infant negative emotions: Relations with toddler emotional regulation

“…Whereas mothers may socialize children primarily in the context of caregiving, fathers may do so primarily in the context of play (Umemura, Jacobvitz, Messina, & Hazen, 2013). Fathers often arouse their child's emotions when playing and then help calm the child down (Hazen, McFarland, Jacobvitz, & Boyd-Soisson, 2010), which may provide practice in emotional regulation for infants and toddlers (Grossmann, Grossmann, Fremmer-Bombik, Kindler, & Scheuerer-Englisch, 2002). Thus, if fathers respond to infant negative emotion with distressed responses, this could be particularly dysregulating, leading to greater toddler negative or flat/withdrawn affect.…”

Father-Infant Attachment and Role of Nurse: Review

“…Bu dönemde bebekler acıktıklarında ve yorulduklarında annelerini, aktif oldukları oyun zamanlarında ise babalarını tercih etmektedirler. 20,21 Babalar annelere göre bebekleriyle daha çok oyun faaliyetleriyle meşguldür ve daha az bakım verme rolünü üstlenirler. Primer olarak anneler bebeklerin bakımlarını üstlenir ve onlara her an ulaşabilecek yakınlıktadırlar.…”

“…Bunun gerçekleşmesinde, bebeğin algıları da etkilidir. 20,21 Bağlanma konusunda, annenin etkisi kabul edilen bir gerçektir. Dolayısıyla baba-bebek bağ-lanmasını belirleyen en önemli koşul, anne-babanın iletişim biçimidir.…”

“…24 Baba bebek arasındaki bağlanmanın sağlıklı kurulabilmesi için babanın ilk bir yıl içerisinde bebeğin bakımı ile ilgili tüm faaliyetlere doğrudan katılması gerektiği belirtilmektedir. 21 Caldera'nın yaptığı araştırma da bu sonucu desteklemekte olup, çocukların bakımında aktif rol alan babaların almayan babalara göre daha çok çocuklarıyla güvenli bağlanma yaşadıkları saptanmıştır. 5 Babalık deneyiminin bağlanmaya etkisini değerlendiren bir başka çalışmada ise deneyimli babalar ile ilk defa bebek sahibi olan babaların bebeklerine bağlanma arasında bir farklılık olmadığı saptanmıştır.…”

Do toddlers prefer the primary caregiver or the parent with whom they feel more secure? The role of toddler emotion

“…When infants and toddlers are content, they may seek interaction from either caregiver. Previous studies have found that fathers often engage in physically stimulating and unpredictable play (ClarkeStewart, 1978;Hazen, McFarland, Jacobvitz, & Boyd-Soisson, 2010;Paquette, 2004;Power & Parke, 1983;Teti, Bond, & Gibbs, 1988). For example, fathers tend to provide staccato bursts of both physical and social stimulation to their newborn infants whereas mothers tend to be more rhythmic and containing (Yogman, 1981).…”