Father Involvement in Immigrant and Ethnically Diverse Families from the Prenatal Period to the Second Year: Prediction and Mediating Mechanisms

Abstract

This longitudinal study focused on fathers' involvement from the prenatal period through infants' first year in Dominican immigrants (n=73), Mexican immigrants (n=65) and African Americans (n=66) residing in New York City. Fathers' prenatal involvement, the quality of the mother-father relationship, fathers' postnatal involvement with their 1-and 6 month olds and fathers' involvement with their 14 month-olds (i.e., time spent with infant; eating meals with infant; activities with infant) were examined. Father involvement was uniformly high and stable. Fathers' prenatal involvement predicted involvement at 14 months, and the quality of the mother-father relationship mediated these associations. Father ethnicity and residency moderated associations between the fathermother relationship, father postnatal involvement and father involvement with 14 month olds.

How Does Migration Affect Mothers’ and Fathers’ Roles Within their Families? Reflections on some Recent Research

“…Likewise, Updegraff et al (2009) found that Mexican-American mothers reported spending more time with their children, about whom they expressed greater warmth and acceptance than fathers did. Chuang and Su (2009), Cabrera et al (2009), and Tamis-LeMonda et al (2009 all observed that this distinction between maternal and paternal roles was established very early in the children's lives, with the quality of the relationship between the fathers and mothers molding dynamics even before the children were born, and prenatal involvement predicting postnatal involvement by immigrant fathers from Mexico and the Dominican Republic (Tamis-LeMonda et al 2009). …”

Envolvimento paterno aos 12 meses de vida do bebê

“…Além disto, a responsabilização da mãe pelos cuidados do bebê também pode contribuir a ponto de ter pouco contato com o filho. Para além disto, a interação do pai com o bebê com um ano de vida pode estar também relacionada ao envolvimento do pai desde a gestação, e que vai se ampliando ao longo do tempo (Tamis-LeMonda, Kahana-Kalman, & Yoshikawa, 2009). Soma-se a isto o fato de os pais muitas vezes terem uma percepção de menor eficácia parental quando comparando à mãe (Ferreira et al, 2014 Mesmo existindo em nossa sociedade a tendência a uma atualização do papel paterno, que passou a ser mais participativo (Vieira et.…”

Longitudinal Patterns of Unmarried Resident Fathers' Engagement with Young Children in the U.S.: Examining the Role of Ethnicity and Extended Family Relationship

“…Public policies and intervention strategies need to focus on supporting Black unmarried resident fathers to maintain their initial level of engagement with young children over time. Given the evidence from past research that enhancing the quality of the mother-father relationship may improve later father engagement quality (Tamis-LeMonda et al, 2009), future research should also examine the extent to which unmarried resident fathers' relationship quality with their child's mothers affect father engagement change over time.…”

“…African American fathers are known as ethnic fathers who highly value their parental role within their family system characterized by a relatively equitable distribution of childcare responsibilities between mothers and fathers (Tamis-LeMonda, Kahana-Kalman, & Yoshikawa, 2009). Coley and Chase-Lansdale (1999) also indicated that the majority of African American fathers in their study showed high levels of engagement at the time of children's birth, during infancy, and when children were 3-year-old.…”

“…In the 2010 U.S. Census, White population accounted for 72.4 percent of all people living in the U.S. and African American population represented 12.6 percent of the total population (Humes, Jones, & Ramirez, 2011). These two ethnic groups also represent unique cultural backgrounds that reflect different fathers' role within the family system (Tamis-LeMonda, Kahana-Kalman, & Yoshikawa, 2009).…”