Father Involvement in Urban Low-Income Fathers: Baseline Associations and Changes Resulting From Preventive Intervention

Abstract

This study investigates father involvement among a sample of ethnically diverse, low‐income men participating in a randomized controlled trial of a 14‐hour relationship education program that teaches skills and principles for healthy relationships. Utilizing data from 137 fathers, we examined contextual, individual, and coparental relationship pretest correlates of father involvement and found the strongest predictors were income, religiosity, ethnicity, and parenting alliance. Pre‐post analyses on a subsample of 112 fathers revealed that workshop participants increased father involvement compared to controls and men whose partner attended workshops alone. Among workshop attendees, increased father involvement was significantly predicted by increased parental alliance. Implications for improving fathering by targeting the couple relationship are discussed.

Do Sexist Mothers Change More Diapers? Ambivalent Sexism, Maternal Gatekeeping, and the Division of Childcare

“…Many intervention programs have therefore been developed to promote paternal involvement and positive family outcomes (e.g., Cowan et al 2009;Panter-Brick et al 2014;Rienks et al 2011). Some of these programs focus specifically on the co-parenting relationship and are designed to reduce maternal gatekeeping and enhance collaboration between parents (McHale and Carter 2012; Pruett et al 2017).…”

Participación parental en intervenciones familiares para prevenir drogodependencias: una revisión empírica

“…In addiction, Barkley and colleagues (2000) found that parental education was a stronger predictor of parent participation than socioeconomic status or parental depression. More recent research had replicated most of these findings, particularly the positive relationship between parent's education level and attendance and the negative association between participation and family structure (singe-parent families), large number of children, low family income and larger family size (Quinn, Hall, Smith & Rabiner, 2010;Rienks, Wadsworth, Markman, Einhorn & Etter, 2011;Eisner & Meidert, 2011;Bloomquist at al., 2012). However, Eisner & Meidert, (2011) found that being a single parent was not linked to less parental participation.…”

“…Las variables de relación coparental (a saber, estado civil, conflicto, cooperación) parecen estar estrechamente relacionadas con la participación parental. Una serie de estudios han indicado que un mayor grado de alianza parental en la crianza y unos niveles inferiores de comunicación negativa guardan una relación positiva con la implicación parental en los programas familiares (McBride y Rane, 1998; Rienks et al, 2011).…”

“…Co-parental relationship variables (i.e., marital status, conflict, cooperation) seem to be strongly related to parental participation. A number of studies have shown that higher levels of parenting alliance and lower levels of negative communication are positively linked to parental involvement in family-based programs (McBride & Rane, 1998;Rienks et al, 2011).…”

Parents’ Involvement in Childcare

“…Our findings highlight the importance of parents' identities and stress the need to address the salience and centrality of parental identities as part of the intervention. For example, a recent short-term group intervention delivered co-parenting relationship workshops to increase fathers' participation (Rienks, Wadsworth, Markman, Einhorn, & Moran Etter, 2011). Such interventions can be further honed by addressing fathers' parental identities, including their accessibility and subjective importance to the self as well as their meanings.…”