Father participation in child care: A critical review

Abstract

Nurses have provided much of the impetus for including fathers in perinatal activities during the last decade. Little is known, however, about what happens to father participation in child care after the family leaves the hospital. The major difficulty in interpreting father participation research is that no two studies use the same definition or measure of father participation. Findings are therefore, difficult to integrate into a meaningful conceptual framework which could guide practice. The purpose of this paper is to review past studies of father participation, extract the definitions of father participation implied by the measures used, discuss the methodological problems of measuring father participation, and develop guidelines for future measures that might advance this body of research.

Fathers' Behavior During Their Child's Ambulatory Surgery

“…Behaviors included embracing the child, comforting the child in their arms, wiping the child's face, and helping the child to drink. These behaviors, especially those of the affective care type, are comparable to that demonstrated in the context of routine care given in the home (Cronenwett, 1982;NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 2000;Tiedje & Darling-Fisher, 1993;Williams & Radin, 1999). Apparently, fathers demonstrate more of this category of behavior than previously reported, thus getting away from the general stereotype of the strong, emotionally distant father.…”

“…In a study examining childcare activity that was performed in the home immediately following birth of the infant, Cronenwett (1982) defined paternal participation in childcare as the degree of a father's involvement in activities with the infant. These activities were found to be of a direct nature, such as providing physical care (giving the bath) and showing affection and playing with the child, or of an indirect nature, such as making medical appointments.…”

Fathers and child care: an exploratory study of fathers with children in day care∗

“…Towards this end Cronenwett (1982) has provided an excellent review of the measurements of father participation in the care of the young child and recommended a consistent instrument be used. Radin's Paternal Involvement in Child Care Index (PICCI) (1982) appears to address the need for a generic method of assessing paternal involvement in child care.…”

Fathers' participation in day care

“…Much of the care of young children occurs within the family, and care involving day care within the family home (such as dressing the child for day care) Level of involvement. The second dimension, level of involvement, has been used with at least four core definitions including amount of time, accessibility to child, degree of commitment, and degree of responsibility (Crowenwett, 1982;Lamb, 1986b;Radin, 1978). The amount of time fathers engage in activities with children may vary from a few minutes to an all-day time period.…”