Paternal investment, stepfather presence and early child development and growth among Serbian Roma

Abstract

Research on paternal investment and child growth and development is limited outside of high-income countries. Using nationally representative data from low resource Serbian Roma communities, this study examined father investment (direct care), its predictors and the associations between paternal investment, stepfather presence, and child physical growth and early development. The sample included 1222 children aged 35-59 months, out of which 235 were living with biological fathers. Child outcomes included height-for-age z scores, stunting and early child developmental score. Roma paternal investment was relatively low. There was a positive association of father investment and children's height, and no association with developmental score. The presence of father vs. stepfather did not exert any influence on children. Instead, maternal and child characteristics explained both the overall development and height for Roma children. Thus, older children, born to literate, lower parity mothers of higher status and greater investment had better developmental and growth outcomes; girls were the preferred sex, due to expected fitness benefits. Reverse causality emerged as the most likely pathway through which the cross-sectional association of father direct care with child growth may manifest, such that Roma fathers tend to bias their investment towards taller, more endowed children, because of greater fitness pay-off.

The impact of welfare on maternal investment and sibling competition: evidence from Serbian Roma communities

“…For all children, maternal direct investment was positively associated with height and weight. Given that feeding practices that directly influence growth (Grasgruber and Hrazdíra, 2020) were unaccounted for, a positive association between maternal investment and child's height and weight may be explained by reverse causality in that mothers provided more direct investment to more endowed children (taller, heavier) (Čvorović, 2022;Maselko et al, 2019).…”

Parenting by mothers from marginalized communities and the role of socioeconomic disadvantage: insights from marginalized Roma communities in Slovakia

“…Moreover, at this age, the influence of parenting becomes clearer since the quality of interactions with caregivers and opportunities for exploration and learning highly influence development (Benson, 2020). We focused on children and their mothers as mothers (especially in MRCs) are primary caregivers, and fathers who are involved in caregiving with infants of such a young age to a much lesser extent (Obrovská and Sidiropulu Janků, 2021;Čvorović, 2022) are less willing to participate in family research (Voicu and Popescu, 2009). We included two groups of mothers in the sample: 93 mothers were from marginalized Roma communities (MRCs), and 102 mothers were from the Slovak majority population (general population of mostly middle-to-high socioeconomic status).…”

Understanding the Impact of Socioeconomic Factors on Early Childhood Development in Marginalised Roma Communities: The Role of Parental Education and Household Equipment

“…The conceptual framework on the social determinants of health [ 23 ] emphasises health as a topic of social justice and captures the complexity and interconnections of structural and intermediary determinants of health and well-being. Since early childhood development is crucial for future health and well-being, this framework and its components are highly relevant to the conceptualisation of research in this area.…”

“…Since early childhood development is crucial for future health and well-being, this framework and its components are highly relevant to the conceptualisation of research in this area. Factors such as ethnicity, education and household equipment represent key indicators of socioeconomic position and material circumstances, which are both integral components within the framework [ 23 ]. Education is considered a strong determinant of future employment and income.…”