Reflections on Fathers and Infant Mental Health

Fitzgerald, Hiram E.; Bocknek, Erika L.; Hossain, Ziarat; Roggman, Lori A.

doi:10.1002/imhj.21494

Cited by 10 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Consequently, in addition to mothers who have traditionally been seen as primary informants, fathers have been acknowledged as essential sources of information for getting a comprehensive picture of infants' and toddlers' development and SEB problems in everyday life. However, there continues to be a relative dearth of knowledge about fathers in the context of children's early mental health compared to that about mothers (Bocknek, Hossain, & Roggman, 2014;Fitzgerald, Bocknek, Hossain, & Roggman, 2015;Phares & Compas, 1992;Phares, Fields, Kamboukos, & Lopez, 2005). This scarcity is particularly true of studies investigating very young, under 3-year-old children's mental health (Cassano, Adrian, Veits, & Zeman, 2006), especially when comparing maternal and paternal reports about infants'/toddlers' SEB problems.…”

Section: Importance Of Gathering Reports About Children's Seb Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parental Reports of Early Socioemotional and Behavioral Problems: Does the Father's View Make a Difference?

Alakortes

Fyrstén

Bloigu

et al. 2017

Infant Ment. Health J.

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Although both mothers and fathers are essential sources of information to address early socioemotional/behavioral (SEB) problems, there continues to be a dearth of studies considering both parental views. A sample of 208 toddlers (M = 19.3 months) was recruited through public child health centers. Both parents of 172 toddlers (76 boys, 96 girls) completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) 1-5 (T.M. Achenbach & L.A. Rescorla, 2000; Finnish translation by F. Almqvist, ). Correspondence (intraclass correlation coefficients; ICCs) between the maternal and paternal CBCL ratings was good (.64) for the Internalizing and excellent (.76) for the Externalizing and Total Problems scores whereas ICCs varied from .45 for the Withdrawn to .76 for the Sleep Problems and Aggressive Behavior syndrome scores. Regarding discrepancies, mothers consistently reported higher CBCL scale scores than did fathers. Most significant differences between the parental ratings were found on the Aggressive Behavior syndrome, Externalizing, and Total Problems scales. Interparental rating discrepancies increased with elevations in the corresponding CBCL scale scores. Positive correlations were found between maternal, but not paternal, parenting stress and interparental rating discrepancies on the CBCL. The observed differences between maternal and paternal ratings highlight the importance of gathering reports from both parents when assessing early SEB problems. The findings are more profoundly discussed in the article.

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Section: Importance Of Gathering Reports About Children's Seb Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parental Reports of Early Socioemotional and Behavioral Problems: Does the Father's View Make a Difference?

Alakortes

Fyrstén

Bloigu

et al. 2017

Infant Ment. Health J.

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“…In addition to the father role changing over time and being culturally specific, the role changes for individual fathers as their circumstances alter and their children develop. The specific interest area of infant mental health has in recent times highlighted the growing evidence base around the influence of fathers and father–infant relationships on child development and the importance of such understanding for the public, for policy makers, for researchers, and program development and for practitioners (Fitzgerald et al., ).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In particular, researchers have called for investigation into the nature and quality of father–child interaction (Palkovitz, ). The study of fatherhood has changed markedly over recent decades (Lamb, ; Lamb, Pleck, Charnov, & Levine, ; Nash, ; Pleck, ), particularly in the investigation of fathers’ influence on child development (Fitzgerald, Bocknek, Hossain, & Roggman, ; Fitzgerald & Bradley, ; Lamb, ; Lewis, ). The role and definition of fatherhood can fluctuate widely and is largely dependent on cultural and societal influences (Blankenhorn, ; Bocknek, Hossain, & Roggman, ; Lupton & Barclay, ; Park & Brott, ; Vogel, Bradley, Raikes, Boller, & Shears, ).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Paternal and Maternal Reflective Functioning in the Western Australian Peel Child Health Study

Cooke

Priddis

Luyten

et al. 2017

Infant Mental Health Journal

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While past research on the care of infants has been mostly with mothers, in recent times there has been a renewed attention to the father-infant relationship. This study examined differences between mother and father parental reflective functioning (PRF) or parental mentalizing; that is, the parental capacity to reason about their own and their children's behaviors by taking into consideration intentional mental states. Data were collected from 120 couples with a 1-year-old child who were participants in the West Australian Peel Child Health Study. Parental mentalizing was assessed using the Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (PRFQ; Luyten, Mayes, Nijssens, & Fonagy, ). Results showed that mother and father mentalizing with their children was independent and that mothers scored slightly higher levels of mentalizing than did fathers. Paternal mentalizing was weakly associated with family income and father education, and was more strongly associated with family functioning than with maternal mentalizing. Implications for theorizing on PRF and fatherhood more generally are discussed.

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“…However, family level approaches to the study of very young children continue to be missing in the extant literature, with important exceptions (e.g., Favez et al., ; McHale & Coates, ; McHale, Salman, Strozier, & Cecil, ). Furthermore, though there has been substantial progress in recent years (see Bocknek, Hossain, & Roggman, ; Fitzgerald, Bocknek, Hossain, & Roggman, ), there continue to be major gaps in studies focusing on infant mental health and early development in which fathers’ perspectives are included. McHale and Fivaz‐Depeursinge () write, “Sorely lacking in studies of early infant and family development are investigations of how both women and men think about early family life.” In particular, there is a dearth of literature in which poor, African American men are interviewed on parenting strengths against a storied narrative about high risk among these men (Bocknek, Lewis, & Raveau, ).…”

Section: Family Resilience and Very Young Childrenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Family Rituals in Low‐Income African American Families at Risk for Trauma Exposure and Associations with Toddlers’ Regulation of Distress

Bocknek

2017

J Marital Family Therapy

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This study included 75 mother-father-toddler triadic low-income families. Mothers and fathers reported separately on their own posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and family rituals while children were rated by an independent observer during an emotionally eliciting task on key indicators of regulation of distress. Regression analyses supported a significant association between key dimensions of family rituals and Toddlers' regulation of distress: occurrence, continuation, and spirituality. Effect sizes of tested relationships were strong, ranging from 25% to 36% of variance in children's distress explained. Family rituals are a salient intervention target in families and specifically help support children's developing emotion regulation competencies. Certain dimensions of family rituals may be particularly relevant to African American families, considering cultural resiliency factors. Clinical implications are discussed.

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Reflections on Fathers and Infant Mental Health

Cited by 10 publications

References 22 publications

Parental Reports of Early Socioemotional and Behavioral Problems: Does the Father's View Make a Difference?

Parental Reports of Early Socioemotional and Behavioral Problems: Does the Father's View Make a Difference?

Paternal and Maternal Reflective Functioning in the Western Australian Peel Child Health Study

Family Rituals in Low‐Income African American Families at Risk for Trauma Exposure and Associations with Toddlers’ Regulation of Distress

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