Prenatal parental education from the perspective of fathers with experience as primary caregiver immediately following birth: a phenomenographic study

The aim of this phenomenographic study was to capture fathers' conceptions of parental education topics, illuminated by their experiences as primary caregiver of their child immediately following birth. Fifteen fathers were interviewed between 8 days and 6 weeks after the birth of their child. Three categories, five subcategories, and 12 qualitatively different conceptions emerged from the study's findings. The first category showed that parental education emphasizes the importance of normal birth. The second category illustrated that parental education defuses the issue of complicated births. The third category demonstrated that parental education preserves traditional gender roles. The study's results may facilitate efforts to integrate fathers into parental education toward the aim of achieving parity between mother and father in their role as parents.     

The murder of children by fathers in the context of child abuse

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the backgrounds of fathers who fatally abuse their children and the contexts within which these homicides occur. The type of relationship between victim, perpetrator, and the victim's mother was a particular interest. METHODS: Data were gathered from 26 cases of fatal child abuse perpetrated by fathers derived from the wider Murder in Britain study. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from extensive prison case files of men serving life sentences for child murder. RESULTS: This was a group of undereducated, underemployed men with significant criminal histories. All except one victim had been subjected to previous violence by the offender, almost three-quarter of whom had also perpetrated violence against their intimate partners (the child's birth mother). Many men had unreasonable expectations and low tolerance levels of normal childhood behaviors, and many appeared jealous and resentful of these young children. All 26 victims were under 4 years of age. Sixty-two percent of the offenders were stepfathers and in only four cases was the perpetrator a birth father married to the birth mother. Stepfathers had more disrupted and disadvantaged backgrounds and experiences than birth fathers. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that fathers who perpetrate fatal child abuse have a propensity to use violence against children in their care and intimate partners, raising questions about the gender dynamics and generational boundaries operating in these families. The nature and type of intimate relationship (whether married or cohabiting) and fathering relationship (whether birth or de facto) were important differentiating factors in these homicides as well as characteristics of the offender. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Professionals working in child protection strive to provide effective services to children and families, ever vigilant to the possibility of the death of a child as a consequence of an assault. By and large, fathers (either biological or de facto) as the perpetrators of such assaults have received minimal attention in both policy and practice. Findings from this study suggest that practitioners need to be cognizant of men's attitudes towards and expectations of fathering (particularly stepfathering) which may present increased levels of risk to both children and intimate partners.     

Topics discussed with mothers and fathers for parent–child sex communication among African-American adolescents

The purpose of this study was to examine gender differences in parent–child sex communication for 14 topics among early adolescent African-American youth. Similar to prior research, a larger percentage of participants reported they discussed sex with their mother in comparison to their father. In contrast to prior research, more males than females reported they discussed sexual topics with their mothers and fathers. Binary logistic regression analysis found significant differences for males versus females for father–child conversations on 12 of the 14 topics. Only two of the analyses were significant for males versus females on mother–child discussion of the topics. Finally, parent–child conversations tended to focus on general versus personal information. For example, a larger percentage of participants reported discussing general information on HIV/AIDS compared to discussing sexual orientation. The importance of research that focuses on the role of fathers in parent–child sexual socialisation is discussed.     

Prenatal and early postnatal depression and child maltreatment among Japanese fathers

We investigated the association of paternal depression in the prenatal and early postnatal period with child maltreatment tendency at two months postpartum among Japanese fathers. This population-based longitudinal study recruited Japanese perinatal women and their partners living in Nishio City, Aichi, Japan. Of the 270 fathers who participated, 196 were included in the analysis. All data were collected via self-administrated questionnaires at four time points: 20 weeks’ gestation and in the first few days, one month, and two months postpartum. Paternal depression was assessed using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Three definitions of paternal depression were coded based on participants’ scores on this measure: prenatal, prior, and current. Child maltreatment tendency was evaluated using the Child Maltreatment Scale at two months postpartum. The associations of the three definitions of paternal depression and child maltreatment tendency were separately analyzed using logistic regression analysis. The prevalence of prenatal, prior, and current paternal depression was 9.7%, 10.2%, and 8.8%, respectively. According to the multivariate analysis, current paternal depression was significantly associated with child maltreatment tendency at two months postpartum (adjusted odds ratio: 7.77, 95% CI: 1.83–33.02). The other two types of depression, however, were not related to child maltreatment tendency. Thus, current paternal depression increased the risk of child maltreatment tendency in the postnatal period, suggesting that early detection and treatment of paternal depression might be useful for the prevention of child maltreatment.     

The firstborn's adjustment to the birth of a sibling: a longitudinal assessment

41 middle-class families were interviewed at 1 month prepartum and 1, 4, 8, and 12 months after the birth of a second child to assess the reaction and adjustment of firstborn children to this event. Family members were also observed in a semistructured play session in order to obtain information concerning changes in familial interaction patterns. A log linear analysis was conducted to fit a hierarchical model to a 2 (child gender) X 2 (infant gender) X 4 (time of measurement relative to birth of infant) X 2 (presence or absence of problematic regressive behavior) X 14 (type of problematic behavior reported) matrix. A model with 2 statistically significant effects was found to fit the observed frequency matrix quite well, goodness-of-fit (GF) chi 2(312, N = 2,296) = 97.47, p less than .99. This model suggests (1) that the type of response displayed by the firstborns varied as a function of time since the birth; that their initial responses were either imitations of the infant or confrontations with the mother or infant, whereas responses at 4 months postpartum were characterized by numerous anxiety behaviors but fewer imitations or confrontations, and later responses were primarily confrontations with the increasingly intrusive and independent infant; and (2) that a greater frequency of problematic behavior was reported by the mothers of same-sex sibling dyads, especially at the 1- and 8-month postpartum assessments. Observational data indicated that mothers dramatically decreased their interactions with the firstborn children over time but that fathers tended to remain relatively stable in their frequencies of interaction.     

Analysis of caretaker histories in abuse: comparing initial histories with subsequent confessions

OBJECTIVE: We hypothesize that perpetrators of abuse include elements of truth in their initial history and that an analysis of perpetrator confessions can teach professionals how to identify these initial truths. METHODS: The information from a consecutive sample of perpetrators' confessions concerning 41 children hospitalized because of injuries caused by child abuse was reviewed. The details about the injuries contained in the confessions were compared with the details provided when these children initially presented for medical care. Information about the perpetrator's gender and relationship to the child, the victim's age and gender, type of injury, family risk factors, the trigger of the abusive event, the circumstances surrounding the event, and the type of trauma were collected. RESULTS: A total of 45 perpetrators abused 41 children; 76% of perpetrators were male; 56% were the child's father; 34% were the child's mother. The perpetrators initially provided no explanation about how 68% of the children received an injury. In 91% of their initial histories, the perpetrators provided some element of truth about the circumstances or triggering event for the abuse. In 67% of confessions, crying was the circumstance that triggered the abuse. Mothers were more likely to describe the situation that triggered the abuse (85% of mothers versus 58% of fathers, p=ns), while fathers were more likely to describe accurately the circumstances surrounding the abuse (79% of fathers versus 62% of mothers, p=ns). CONCLUSIONS: Perpetrators of abuse provide initial truths in their presenting history. Child abuse professionals must take a careful history from all caretakers and "listen" for the "elements of truth." These truths are the child's behavior or circumstance that increased stress and triggered the abuse. Employing this method in a careful analysis of confessions can make a significant contribution to the capacity to identify child abuse. In addition, more information about the role of triggers may help to focus child abuse prevention strategies.     

Waiting to inhale: how to unhurry the moment of birth

A doula and expectant mother's view of birth is forever changed when she sees a midwife simply place a newly born child below her mother at the moment of birth. The pause that the mother experiences in this moment as she studies, touches, and claims her child prompts the author to reflect in this guest editorial on ways we might be disturbing the natural sequence of birth as we deliver babies directly to their mothers' chests.     

Prenatal Predictors of Postnatal Quality of Caregiving Behavior in Mothers and Fathers

SYNOPSIS

Objective. The quality of parental caregiving has been shown to affect children’s development from birth onward. Therefore, it is important to detect parents at risk for low-quality caregiving as early as possible – preferably before birth. Design. Observations of expectant mothers’ and fathers’ behavior when exposed to infant crying were examined as predictors of the quality of caregiving toward their own infant 6 weeks postpartum. Eighty-eight expectant mothers and 57 of their male partners were tested during the third trimester of pregnancy. Parents were filmed individually while caring for a crying Simulator Infant for 15 min; the quality of their caregiving was rated on sensitivity and cooperation. Also, cognitive interference on a working memory task and the ability to regulate physical force when exposed to infant crying were assessed. When their baby was 6 weeks old, parents were filmed and rated for sensitivity and cooperation during a 15-min interaction with their own infant at home. Results. Prenatal quality of caregiving behavior toward a simulator infant predicted postnatal quality of caregiving toward the own infant in both mothers and fathers. Cognitive interference and the ability to regulate physical force did not predict postnatal quality of caregiving behavior. Conclusions. Expectant parents’ quality of caregiving behavior toward a crying simulator infant predicted both mothers’ and fathers’ postnatal quality of caregiving behavior. Future research is needed to determine whether the simulator infant may be a useful screening instrument and training tool for parenting skills in at risk groups of parents-to-be.     

Fathers’ perpetration of intimate partner violence and parenting during early childhood: Results from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study

BackgroundExperiences of intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization negatively impact maternal parenting. However, little is known about the association between fathers’ perpetration of IPV and paternal parenting.ObjectiveTo examine associations between fathers’ IPV perpetration against the child’s mother and fathers’ stimulation and spanking practices with their young child.Participants and SettingWe used two waves of data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study in the United States. The analytic sample comprised of 2,257 biological fathers who had been in a romantic relationship with the child’s mother.MethodsFathers’ IPV perpetration at year 1 and 3 was measured based on maternal report. Fathers were categorized into: never perpetrators (no IPV at either year), persisters (IPV at both years), desisters (IPV at year 1 only), and emergers (IPV at year 3 only). Fathers’ parenting at year 3 was measured based on self-reported stimulation (e.g., reading books, playing games, telling stories) and spanking.ResultsApproximately one-third of fathers never perpetrated IPV, 35.8% were persisters, 14.4% were desisters, and 16.9% were emergers. For stimulation, persisters (β=-0.16, 95% CI: -0.25, -0.06) and emergers (β=-0.25, 95% CI: -0.36, -0.14), but not desisters (β=-0.02, 95% CI: -0.14, 0.11), were less engaged in stimulation than fathers who never perpetrated IPV. However, for spanking, there were no differences in the associations by father IPV profiles.ConclusionsFindings suggest that fathers’ perpetration of IPV is related to their stimulation practices. Partner-abusive men and their children may benefit from parenting programs that promote engagement in stimulation and improve the quality of parent-child relationships.     

Child welfare caseworkers’ characteristics and their attitudes toward non-custodial fathers

Despite increased attention to the caseworker's role in the successful engagement of fathers and in producing successful child welfare outcomes more generally, little is known about child welfare caseworkers’ attitudes toward non-custodial fathers. Using generalized ordinal logistic regression to analyze attitudes in a sample of child welfare caseworkers from four U.S. states, the present study examines how caseworkers’ demographic, education, and employment characteristics affect their attitudes toward non-custodial fathers. Race/ethnicity and employment characteristics predicted differences in opinion on whether fathers want to be involved, increase children's well-being, need help parenting, and whether involving fathers is troublesome and complicated. Results suggest that caseworkers’ backgrounds serve as inputs into their approach to fathers and indicate a need for further study of the relationship between caseworkers’ characteristics and attitudes, and how these might influence case outcomes.     

Angry Responses to Infant Challenges: Parent,Marital, and Child Genetic Factors Associated With Harsh Parenting

This study examined genetic and environmental influences on harsh parenting of adopted 9‐month‐olds (N = 503), with an emphasis on positive child‐, parent‐, and family‐level characteristics. Evocative gene–environment correlation (rGE) was examined by testing the effect of both positive and negative indices of birth parent temperament on adoptive parents’ harsh parenting. Adoptive fathers’ harsh parenting was inversely related to birth mother positive temperament, indicating evocative rGE, as well as to marital quality. Adoptive parents’ negative temperamental characteristics were related to hostile parenting for both fathers and mothers. Findings support the importance of enhancing positive family characteristics in addition to mitigating negative characteristics, as well as engaging multiple levels of the family system to prevent harsh parenting.     

The development of children with down syndrome: the influence of maternal adaptation,mother-child interaction and early forms of support

In this paper, we present a longitudinal case study involving four dyads with babies with Down syndrome from birth until the age of 7 years – the moment at which the children were observed for the last time before they began compulsory schooling. At each data collection point, the mother was given a semi-directive interview and we filmed a free interaction situation. The objective of our study was to carry out an indepth analysis of the ways in which mothers adapt to the birth of a ‘different baby’, the evolution of their expectations in relation to the child's development, mother–child interaction and early support for both the child and the family, and the way in which these aspects of the overall situation relate to the children's development. The data of our longitudinal study show that there is an interaction between children's development and family characteristics and patterns, particularly mother–child interaction and the way in which the mother deals with the stress factors associated with the fact that she has a disabled child. We found that the four dyads experienced different models of early support, which to some extent reflect what really does happen in Portugal in cases involving children with disabilities, and that the programmes' impact was not identical in every situation. The most successful was the one which best suited the family's wishes, and involved both the mother and later on the kindergarten teacher.     

First-Time Fathers' Expectations and Experiences Using Child Care and Integrating Parenting and Employment

This study explores the expectations and experiences of 37 first-time fathers about using child care and combining work and family responsibilities. Fathers completed questionnaires and participated in interviews at two home visits, the first at infant age 4-6 weeks, the second at 4-5 months. At the first visit, fathers' expectations were positively correlated with paternal self-esteem. At the second visit, fathers' experiences were positively correlated with the quality of child care, the support at their work, and their desire for their partner to work. At both visits, fathers expressed their dissatisfaction with the length of their parental leave and indicated interest in reducing their work hours. At the second visit, fathers who were spending more time caring for their infants expressed greater feelings of competence and pleasure in parenting. Outcomes of this study suggest that employer policies such as increased parental leaves and reduced work hours may enhance fathers' experiences integrating parenting and employment by providing increased opportunities for fathers to spend more time with their infant. In contrast to their partners, fathers' greater objectivity in monitoring the quality of their infant's child care suggests that fathers should be encouraged to take a more significant role.     

Unintended pregnancy as a predictor of child maltreatment

Whereas child maltreatment research has developed considerable evidence on post-natal risk-factors, pre-natal circumstances have been largely overlooked. The circumstances surrounding a pregnancy may considerably impact the environment in which later parenting behaviors occur. This study examines one of the earliest potentially identifiable risk-factors for child maltreatment: the intentions of a pregnancy. Utilizing both mother and father reports, this study focuses on maltreatment risk, as it relates with both parents’ perspectives of the pregnancy's intention. Drawing upon data from the Fragile Families and Child Well Being study, a longitudinal, birth cohort study, survey questions were used that asked parents, at the time of the birth, whether they considered abortion for the child. Unintended pregnancy demonstrates predictive value as one of the earliest identifiable risk-factors for child maltreatment. Regardless of whether the mother or father reported the unintended pregnancy, the relationship with maltreating behavior is largely the same, although for different maltreatment types. Mothers’ reports of unintended pregnancy are associated with psychological aggression, and neglect. Fathers’ reports of unintended pregnancy are associated with physical aggression. Fathers’ perspectives regarding pregnancy intentions matter just as much as mothers,’ and accounting for their perspectives could be important in understanding the maltreating behaviors of both parents. Identifiable in the earliest stages of caregiving, unintended pregnancy may be an important risk-factor in predicting and understanding child maltreatment.     

High antenatal maternal anxiety is related to ADHD symptoms, externalizing problems, and anxiety in 8- and 9-year-olds

Associations between antenatal maternal anxiety, measured with the State Trait Anxiety Inventory, and disorders in 8- and 9-year-olds were studied prospectively in 71 normal mothers and their 72 firstborns. Clinical scales were completed by the mother, the child, the teacher, and an external observer. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that maternal state anxiety during pregnancy explained 22%, 15%, and 9% of the variance in cross-situational attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms, externalizing problems, and self-report anxiety, respectively, even after controlling for child's gender, parents' educational level, smoking during pregnancy, birth weight, and postnatal maternal anxiety. Anxiety at 12 to 22 weeks postmenstrual age turned out to be a significant independent predictor whereas anxiety at 32 to 40 weeks was not. Results are consistent with a fetal programming hypothesis.     

Growth in Externalizing and Internalizing Problems in Childhood: A Prospective Study of Psychopathology Across Three Generations

Three generations of participants were assessed over approximately 27 years, and intergenerational prediction models of growth in the third generation’s (G3) externalizing and internalizing problems across ages 3–9 years were examined. The sample included 103 fathers and mothers (G2), at least 1 parent (G1) for all of the G2 fathers (99 mothers, 72 fathers), and 185 G3 offspring (83 boys, 102 girls) of G2, with prospective data available on the G2 fathers beginning at age 9 years. Behavior of the G2 mother, along with father contact and mother age at birth were included in the models. Intergenerational associations in psychopathology were modest, and much of the transmission occurred via contextual risk within the family of procreation.     

A description of a mother's play guidance for her child with autism in the process of playing by the rules

The purpose of this study is to describe the strategies used by a mother with a child with autism during games activities with peers to provide the child with social skills. The research method of this study is ‘a qualitative single‐subject case study’. The participants in this research are a mother and her 9‐year‐old child with autism, one brother and three typically developing peers. The research data were collected through field notes, interviews, audio and videotape recordings during natural interactions between the mother and her child. The strategies the mother used were analysed using video records during games activities in a natural park. The interactions of the mother with her child were examined in the context of a hide‐and‐seek game. Micro‐ethnographic‐analysis techniques were used in the analysis of the video records. According to the research data, it was found that the mother with a child with autism made extensive use of 13 different verbal strategies and seven different non‐verbal strategies. It was observed that the mother guided her child and the group during the hide‐and‐seek game, arranged the environment of the games, carried out routine activities both at the beginning and at the end of the games and arranged the games in accordance with the abilities and preferences of the child. These applications bear a resemblance to the model of integrated game groups. As a result, the data from the present research reveal that a mother having a child with autism acts as a guide during the games and uses verbal and non‐verbal interaction strategies in this guidance process and by doing so contributes to the process of participation in the games by the child with autism and in the child's social interaction with his peers.     

Adolescents at risk for mistreating their children. Part II: A home- and clinic-based prevention program

OBJECTIVE: To determine if adding an intensive home visitation component to a comprehensive adolescent-oriented maternity program prevents child abuse and neglect. METHODS: We studied 171 participants in a comprehensive, adolescent-oriented maternity program who were deemed to be at high risk for child abuse and neglect. Half were randomly assigned to receive in-home parenting instruction. Major disruptions of primary care-giving by the adolescent mother were classified hierarchically as abuse, neglect, and abandonment. RESULTS: Compliance with home visits varied in relation to the support the teenage mothers received from their families and the fathers of their babies (p < .0001). There were no significant treatment group differences in the pattern of health care utilization, the rate of postpartum school return, repeat pregnancies, or child abuse and neglect. The incidence of maltreatment rose in tandem with the predicted risk status of the mother. Ultimately, 19% of the children were removed from their mother's custody. CONCLUSIONS: Prediction efforts were effective in identifying at-risk infants, but this intensive home- and clinic-based intervention did not alter the incidence of child maltreatment or maternal life course development. A parenting program that was more inclusive of the support network might be more popular with teenagers and therefore more effective. Our findings also emphasize the importance of including counseling specifically designed to prevent teenagers from abandoning their children.     

Links between parenting styles,parent–child academic interaction,parent–school interaction,and early academic skills and social behaviors in young children of English-speaking Caribbean immigrants

This study examined the influence of parenting styles, parent–child academic involvement at home, and parent–school contact on academic skills and social behaviors among kindergarten-age children of Caribbean immigrants. Seventy immigrant mothers and fathers participated in the study. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that fathers’ authoritarian parenting style was negatively associated with and father–school contact was positively associated with receptive skills, vocabulary, and composite scores over and above that of mothers’ contributions in these areas. Fathers’ authoritative parenting style and father–child academic interaction at home were positively related to children's social behaviors. Mothers’ authoritarian parenting style was negatively and mother–school contact was positively associated with children's social behaviors. Analyses indicated that fathers’ parenting carried the weight of influence over mothers’ parenting for facilitating both child academic skills and social behaviors. The roles of parenting styles, parent–academic activities, and parent–school contacts in early schooling are discussed.