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Interested in father research? So often research on the “parent-child relationship” is research on the “mother-child relationship.” But what about fathers? 1/8
In three recent papers, I worked with talented colleagues to show the independent and/or interactive relations of fathering and mothering on child physiology and behavior in a unique sample of lower-income Mexican-origin families. Results and thoughts to follow. 2/8
Both mothers and fathers can develop postnatal depression. Here, fathers’ depressive symptoms were associated with lower infant RSA for boys and girls, adjusting for maternal symptoms. Relations with maternal symptoms were different. 3/8 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/dev.22073
What predicts fathering and what does fathering predict? Here, mothers’ depressive symptoms affected fathering, but it depended on men’s gender role attitudes. More father engagement in infancy was associated with fewer behavior problems for toddlers. 4/8 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15374416.2020.1852941
Some children may be more sensitive to fathering than others based on their biology. Here, infants with higher RSA showed more behavior problems when their fathers were less engaged compared to infants with lower RSA. 5/8 @SommersJenn https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/dev.22075
What’s next? More studies of fathering (particularly for diverse families) and richer examinations of fathering quality (not just quantity). We need to understand the factors that help and hinder fathers’ participation in research and remember… 6/8 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/famp.12024
…that collecting data from fathers can be challenging, but is so needed! It look a long time for me to collect data from about ~90 fathers, who were the partners of mothers enrolled in a parent study. Before we began, so many asked our team if they could contribute. 7/8
Let’s shift away from mothers as the “default” when it comes to conducting parent-child research and seek for more inclusive, family-focused studies. And perhaps some father-focused research funding opportunities! 8/8
