1-195 - African American Fathers of Young Children: Perspectives on Father Involvement, Role Development, and Resilience

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Theory and research on African American families demonstrate important, culturally specific distinctions related to parenting and family processes (Roopnarine & Hossain, 2013). The voices of African American fathers of young children, however, continue to be underrepresented in the literature. The papers in this symposium address this gap, giving voice to particular strengths and struggles of African American fathers. Paper 1 is a qualitative study investigating the perspectives of urban fathers on their parenting role during pregnancy and infancy. Findings demonstrate that these men may struggle with parenting adaptation in infancy, instead defining their role as largely providing structure and discipline in later childhood. Social support, particularly from women, is identified as a source of resilience. Paper 2 examines longitudinal trajectories of father involvement during early childhood among socioeconomically diverse African American families utilizing latent growth curve modeling. This study identified that father involvement boosts maternal perceptions of social support during infancy and maternal and child outcomes at preschool age. Paper 3 presents a novel index of egalitarian parenting values that demonstrates validity among low-income African American fathers and unique predictive power of observed positive parenting with toddlers, indicating a culturally relevant source of resilience among men otherwise at risk. Taken together, these papers present diversity among African American families in both socioeconomic status and developmental stage and use diverse methods to point to areas of risk and resilience. Our discussant, Dr. Natasha Cabrera, is a well-regarded expert on early fatherhood, particularly ethnoracial variation in fathering (e.g., Cabrera & Tamis-LeMonda, 2013).

Sub Unit

• Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Chair

• Erika London Bocknek, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Discussant

• Natasha Cabrera, University of Maryland

Individual Presentations

• The Detroit Baby on Board Study: A Qualitative Analysis of Interviews with Fathers Preparing to Parent a New Baby - Presenting Author: Carolyn Joy Dayton, Wayne State University; Tova Walsh, University of Wisconsin; Erika London Bocknek, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Laurel Hicks, Wayne State University; Maria Muzik, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Katherine L Rosenblum, Univ of Michigan

• Trajectories of Father Involvement Predict Child and Maternal Functioning in an Economically Diverse, African American Sample - Presenting Author: Marjorie Beeghly, Wayne State University; Ty Partridge, Wayne State Univ; Edward Z Tronick, Children's Hosp/Harvard Med Schl; Jordan L. Boeve, Wayne State University; M Susan Delonis, Wayne State University; Jessica Irwin, Wayne State University; Mahya Rahimian Mashhadi, Wayne State University; Hasti Ashtiani Raveau, Wayne State University

• African American Men’s Perceptions of the Fathering Role and Impacts on Parenting Quality in Early Childhood - Presenting Author: Hasti Ashtiani Raveau, Wayne State University; Erika London Bocknek, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Hiram E Fitzgerald, Michigan State University; Holly Elisabeth Brophy-Herb, Michigan State University; Carolyn Joy Dayton, Wayne State University