Positive Paternal Involvement in Early Childhood Buffers the Effects of Low Positive Maternal Involvement on School-Age Adjustment

• In Event: Poster Session 08
  In Poster Session: PS 08 Topic - Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Abstract

Positive parental involvement (i.e., high levels of sensitivity, warmth, stimulation, and engagement; Nordahl et al., 2016) has been theorized to support children’s positive socioemotional and behavioral adjustment, although most studies have focused on the role of mothers, rather than fathers (e.g., Kopystynska et al., 2016). However, prior studies have found support for direct relations between positive paternal involvement and children’s adjustment across childhood (McLeod, Weisz, et al., 2007; McLeod, Wood, et al., 2007; Rothbaum & Weisz, 1994). Furthermore, positive paternal involvement may become especially important in two-parent households in the context of low positive maternal involvement. Although this issue has not been explicitly tested, positive father-child relationships have been found to buffer associations between negative mother-child relationships and children’s socioemotional problems in the preschool years (Malmberg & Flouri, 2011). Thus, we sought to extend the limited research in this area by examining whether higher levels of positive paternal involvement during early childhood play a protective role in the context of low maternal involvement in promoting multiple types of children’s positive socioemotional adjustment in the early school-age years.

Participating children (n=771; 48% female) were from the Behavior Outlook Norwegian Developmental Study (BONDS), a population-based longitudinal study of families in southeast Norway (Nærde et al., 2014). At 24 and 36 months, parent-child dyads participated in a series of videotaped interaction tasks. Mothers were targeted for participation at 24 months, whereas fathers were targeted at 36 months. Videotapes were coded using molecular and global ratings to generate composites of positive involvement. Moreover, fathers and teachers completed measures about children’s behavioral, emotional, and social adjustment in first grade (Gresham & Elliott, 2008).

Path analysis in Mplus was used to test direct and moderated relations between maternal positive involvement (24 months), paternal positive involvement (36 months) and children’s positive adjustment outcomes (1st grade). Separate models were estimated for father- and teacher-reported adjustment outcomes. After controlling for parent-reported child soothability (12 months), positive paternal involvement was associated with fathers’, but not teachers’, reports of children’s lower hyperactive/inattentive symptoms (βFather=-.12, p=.02) and higher responsibility (βFather=.13, p=.02) in 1st grade. No other direct relations between maternal nor paternal positive involvement and child school-age adjustment were evident. However, according to both fathers and teachers, high paternal positive involvement (36 months) was found to buffer the negative effects of low maternal positive involvement (24 months) on children’s externalizing problems (βFather=.19, p<.001; βTeacher=.10, p=.04), hyperactivity/inattention (βFather=.21, p<.001; βTeacher=.12, p<.01), cooperation (βFather=-.21, p<.001; βTeacher=-.11, p=.02), and responsibility (βFather=-.22, p<.001; βTeacher=-.14, p<.01) in 1st grade. Significant interactions between paternal and maternal positive involvement were also evident for father-reported communication (β=-.10, p=.03) and self-control (β=-.14, p=.03). In general, when maternal positive involvement was low, children exhibited better adjustment outcomes when their fathers engaged in high levels of positive involvement, versus average or low levels (Figures 1 and 2; child outcomes presented as z-scores). This study has important implications for promoting maternal and paternal involvement in parenting during early childhood, especially for families with mothers who do not engage in high levels of supportive caregiving.

Authors

• Julia Sarah Feldman, University of Pittsburgh
  Presenting Author

• Daniel S. Shaw, University of Pittsburgh
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kristin Berg Nordahl
  Non-Presenting Author

• Agathe Backer-Grøndahl, The Norwegian Center for Child Behavioral Development
  Non-Presenting Author

• Ane Nærde, The Norwegian Center for Child Behavioral Development
  Non-Presenting Author