The Impact of Early Father Involvement on Children's Representations of Fathers

• In Event: Fathering and Father-Child Relationships

Abstract

Research on the implication of father involvement in early childhood development is recently becoming more prevalent (Cabrera & Mitchell, 2009). Studies demonstrates that paternal involvement is related to children’s externalizing and internalizing behaviors (Rohner & Veneziano, 2001) and linked to positive developmental outcomes (Lamb, 2010; Pleck, 2007). Fathers interact differently with children, in a more playful manner compared to mothers (Roggman et al., 2002), providing support for diverse developmental skill growth (Lamb, 2010). Through these varying interactions, children begin to build schema, creating perceptions about fathers. Previous research indicates that young boys with fathers who engaged in more caretaking held fewer gendered perceptions about paternal roles (Carlson, 1984) and young children with fathers more engaged in caretaking viewed fathers as less disciplinary (Hazzard, 1983). At age 11, children whose father’s participated in a higher proportion of caretaking had fewer gender stereotypes of parenting (Deutch et al., 2001). Other research notes that parenting behaviors such as engagement in household and childcare were predictors of young children’s perceptions of roles (Halpern & Jenkins, 2015). Current literature lacks focus on paternal involvement and the development of children’s perceptions of fathers.
The current study aims to examine the relationship between paternal involvement at age 2 and children’s perception of father figures at age 7. Self-reported data were utilized from the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project. Three hundred and twenty eight fathers from varied backgrounds were interviewed about the time they spent with children and time engaged in caretaking activities when their child was age 2. Children’s perceptions of fathers were gathered at age 7 using the MacArthur Story Stem Battery.
Preliminary data showed 81.2% of fathers reported spending a minimum of 1 hour per day “every day” with the child, and 61.7% reported engaging in “a lot” of caretaking (ie. preparing meals, toilet assistance, bath time, and bed time routines). Correlation analyses were run on a portion of the coded MacArthur Story Stem Battery. These analyses demonstrate that the number of weekends per month that dad’s spent with the child was correlated with a decrease in children’s negative representations of fathers in “Bedtime” story (r=-.656, p=.003). Time spent alone with the child was correlated to an increase in children’s positive representations of fathers (r=.416, p=.002) and a decrease in disciplinary perceptions (r=-.275, p=.032) in “Band Aid.” Number of week nights spent with the child was positively correlated to positive representations of fathers (r=.490, p=.033), secure give and take in relationships (r=.683, p=.001), and responses to injury (r=.596, p=.007) in “Hot Soup.” There is a pattern between caretaking activity of meal preparing and “Hot Soup” and bedtime routine involvement and “Bedtime.” Future analyses will look into father’s involvement as predictors of children’s perception of father figures using Chi-Squares to examine positive and negative representations, and Logistic Regressions for response to injury, discipline practices, and security in relationships. Results will assist with early intervention and therapy services by providing insight into underlying family structure and roles that influence children’s perceptions of fathers.

Authors

• Courtney Krivak, Pennsylvania State Harrisburg
  Presenting Author

• Hannah Mudrick, Penn State Harrisburg
  Non-Presenting Author