Supportive Coparenting, Work-Family Conflict and Father Engagement: The Role of Perceived Fathering Quality

• In Event: Fathers’ Positive Parenting and Coparenting Quality: Complex Links in Economically Disadvantaged Families of Young Children

Abstract

Introduction.
Competing responsibilities of parenthood and work create tension for many fathers, including how they perceive themselves as parents and their capacity to “be there” for their children (e.g., Kuo et al., 2015). This may be particularly true for fathers with low-wage jobs and low-levels of education (e.g., Futris et al, 2009), like emerging adult fathers (ages 18 to 25), who may experience difficulties engaging with their children due to self- or partner-perceived inadequacies or work-family conflict (e.g., Kuo et al., 2015; Futris et al., 2009). Conversely, fathers who have partners that value their contributions as parents (i.e., supportive coparents) generally demonstrate greater involvement with their children (e.g., Fagan & Lee, 2011).
Given that low-income and emerging adult fathers may be at risk for low-levels of engagement across children’s later development (e.g., Farrie et al., 2011), there is a critical need to identify factors that may support and detract from engagement and related explanatory mechanisms. Hence, this study explores whether paternal-perceived supportive coparenting and work-family conflict indirectly associate with father engagement through the pathway of paternal-perceived father quality in a sample of adult and emerging adult fathers experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage.

Methods.
Data were extracted from the Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study for a sample of fathers who had contact with mothers and their children five years into parenthood (N=2,694). Structural equation models tested whether supportive coparenting and work-family conflict directly associated with father engagement and if indirect effects were transferred through paternal-perceived father quality. Moderation analyses tested whether paternal age (i.e., adult v. emerging adult) moderated indirect effects (Figure 1). Full information maximum likelihood was used for missing data; final models included a robust set of covariates.
Constructs were measured when focal children were five years old. Father-perceived supportive coparenting was measured by six items, including questions like “Mother supports you in the way you want to raise child,” (α=0.85). Father-report work-family conflict was measured by three items, including questions like “my shift and work schedule cause extra stress for me and child;” inter-item correlations (rs = 0.19 to 0.43). Paternal-perceived fathering quality was measured by the question “What kind of father do you think you are?” using a 1 (not good) to 4 (excellent) scale. Fathers responded to eight questions about the number of days per week that they engage their children in activities like reading books (α=0.75).

Results and Conclusion.
All models had excellent fit indices. Perceived father quality fully mediated associations between supportive coparenting and father engagement for emerging adult fathers, while partially mediating effects for adult fathers. Work-family conflict directly predicted father engagement for emerging adult fathers, while demonstrating indirect effects through the pathway of paternal-perceived father quality for adult fathers. Although findings varied between adult and emerging adult fathers, age did not moderate these effects. Programs aiming to promote engagement of low-income and emerging adult fathers may benefit by targeting coparenting relationships and accounting for fathers’ work-family environments, which may enhance or detract from positive beliefs about their roles as fathers.

Authors

• Caroline Frances Dorothy Black, Northern Arizona University
  Presenting Author

• Priscilla Leticia Zambrano, University of Arizona