Fathering in the Prenatal Period: Elucidating Paternal Experiences and Contributions During Pregnancy and Childbirth

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

Fathers’ contributions to child health and development often begin before the birth of a new baby. Nonetheless, the correlates and consequences of fathers’ experiences during the prenatal period have rarely been studied. This symposium brings together research on fathering during pregnancy and childbirth, and considers the sequelae of fathers’ pre-birth parenting attitudes, behaviors, and emotions, as well as implications for post-birth parenting and child adjustment. The symposium includes scholars from multiple disciplines (clinical psychology, human development, social work, and pediatrics) and utilizes three different datasets comprised of racially and socioeconomically diverse fathers. The first paper uses social network analyses to examine associations between network density and anticipated parenting efficacy among unmarried, African American men expecting a baby. The second paper documents a link between fathers’ birth stress and increasing depressive symptoms from pre- to post-birth in an ethnically and racially diverse sample of cohabiting fathers. The third paper leverages data from the Fragile Families and Child Well Being Study to model pathways from fathers’ prenatal and birth-related variables to father-child relationship quality at ages 9 and 15 via paternal engagement and coparenting support at age 5. The discussant is a pediatrician and internist with expertise in fathers’ contributions to child health, as well as policy and prevention initiatives to improve health inequities. Collectively, this symposium will elucidate the experiences and contributions of fathers from diverse socio-cultural contexts during the prenatal period. Future directions for research, policy, and practice with expectant fathers and implications for child development will be discussed.

Sub Unit

• Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Chair

• Geoffrey L. Brown, University of Georgia

Discussant

• John James Parker, Northwestern University

Individual Presentations

• Social Networks and Prenatal Anticipated Parenting Efficacy Among Unmarried, African American Fathers - Presenting Author: Geoffrey L. Brown, University of Georgia; Alp Aytuglu, University of Georgia; Clare R. Thomas, University of Georgia; Cullin Howard, University of Georgia; Jonique Freeman, University of Georgia

• Fathers' Subjective Birth Stress During Childbirth Predicts Depressive Symptoms at Six Months Postpartum - Presenting Author: Elizabeth C Aviv, University of Southern California; Emma Preston; Pia Elizabeth Sellery, University of Colorado Boulder; Darby E. Saxbe, University of Southern California

• The Long Reach of Prenatal Behaviors and Attitudes on Unmarried Fathers’ Engagement from Early Childhood to Adolescence - Presenting Author: Jay Fagan, Temple University; Natasha J Cabrera, University of Maryland - College Park; Rachel Ghosh, University of Maryland - College Park