Paternal Identity, Maternal Gatekeeping, and Fathers' Positive Engagement from Early to Middle Childhood

• In Event: Poster Session 10
  In Poster Session: PS 10 Topic - Family Context & Processes

Abstract

In predicting fathers’ positive engagement, understanding the dynamic between mother and father is important. One of four children do not live with their father and nonresident fathers are more sensitive to it, but prior studies investigating the interaction between paternal identity and maternal gatekeeping have focused on resident-father families for the early transition into parenthood. It remains unknown if the effects of maternal gatekeeping on fathers’ positive engagement are retained or attenuated across the child’s development. Data from 1,601 resident-father families and 1,369 nonresident-father families in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study were analyzed using longitudinal multilevel modeling. Of 2,970 fathers, 37.9% were Black, 31.5% were Hispanics, and 5.2% were of other races/ethnicities. Also, 30.3% had a high school degree and 31.4% did not earn a high school degree. Among resident-father families, paternal role-level centrality and maternal gate closing attitudes were consistently associated with fathers’ subsequent positive engagement through middle childhood. Maternal gate closing nullified the effect of paternal role-level centrality in early childhood, but this moderation effect changed in middle childhood. Among nonresident-father families, maternal gate opening behavior was consistently associated with greater positive engagement among fathers across child age, and this effect was especially strong for fathers with greater status-level centrality. Paternal identity and maternal gatekeeping are important for fathers’ positive engagement from early to middle childhood, with especially persistent effects for nonresident fathers. To promote fathers’ long-term positive engagement in childrearing, the establishment of a strong paternal identity and maintenance of a supportive coparenting relationship is critical.

Authors

• Jin-Kyung Lee, Pennsylvania State University, University Park
  Presenting Author

• Sarah Jane Schoppe-Sullivan, Ohio State University
  Non-Presenting Author