Predictors of Unmarried, African American Fathers' Prenatal Parenting Confidence

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

Abstract

Background
Although studies involving African American fathers are lacking, an emerging body of research has begun to document the personal (e.g., parental characteristics), socio-contextual (e.g., couple relationship quality), and child (e.g., temperament) factors that impact African American fathers' interactions with their young children (Brown et al., 2017; Cooper et al., 2020). However, despite the importance of men’s prenatal involvement for subsequent parenting and developmental outcomes (e.g., Cabrera et al., 2008), research to date has rarely considered fathers' prenatal expectations for parenting or the determinants of those expectations in this population. The present study extended Belsky's (1984) process model of the determinants of parenting to examine the predictors of prenatal parenting confidence among unmarried, African American expectant fathers. Specifically, we examined the extent to which key personal psychological resources (i.e., masculine depression), socio-contextual factors (i.e., relationship quality with child's mother), and anticipated child characteristics (i.e., temperament expectations) predicted unmarried, African American fathers' pre-birth parenting confidence.
Method
A sample of 57 expectant, unmarried, African American fathers from low SES communities in the rural South completed a series of survey measures prenatally. Prenatal parenting confidence was assessed using 7 items designed for this study to assess fathers' expectations for their parenting competence and ability to handle parenting challenges. The Masculine Depression Scale (Magovcevic & Addis, 2008) was administered to assess atypical presentation of depressive symptoms among men (e.g., externalizing). Relationship quality with the child's mother was assessed using a 6-item scale adapted from the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being study. Fathers also completed a prenatal version of the short form of the Infant Characteristics Questionnaire (Bates et al., 1979) assessing their expectations for their new child's temperamental difficulty.
Results
Bivariate correlations are presented in Table 1. Results indicated that fathers' prenatal parenting confidence was related to higher levels of inter-parental relationship quality, and lower levels of masculine depressive symptoms and expected temperamental difficulty. Regression analyses examining the simultaneous contributions of these 3 variables to prenatal parenting confidence are presented in Table 2. In regression analyses fathers' expectations for their new child's temperamental difficulty significantly predicted parenting confidence above and beyond the other predictors. Masculine depressive symptoms were marginally related to parenting confidence, and inter-parental relationship quality was unrelated to parenting confidence in the context of these analyses.
Discussion
Consistent with Belsky's process model unmarried, African American men's prenatal parenting confidence was related to all three domains; psychological resources, socio-contextual factors, and (anticipated) child characteristics. However, among this population of expectant parents, fathers' expectations for their unborn children's temperamental characteristics was the strongest predictor of confidence, followed by masculine depression and inter-parental relationship quality. Findings speak to possibly unique determinants of parenting for African American fathers, and to the importance of considering these men's expectations for their infants' emotional characteristics even before the child's birth.

Authors

• Alp Aytuglu, University of Georgia
  Presenting Author

• Peter Attridge
  Non-Presenting Author

• Clare Thomas
  Non-Presenting Author

• Geoffrey L. Brown, University of Georgia
  Non-Presenting Author