Interventions with Fathers: Effective Social Work Practice for Enhancing Individual and Family Well-Being

Father involvement, as specifically parent-led or engaged activities, is recognized and understood as distinctively broad in scope, but also rigid and historically prescribed by gendered social roles such the provider and protector roles. American fatherhood is rooted in masculine tropes that historically restricted men to narrowly circumscribed social roles and expected parental performance. All too frequently hegemonic masculinity stifles broad paternal engagement and ingenuity as well as children’s and families well-being. In addition, racial and ethnic bias and discrimination limits Black and other men of color’s ability and access to enact paternal expectations and obligations broadly shared by American civil society and the fathers themselves (Johnson & Johnson, under review). Interventions with these fathers and their families frame the empirical studies in this Special Issue of Research on Social Work Practice.

Longitudinal Associations Between Early Risk, Father Engagement, and Coparenting and Low-Income Fathers’ Engagement With Children in Middle Childhood

The current investigation examined the longitudinal associations among low-income, urban fathers’ risk factors, engagement with children, and coparenting support during early childhood and paternal engagement with children at age 9 years. Using Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing data ( N = 2104), the results showed that additive individual and family risk when children were infants and preschool-age negatively predicted father engagement at age 9. Father engagement with toddlers and preschoolers positively predicted later paternal involvement with children, but coparenting support during early childhood did not predict father engagement at age 9. There was one significant moderation effect: fathers who were highly engaged with toddlers reported lower levels of engagement during middle childhood when they experienced a higher level of risk factors at age 5. Implications for researchers, practitioners, and policy makers are discussed.

Determinants of Paternal Engagement: Investigating Low-Income Fathers’ Caregiving, Play, and Verbal Engagement With Infants

Extant research highlights the importance of early paternal engagement for children and families. Thus, there is strong support for the exploration of predictors of low-income father engagement. Informed by Belsky’s process model of parenting, this study explores contextual determinants of father–infant engagement (i.e., verbal engagement, physical play, and caregiving) including the unique contributions of the child, the father, and the broader social context. We utilized survey data from a sample of 183 non-residential, cohabitating, and married low-income fathers of infants participating in a home-visiting intervention. Results demonstrated that infant age was associated with increased caregiving and verbal engagement, fathers’ total work hours were negatively correlated with verbal engagement, fathers’ depressive symptoms were linked to increased physical play, and the quality of the coparenting alliance was related to physical play and caregiving. Findings may inform programs designed to promote paternal engagement during infancy.

Macro-Level Gender Inequality & Father Involvement: Evidence from Five Nations

Theories and prior research have hypothesized that macro-level characteristics, including levels of gender inequality and empowerment, are associated with cross-national variability in instrumental and expressive fathering behaviours. While some qualitative and quantitative work has addressed the question, the relationship between social policies influence and fathering remains largely unquantified. This study addresses this gap in the literature by linking micro-level data from more than 5,000 fathers in five countries to quantified levels of gender inequality, political empowerment, and economic empowerment from the United Nations and World Economic Forum. Using mixed regression models, I show that gender inequality acts as a barrier to men’s involvement in instrumental and expressive parenting. In contrast, female economic empowerment is associated with increased paternal engagement, while political empowerment is associated with instrumental, but not expressive, fathering. These results suggest that social policies play an important role in shaping paternal roles, responsibilities, and behaviours. Overall, when women are valued in society, men are more engaged in parenting their children.

Paternal and Maternal Cognitive Engagement and Preschoolers’ Literacy Skills Across Six Ethnic Groups in Suriname

Using propositions in cultural-ecological and maternal and paternal engagement models, this study utilized the 2018 UNICEF Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys to examine which sociodemographic factors were associated with fathers’ and mothers’ cognitive engagement and the associations between parental and maternal cognitive engagement and preschoolers’ literacy skills in Amerindian, Maroon, Creole, Javanese, Hindustani, and Mixed-ethnic families in Suriname ( N = 1,008). After establishing measurement invariance in constructs across ethnic groups, analyses revealed few consistent sociodemographic predictors of paternal and maternal cognitive engagement. Patterns of associations between paternal and maternal cognitive engagement and children’s literacy skills were not uniform across ethnic groups. Data have implications for understanding mothers’ and fathers’ contributions to children’s early literacy skills development and for developing parenting intervention programs in Suriname.

The Father I Knew: Early Paternal Engagement Moderates the Long-term Relationship between Paternal Accessibility and Childhood Behavioral Difficulties

The long-term impact of a father’s involvement in offspring development is understudied. The current study investigated the relations between early paternal engagement (i.e., the amount of time fathers engaged in one-to-one activity with their child), paternal accessibility (i.e., fathers’ physical proximity to their children) and later child behavioral difficulties. Data were obtained from five phases of the Auckland Birthweight Collaborative (ABC) longitudinal cohort study: at the study children’s birth; at 12 months; 3.5 years; 7 years; and 11 years of age. Moderated linear regression analyses revealed that there was a negative, long-term effect of paternal departure from the family household (i.e., reduced paternal accessibility) by 3.5 years of age on children’s total behavioral difficulties and conduct problems scores, but only if departed fathers had been highly engaged during the child’s first year of life. These findings suggest that the relationship between paternal accessibility and paternal engagement is potentially more nuanced than previously thought.

Fathers’ Time Off Work, Co-Residence, and Paternal Engagement among Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Fathers

Research consistently finds that fathers who take time off work when their children are born exhibit higher levels of paternal engagement relative to fathers who do not take time off work. This study aims to identify one possible mediating factor: fathers’ co-residence with their children and their children’s biological mothers over time. The current study uses data from the Fragile Families and Wellbeing Study and structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine the relationships between fathers’ time off work when their children were born, residence with their children and their children’s biological mothers, and levels of father-child engagement ( n = 2,453). Results indicated that the number of weeks taken off work was positively associated with men’s subsequent residence with their children and children’s mothers when their children were five-years-old, which in turn was positively associated with paternal engagement.

Conceptions and Experiences of Paternal Involvement among Quebec Fathers: A Dual Parental Experience

In Quebec, social changes have reshaped family roles and social expectations for fathers. This article examines Quebec fathers’ conceptions of their paternal role and their experience of paternal involvement. Twenty-six fathers (n = 26) participated in five group interviews. Thematic analysis of their discourse shows that their paternal experience is rooted in various conceptions of the paternal role. Many issues are experienced as dualities: the complexity of inventing a paternal role without having models, being present with their child while being providers, recognizing themselves as fathers despite lack of recognition from family or social circles, and wanting to take action with their child yet being unable to do so. The importance assigned to paternal involvement by fathers in this study shows their desire to develop and maintain paternal engagement during the preschool period, and it highlights the necessity of adapting family services to better support fathers through the transition to fatherhood.