Children's Affection Toward Fathers: A Comparison between Japan and the United States

Abstract Previous studies on fatherhood have focused primarily on the extent of paternal involvement from fathers' point of view and the impact of such involvement on children. These studies report that the level of paternal involvement varies depending on such factors as the fathers' ages, and the mothers' employment hours and income, and that the active participation by fathers has a positive impact on children's emotional and cognitive development. The current study not only focuses on paternal involvement but also on questions rarely addressed in the previous studies. How do children perceive the extent of fathers' involvement with them? Are their perceptions highly correlated with the report made by fathers? Further, how does paternal involvement influence children's affection toward fathers? In this paper, these questions are examined using a cross-national data collected in Japan and the United States. The major findings of the survey indicate that the levels of paternal involvement perceived by children and fathers are not as strongly correlated as were expected both in Japan and the United States. In both countries, children who spend more time with their fathers and who are younger and girls express more affection toward fathers. A cross-national difference was found with respect to the impact of social network on children's affection toward fathers.     

Whose child is it anyway? The negotiation of paternal entitlements within marriage

Based on qualitative research, this paper suggests that among some married/co‐habiting couples, where mothers are professionally employed and there are pre‐school children, fathers seek to enhance their paternal role. This contrasts with previous research, which indicates that married/co‐habiting men leave to mothers the responsibility for nurturing both maternal and paternal relationships with children. Using the notions of situational and debilitative power, it is shown how married/co‐habiting fathers developed strategies for augmenting paternal rights. While fathers' involvement with children was perceived as beneficial by some mothers, others regarded it as a threat to maternal status. The paper suggests that power relations between married/co‐habiting parents in the sample are similar to power struggles between couples who are separated or divorced. The possibility is raised that paternal strategies to diminish the maternal sphere of influence among both married/co‐habiting and divorced fathers may be symptomatic of wider male fears about the erosion of male hegemony. It is observed that the schemes employed by fathers in the sample to enhance the paternal role are similar to the approach advocated in policy statements of fathers' rights activists.     

Paternal Child Care and Relationship Quality: A Longitudinal Analysis of Reciprocal Associations

This study explored reciprocal associations between paternal child‐care involvement and relationship quality by following British couples from the birth of a child until he or she reached school age. It extends the literature by distinguishing between paternal engagement in absolute terms and relative to the mother and by considering relationship quality reports of mothers and fathers and family breakdown. The analysis was based on the British Millennium Cohort Study, a representative survey of children born in 2000 and 2001 and their parents (N = 5,624 couples). The author applied ordinary least squares regression analysis with lagged dependent variables and event history modeling. Fathers' relative child‐care share was positively associated with mothers' relationship satisfaction, whereas fathers' absolute child‐care frequency was positively related to their own perceived relationship quality for most time periods. Fathers' relative and absolute child‐care contributions were positively associated with relationship stability over the preschool years. Greater perceived relationship quality of mothers, but not fathers, was associated with more frequent paternal engagement.     

Family Ties and Young Fathers' Engagement in Cape Town,South Africa

Young South African fathers are often engaged in their children's lives even if they do not live together. Using longitudinal data on children (n = 1,209) from the Cape Town area, the authors show that although only 26% of young fathers live with their children, 66% of nonresidential fathers maintain regular contact, and 61% provide financial support. The father–child relationship, however, is embedded in broader family ties. The type of father–mother relationship is strongly associated with whether fathers coreside with their children but not with fathers' contact with nonresidential children. Close mother and maternal grandmother bonds reduce the likelihood that fathers live with their children, whereas close ties between fathers and paternal grandmothers increase the chance that fathers visit nonresidential children. Family ties do not affect fathers' financial contributions, which are driven by men's current economic situation. These findings illustrate that father–child relationships are best understood in the context of interacting family systems.     

Paternal Work Stress and Latent Profiles of Father–Infant Parenting Quality

The current study used latent profile analysis (LPA) to examine the implications of fathers' experiences of work stress for paternal behaviors with infants across multiple dimensions of parenting in a sample of fathers living in nonmetropolitan communities (N = 492). LPA revealed five classes of fathers based on levels of social–affective behaviors and linguistic stimulation measured during two father–infant interactions. Multinomial logistic regression analyses suggested that a less supportive work environment was associated with fathers' membership in multiple lower quality parenting classes. Greater work pressure and a nonstandard work schedule also predicted fathers' membership in the latent parenting classes, although these associations differed depending on the number of hours fathers spent in the workplace.     

Fathers' involvement and the impact on family mental health: evidence from Millennium Cohort Study analyses

This paper reports evidence from the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) on the relationship between fathers' involvement and the mental well-being of mothers, fathers and children. Drawing on previous research, we use a tripartite definition of father involvement: engagement, accessibility and responsibility. After searching 14 databases and websites, we screened for applicability, coded, quality assessed and synthesised the evidence. The majority of studies focused on ‘accessibility’ in terms of family structure or on ‘responsibility’ in terms of father employment. Overall, the studies suggest that aspects of fathers' involvement can positively influence both maternal and child mental well-being; fathers' mental health was only analysed in relation to one aspect of involvement: parental or father employment was found to influence fathers' mental well-being positively. Further MCS-based research is recommended to examine the impact of fathers' involvement on their own mental well-being, as well as the broader impact of a more active or ‘modern’ fatherhood model encompassing engagement and an understanding of responsibility beyond the breadwinning role.     

Fatherhood: Comparison Between Divorced Custodial Fathers,Married Fathers,and Divorced Non-Custodial Fathers in Israel

Paternal involvement and acceptance were compared among 218 custodial fathers, 222 married fathers, and 105 divorced noncustodial fathers. Findings show that the custodial fathers were more involved with their children, coordinated less with their children’s mother, and viewed their children as more difficult than the other fathers. Two regression analyses were conducted. One revealed that greater paternal involvement was predicted by greater self-differentiation, greater sense of having received care from one’s own father, and a less avoidant caregiving disposition. The other showed that greater paternal acceptance was predicted by greater self-differentiation, greater sense of having received care from one’s own father, and a less anxious caregiving disposition. Finally, the findings show that coparenting, social support, and sense of the child as difficult moderated the associations between the fathers’ personal variables and their involvement, but not their acceptance.     

PREDICTORS OF PATERNAL INVOLVEMENT POSTDIVORCE

Recent research on the effects of divorce on children indicates the relationship of the noncustodial father both to the former spouse and to the child are critical factors affecting the child's adjustment. Guided by a family systems perspective, this study examined the relationship between paternal involvement postdivorce, the divorced coparental relationship and feelings of the former spouses' toward each other. Data were obtained from intensive interviews with 54 pairs of ex-spouses one year after divorce. Comparative analyses of mothers and fathers revealed different perceptions of fathers' involvement. Regression analysis showed that the coparental relationship and selected individual variables were significant predictors of both mothers' and fathers' perceptions of his involvement in child-rearing after divorce.     

Japanese Fathers of Preschoolers and Their Involvement in Child Care

We examine how relative resources, time availability, gender ideology, living arrangement, child‐care demand, and job satisfaction are associated with the levels of younger Japanese fathers’ involvement in child care for preschoolers. A theoretical model that includes these factors is tested using 1994 data collected from Japanese fathers and mothers with preschool children (N = 442 couples). We find that practical considerations such as fathers’ shorter work hours, mothers’ full‐time employment, fewer adults and more children in households, and younger ages of children are associated with higher levels of paternal involvement. Implications of these findings are discussed in light of attention to ways to encourage Japanese men's sharing of child‐care responsibilities with their wives.     

Ambivalence Toward Adult Children: Differences Between Mothers and Fathers

The authors examined how ambivalence toward adult children within the same family differs between mothers and fathers and whether patterns of maternal and paternal ambivalence can be explained by the same set of predictors. Using data collected in the Within‐Family Differences Study, they compared older married mothers' and fathers' (N = 129) assessments of ambivalence toward each of their adult children (N = 444). Fathers reported higher levels of ambivalence overall. Both mothers and fathers reported lower ambivalence toward children who were married, better educated, and who they perceived to hold similar values; however, the effects of marital status and education were more pronounced for fathers, whereas the effect of children's value congruence was more pronounced for mothers. Fathers reported lower ambivalence toward daughters than sons, whereas mothers reported less ambivalence toward sons than daughters.     

Father Involvement and Childhood Injuries

Unintentional injury is the leading cause of death for children in the United States. Parental supervision is a key factor in preventing injuries, but little is known about the role of fathers. Today, one quarter of children live with a single mother, and another third live with a mother and her new partner, resulting in tremendous diversity in the amount and type of paternal involvement in children's lives. The authors examined the effects of involvement by resident biological, nonresident biological, and resident social fathers on the risk of injury among children from birth to age 5 using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 4,352). They found that living with a social father and social fathers' more frequent engagement with children increase risk of injury, but only for the youngest children. Higher levels of fathers' cooperative parenting reduce children's risk of injury regardless of fathers' biological or residential status.     

Coparenting and Children’s Adjustment to Divorce: The Role of Geographical Distance from Fathers

After divorce, shorter distances between parents’ homes are often seen as facilitating nonresident fathers’ involvement with their children, good coparenting practices, and children’s well-being. However, few studies have explored how geographical distance relates to coparenting and children’s adjustment. Moreover, the direction of causality remains unclear, as uninvolved fathers due to paternal disinterest, maternal gatekeeping, or interparental conflict are more likely to move farther away from their children. Based on a probability sample of 144 divorced mothers of school-aged children living in Geneva, Switzerland, this study explores how the distance between parents’ homes relates to maternal promotion of the father–child relationship (cohesive coparenting) and children’s emotional and behavioral outcomes. Results show that cohesive coparenting relates more to frequent father–child contacts by phone or e-mails than to residential proximity. Both cohesive coparenting and fathers’ residential proximity have positive and independent effects on children’s adjustment. Children whose fathers live nearby exhibit fewer behavioral difficulties and more prosocial behavior than children whose fathers live far away. These findings suggest that frequent contacts by phone or e-mail can substitute for distance in coparenting, but geographical proximity still matters for fathers’ contribution to children’s well-being. Overall, this study recommends that spatial and mobility dimensions should receive more attention in divorce research.     

Intergenerational Influences on Perceptions of Current Relationships with Grandparents

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to investigate inter-generational kinship variables as predictors of perceptions of current grandparent-grandchild relationship quality. A lifecourse perspective is used to demonstrate the need for consideration of the GP-GCH relationship within a three-generational, dynamic framework linking the past and present. Matrifocal kinkeeping, lineage and caregiving history hypotheses are tested in the current study. Responses from a combined sample of 321 young adult grandchildren about their relationships with their parents and all living grandparents provide the basis for the present research. GP-GCH relationship quality is the dependent variable under consideration, which combines perceived emotional closeness and frequency of contact with each of the four possible grandparent types. Independent variables tested include caregiving by grandparents during childhood, young adults' current relationship quality with mothers and fathers, and mothers' and fathers' relationships with parents and in-laws, as appropriate. Using stepwise multiple regression, GP-GCH relationship quality is predicted by a history of caregiving for the grandchild by the grandparent in question, as well as direct lineage connections, with mothers' relationships with their children and parents influencing grandchildren's relationships with maternal grandparents, and fathers' relationships with their parents and children showing similar patterns for grandchildren's relationships with paternal grandparents. The present data provide support for lineage and caregiving history hypotheses rather than matrifocal kinkeeping as predictors of intergenerational kinship patterns.     

The Intergenerational Continuity of Fathers' Absence in a Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Sample

Fathers' absence is a pattern that shows intergenerational continuity, most notably within disadvantaged populations. The process whereby this pattern is repeated across generations is not well understood. Using data from the Concordia Longitudinal Risk Project, the authors investigated pathways between fathers' absence in 1 generation and the experience of fathers' absence by their children. The current sample included 386 socioeconomically at‐risk individuals across 2 waves of data collection: (a) when they were children and (b) when they were adults with their own children. Analyses based on structural equation modeling revealed that men whose fathers were absent when they were children were more likely to become absent fathers, and women whose fathers were absent when they were children were more likely to have children with absent partners. Indirect pathways between fathers' absence in 2 generations through aggression, education, and substance abuse were illustrated for women. These findings add to the literature suggesting that fathers' absence during childhood has intergenerational effects.     

Which fathers are the most involved in taking care of their toddlers in the UK? An investigation of the predictors of paternal involvement

Economic provisioning continues to be the essence of ‘good’ fathering, and the work schedules associated with fathers' employment remain a key factor which shapes their involvement in childcare and domestic work at home. However, the relative impact of fathers' and mothers' employment hours on paternal involvement in childcare is unclear, and little is known about the longer-term impact, that is, whether a work arrangement organised when the child is under a year old has an impact on paternal involvement when the child is aged three. Here we focus on employed couples and explore the association that mothers' and fathers' employment hours have with paternal involvement when their child is three years old. Multivariate analysis using the UK's Millennium Cohort Study reveals that it is the mothers' employment hours when the child is aged three that has the largest association with paternal involvement in childcare at this stage in the child's life, independent of what hours the father works. Furthermore, both fathers' and mothers' employment hours when the child was nine months old have a longitudinal influence on paternal involvement when the child reaches three years old, but it is the hours worked by the mother when the child was aged nine months that has the stronger association with paternal involvement at age three. This suggests that mothers' work schedules are more important than fathers' for fostering greater paternal involvement in both the immediate and longer term.     

Fathers' Investments of Money and Time Across Residential Contexts

Fathers' roles in family life have changed dramatically over the past 50 years. In addition to ongoing breadwinning responsibilities, many fathers are now involved in direct caregiving and engagement with children. Yet there is considerable variation in what fathers do, especially depending on whether they live with or away from their child. In this article, the authors use data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 3,869) to describe how fathers' economic capacities (money) and direct involvement with children (time) are associated over child ages 1 to 9 for resident versus nonresident fathers, net of confounding factors. They found suggestive evidence that money and time investments operate differently across residential contexts: Resident fathers experience a trade‐off between market work and time involved with children. In contrast, nonresident fathers' higher economic capacities are associated with more time involvement, underscoring the greater challenge for such fathers to remain actively involved.     

Caregiving fathers and the negotiation of crossroads: Journeys of continuity and change

This article addresses the sustainability of extensive paternal involvement in caregiving by applying a temporal approach to understandings of the journeys of primary- and equal-carer fathers and their families. Drawing on a second phase of interviews with UK fathers first spoken to 5 years earlier, we explore continuities and changes in their roles, identities and outlooks as their caregiving journeys progressed and their children became older. Specifically, we explore how fathers and their families negotiated significant moments of change that had the potential to prompt reflection or reorientation, moments that we term caregiving crossroads. Through doing so, we highlight how, in spite of shifts in their arrangements and understandings, the embeddedness of fathers' caregiving routines, bonds and identities had apparently enabled their commitment to counter-normative roles to endure through such crossroads. We also outline, however, how gendered limitations to some aspects of the scope of their caregiving seemed also to persist as their journeys as fathers progressed.     

Repartnering Following Divorce: Implications for Older Fathers' Relations With Their Adult Children

This study examined the implications of postdivorce fathers' new unions and additional (step)children for two aspects of older fathers' relations with adult children born from a prior relationship: frequency of social contact and fathers' financial transfers. Data from multiple waves of the Health and Retirement Study (N = 13,017 observations on 4,997 adult children belonging to 1,917 ever‐divorced fathers) were used to estimate multilevel models. The results indicated that divorced fathers who go on to form a new union have weaker relations with adult children from a prior union than their postdivorce counterparts who remain single. This finding partly reflects the detrimental effects of repartnered older fathers' new biological children and stepchildren. There is no difference between older remarried and cohabiting fathers' intergenerational ties. Moreover, fathers' additional biological children and stepchildren have similarly negative effects on fathers' relations with adult children from a previous union.     

Daily Variation in Paternal Engagement and Negative Mood: Implications for Emotionally Supportive and Conflictual Interactions

This study used an ecological perspective to examine how daily variation in the time fathers spend in child‐care activities was related to emotionally supportive or conflictual father‐child interactions and whether fathers' negative mood moderated these associations. Data for the present analyses were from 2 daily diary studies. Both studies asked fathers to report about their daily experiences with their children, including how much time they spent with them and whether or not they had any supportive interactions or conflictual interactions. The first study used daily self‐report questionnaires from a sample of fathers in rural upstate New York, and the second study used daily telephone interviews from a national sample of fathers. Results from a series of hierarchical linear models showed that fathers were more likely to have supportive and conflictual interactions on days when they spent more time engaged in child‐care activities. The association between time with children and conflictual interactions was greater on days when fathers were in a negative mood. Negative mood did not moderate the association between time with children and emotionally supportive interactions. The findings from this study suggest that when fathers spend more time with their children they are more likely to engage in supportive interactions, regardless of negative mood.     

Planned Gay Father Families in Kinship Arrangements

The current study examined whether there are differences between gay father families (n = 36) and heterosexual families (n = 36) on father‐child relationship, fathers' experiences of parental stress and children's wellbeing. The gay fathers in this study all became parents while in same‐sex relationships. They donated sperm to lesbian couples and then shared the child‐rearing with them in kinship arrangements. It was also examined whether aspects that are related specifically to gay fathers (i.e., experiences of rejection, having to defend their family situation, with whom the children live, and conflicts with the children's mothers) are also related to the father‐child relationship, parental stress and children's wellbeing. Data were collected by means of questionnaires filled in by the fathers. No significant differences between the family types were found on emotional involvement and parental concern in the father‐child relationship, parental burden (as an aspect of parental stress) or the children's wellbeing. However, gay fathers felt less competent in their child‐rearing role than heterosexual fathers. For gay fathers especially, experiences of rejection and the feeling that they have to defend their situation were significantly related to father‐child relationship, parental stress and children's wellbeing.