It Ain't Just for the 40 Dollars: Young Fathers' Responses to the Interview Experience

In-depth interviews were conducted with 13 young fathers to identify factors supporting their paternal involvement. Participants' responses to their interviews revealed that the qualitative experience was meaningful and encouraged their paternal involvement through (1) self-disclosure, (2) the opportunity to help others, and (3) personal engagement with the interviewer. Prior work has noted the general benefits of interviews for interviewees. This study addresses the less-explored, specific benefits of qualitative interviews for young fathers, along with recommendations, which include (1) conducting research that utilizes the qualitative interview as a therapeutic opportunity for young-father participants, (2) exploring fathers' behaviors in qualitative interviews as an untapped resource for engagement, and (3) conducting participatory action and mixed methodologies with young fathers.