Friday, 14 January 2005 - 2:00 PM

This presentation is part of: Risk for Child Maltreatment

Father Involvement in At-Risk Families Receiving Home-Based Services

PURPOSE: Research on father involvement remains controversial due to ideological differences about the importance of fathers to healthy child development and family life. Empirical studies have generally supported a relationship between higher levels of father involvement and positive developmental outcome in children, and have found father involvement to be predicted by a number of individual, relationship and environmental characteristics. However, there are virtually no studies which provide even basic descriptive information about father involvement in families considered at-risk for maltreatment. Prevention programs have traditionally made mothers and their children the target of services, ignoring the potentially vital role of fathers. The overall objective of this initial analysis was to investigate father involvement in a cohort of at-risk families receiving home-based preventive services. Questions focused on examining levels of father involvement in providing support to mothers during pregnancy and identifying predictors of father involvement.

METHODS: Data were used from a three-year clinical trial aimed at testing the effect of an in-home family support program. A total of 488 families were selected into the original study through a standardized two-stage process at the time of the index child’s birth. Study participants were mostly nonwhite and poor. Data on father involvement was gathered through structured interviews with the mothers, and involved questions on support provided during pregnancy along multiple dimensions (e.g., involvement in prenatal care, emotional support, financial support, etc.). An overall dichotomous indicator of involvement was computed for initial analyses (no involvement/ involvement). Sequential logistic regression was conducted testing the effect of mother characteristics, father characteristics and relationship dimensions on father involvement.

RESULTS: Descriptive analyses indicated that about 80% of this at-risk cohort reported some level of father involvement with about half of the mothers reporting high levels of father involvement. Logistic regression analysis found that younger age of the mother, a greater number of children and no alcohol use were associated with father involvement. Drug use by the father predicted lack of father involvement. In general, mother and father characteristics added little explanatory power to the overall model. Relationship variables, such as living together, being married, duration of relationship and the mother’s feelings about the relationship were significant predictors of father involvement and explained about 25% of the variance in the model.

IMPLICATIONS: This study expands current conceptualizations of father involvement, exploring it within the context of an at-risk population receiving home-based preventive services. Subsequent analyses will explore the mediating effects of father involvement on outcomes. Data from this study suggest that father involvement is increased by stable relationships. Data further support the notion that mothers are important gatekeepers to father involvement, suggesting that practitioners need to closely work with mothers when trying to engage fathers. Given the many studies that have found a link between father involvement and improved developmental outcomes, practice and policy efforts need to explicitly include fathers as targets of prevention and intervention efforts.

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