Paternal Self-Efficacy Among Non-Resident Fathers

Background/Purpose: Limits of non-residential father access to children may result in reduced agency and confidence within the parenting realm. Previously developed paternal self-efficacy scales are either adapted from scales developed for both parents or developed with resident, Caucasian, middle- and upper-class fathers, and may not be valid with non-resident low-income fathers. The purpose of this study is to develop a measure of paternal self-efficacy for non-resident fathers using a combination of general-domain and task specific items that is feasible for use by both researchers and fatherhood practitioners. The presentation includes the development and validation of the Father Appraisal Inventory, a scale for assessment of paternal self-efficacy with low-income, nonresident fathers of color.

Methods: Using both inductive and deductive methods of scale development, researchers reviewed parenting self-efficacy scales and conducted focus groups (n = 71) with nonresident biological fathers to develop items based on tasks associated with building self-efficacy in nonresidential fathering. Next, fathering practitioners reviewed items and provided input for design of the measurement tool. The newly designed measurement scale was then administered to 542 nonresidential fathers, along with other scales and measures to test for convergent and predictive validity (e.g., father satisfaction, father involvement, coparenting, and father-child relationship quality).

Results: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed and confirmed three distinct and reliable paternal self-efficacy factors: parenting, provisioning, and communicating (χ2 = 14.70 (df = 11), p = .196; CFI = .996; RMSEA = .035; SRMR = .020). Convergent and predictive validity analyses indicate that the seven-item scale with a three-factor structure converges with father satisfaction and predicts quantity and quality of father involvement, along with coparenting.

Conclusion/Implications: The results of the construct reliability and validity testing of the Father Appraisal Inventory supports the use of the scale for measurement of paternal self-efficacy in nonresident father populations.