Understanding Black Fathers' Prenatal Involvement and Attachment with Their Baby

Background and Purpose: Fathers play an important role in child health and development, yet fathers –especially those who are low-income, unmarried, Black and from minoritized communities – encounter individual and structural barriers to full participation in their children’s lives. Barriers during the prenatal period may include prenatal care appointments during the workday, living apart from the mother, and their relationship with the mother may also be a barrier. Still, research shows that a large majority of fathers attend prenatal ultrasounds for their babies and participate in pregnancy and prenatal care in various ways. Prenatal involvement and bonding set the stage for fathers’ future involvement in the lives of, and attachment to, their babies. For Black fathers, there is an unfortunate dearth of literature that explores involvement during their partner’s pregnancy, and attachment to their babies.

Methods: The current study explores the influence of the quality of the relationship between father and mother, and paternal mental health on Black fathers’ prenatal involvement and attachment to their babies. The data are from a survey of 75 Black fathers, living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin who are expecting a baby or are a parent to an infant. Fathers responded to questions about their mental health, experiences during their child’s prenatal period, connection to their babies and mothers of their baby, as well as demographic characteristics. The survey took 20-30 minutes to complete, and participants were compensated $25. We tested our hypotheses using linear regression models, controlling for sociodemographic characteristics. A power analysis revealed a total sample of 48 to arrive at a large effect size at p<.05, from a model employing 5 total predictors.

Results: Over 58% of fathers in the study reported depressive symptoms in the severe range according to (Patient Health Questionnaire) PHQ-2 cutoffs, and 72% were expecting a baby. Fathers’ depressive symptoms was negatively correlated with attachment to the baby (r = -.332, p = .004). We found that fathers’ depressive symptoms were negatively related to the quality of their relationship with the mother of their child (B = -1.398, SE = .524, p = .009, LLCI = -2.443, ULCI = -.353). The quality of the relationship mediated the link between fathers’ involvement in the pregnancy and attachment to their child (B =.049, LLCI =.009, ULCI =.127). Additionally, we discovered a moderating effect of relationship quality on the link between depressive symptoms and fathers’ attachment to their child/baby (R² = 0.39, F(6, 65) = 6.802, p < 0.001).

Conclusions and Implications: The findings suggest that interparental relationship quality and paternal mental health are key personal and interpersonal factors that contribute to father involvement in pregnancy and early attachment with the baby. These findings highlight the importance of, and need to promote, fathers’ perinatal involvement. By extension, these findings yield insights to promote Black family wellbeing in the context of persistent and egregious racial disparities in health outcomes.