FACTORS INFLUENCING FATHER PARTICIPATION IN CHILD CARE IN PRETERM AND FULL TERM INFANTS.
Contributors: Boston University.
Published: 1988
Number of pages: 242
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Sociology, Individual and Family Studies.
Description: The purpose of this study was to determine whether the status of the infant (preterm vs. full term) influenced the amount a father participated in child care. It also discerned the influence of maternal and paternal attitudes toward participation in child care on the amount a father participated in child care.

The sample for this study consisted of 25 parents of healthy full term infants and 39 parents of preterm infants with varying medical risk status, who were enrolled in a larger longitudinal study. Parents of the full term infants were recruited when their infant was two to three days of age. Parents of the preterm infants were recruited prior to the 34 week gestational age of their infant when the medical condition had stabilized. Parents in the study were predominantly middle class.

Parents in both groups were given the maternal and paternal attitudes scale prior to the discharge of their infant. When the infant was 44 weeks gestational age the family patterns questionnaire was given to the parents to complete.

Significant relationships were found between maternal and paternal attitudes toward father participation in child care and the amount a father participates in child care. However, only one variable paternal attitudes was a significant predictor of father participation in child care. There were no differences in paternal and maternal attitudes dependent on the status of their infant. Maternal and paternal attitudes were significantly related. Additional analyses examined the relationship of socioeconomic status and sex of the infant on father participation and the group effects of mode of delivery and parity.

Recommendations for future research include: replicating this study with a larger sample of preterm infants to examine the relationship of medical risk to father involvement, examining the differential effect of infant behavior has on father involvement, indirect and direct sources of support for the father's role and forces which influence maternal and paternal attitudes toward father participation in child. The relevance for nursing of this study included extending previous nursing research into new populations, demonstrating the importance of directing interventions at the father, and providing interventions for the mother so she can support a broader role for the father.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-01, Section: B, page: 0122.

Thesis (D.N.SC.)--BOSTON UNIVERSITY, 1988.

School code: 0017.