Fathers and Their Infants

Caregiving and Affection in the Modern Family

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2168223
AutoresTerri Combs-Orme (University of Tennessee at Knoxville), Terri Combs‐orme, Lauren Renkert, Lauren E Renkert (Appalachian State University)
Año2009
Volumen19
Número4
Páginas394-418
Fecha de publicación2009-06-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1091-1359 • E-ISSN: 1540-3556
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/10911350902790753
OpenAlexW1979933726
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas7
Referencias citadas47

Despite social work's expressed interest in families and belief in the importance of parents to children, social work researchers have done little to explore the importance of fathers in children's everyday lives. This is especially true for infants. Moreover, as more and more infants and children grow up in single-mother homes, step-families, and other family configurations, knowledge is needed about how these demographic trends affect parents' interactions with their young children. This article examines men's caregiving of infants and their displays of affection in a longitudinal study of a diverse sample of infants and their mothers, using both person-centered and variable-centered statistical methods. Comparisons are made among various "types" of fathers, including those who live with and separately from their children and men who are not biological fathers but live with and care for infants. Results indicate that caregiving and expressions of affection appear to represent two distinct domains of fathering behaviors for residential fathers. We found two classes of residential fathers: one with low levels of both types of fathering behavior and one with higher levels, particularly higher expressions of affection. Similarly we found two classes of non-residential fathers with dramatically different levels of fathering behavior. Though surrogate fathers did provide affection to their infants, their levels of caregiving were low. KEYWORDS: Fathersfatherhoodinfantsparentinglatent class analysis Notes The authors gratefully acknowledge John Orme for his assistance with data analysis. *Two surrogate fathers also lived with birth fathers

Affect (linguistics · Affection · Developmental psychology · Family Dynamics and Relationships · Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving · Psychology · Work-Family Balance Challenges · Social Psychology