Conflict and Father Involvement: The Unique Role of Postpartum Destructiveness for Fathers' Direct Care in Toddlerhood

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Autori principali: Samantha A. Murray‐Perdue, Stephanie Rayburn, Lijuan Wang, E. Mark Cummings, Julia M. Braungart‐Rieker
Natura: Artículo Open Access
Pubblicazione: Wiley 2025
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author Samantha A. Murray‐Perdue
Stephanie Rayburn
Lijuan Wang
E. Mark Cummings
Julia M. Braungart‐Rieker
author_facet Samantha A. Murray‐Perdue
Stephanie Rayburn
Lijuan Wang
E. Mark Cummings
Julia M. Braungart‐Rieker
Samantha A. Murray‐Perdue
Stephanie Rayburn
Lijuan Wang
E. Mark Cummings
Julia M. Braungart‐Rieker
collection Wiley Open Access
contents Conflict and Father Involvement: The Unique Role of Postpartum Destructiveness for Fathers' Direct Care in Toddlerhood Samantha A. Murray‐Perdue Stephanie Rayburn Lijuan Wang E. Mark Cummings Julia M. Braungart‐Rieker Family Process ABSTRACTFather involvement in childcare is associated with positive outcomes for children. Growing evidence supports many predictors of fathers' involvement, including maternal gatekeeping and father characteristics. The present study focuses on fathers' postpartum experiences, exploring parallel insights from environmental, interpersonal, and internal factors after having a baby to predict later involvement. We investigated how early household chaos, couple conflict, and father depressive symptoms in infancy predict later direct involvement in toddler care. The current study utilized data from 202 families participating in a parenting intervention program. We longitudinally assessed father reports of household chaos and their depressive symptoms, and employed an observational measure of conflict, at 6, 12, and 18 months postpartum to predict mother and father reports of father direct contributions to childcare at 18 months. Latent variables were created for household chaos, depressive symptoms, and destructiveness to incorporate reports 6 months apart. A structural equation model indicated father appraisals of household chaos were positively associated with depressive symptoms over time. Furthermore, couple destructiveness was negatively predictive of mothers' reports, but not fathers' reports of father direct care at 18 months after controlling for direct care behavior within 6 months postpartum. These results suggest that although father appraisals of his environment likely relate to his mental health, couple functioning played a greater role over time in direct care. We emphasize including fathers' appraisals of their experience in future research and underscore the potential impact of intervening at the couple level postpartum to support fathers' direct involvement in childcare over time. 10.1111/famp.70013 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
doi_str_mv 10.1111/famp.70013
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institution Wiley Open Access
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spellingShingle Conflict and Father Involvement: The Unique Role of Postpartum Destructiveness for Fathers' Direct Care in Toddlerhood
Samantha A. Murray‐Perdue
Stephanie Rayburn
Lijuan Wang
E. Mark Cummings
Julia M. Braungart‐Rieker
Family Process
Conflict and Father Involvement: The Unique Role of Postpartum Destructiveness for Fathers' Direct Care in Toddlerhood Samantha A. Murray‐Perdue Stephanie Rayburn Lijuan Wang E. Mark Cummings Julia M. Braungart‐Rieker Family Process ABSTRACTFather involvement in childcare is associated with positive outcomes for children. Growing evidence supports many predictors of fathers' involvement, including maternal gatekeeping and father characteristics. The present study focuses on fathers' postpartum experiences, exploring parallel insights from environmental, interpersonal, and internal factors after having a baby to predict later involvement. We investigated how early household chaos, couple conflict, and father depressive symptoms in infancy predict later direct involvement in toddler care. The current study utilized data from 202 families participating in a parenting intervention program. We longitudinally assessed father reports of household chaos and their depressive symptoms, and employed an observational measure of conflict, at 6, 12, and 18 months postpartum to predict mother and father reports of father direct contributions to childcare at 18 months. Latent variables were created for household chaos, depressive symptoms, and destructiveness to incorporate reports 6 months apart. A structural equation model indicated father appraisals of household chaos were positively associated with depressive symptoms over time. Furthermore, couple destructiveness was negatively predictive of mothers' reports, but not fathers' reports of father direct care at 18 months after controlling for direct care behavior within 6 months postpartum. These results suggest that although father appraisals of his environment likely relate to his mental health, couple functioning played a greater role over time in direct care. We emphasize including fathers' appraisals of their experience in future research and underscore the potential impact of intervening at the couple level postpartum to support fathers' direct involvement in childcare over time. 10.1111/famp.70013 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
title Conflict and Father Involvement: The Unique Role of Postpartum Destructiveness for Fathers' Direct Care in Toddlerhood
topic Family Process
url https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/famp.70013