Father-child teaching interactions: the relationship to father involvement in caregiving

This study examined whether the amount of caregiving is related to the behavior of a father and his child during a structured teaching interaction. Healthy infants and toddlers (51 girls and 59 boys) and their fathers were observed in their homes. Fathers reported the frequency of involvement in caregiving during the previous week. Although fathers in higher and lower involvement groups were equally sensitive to the child's cues and responsive to the child's distress, fathers who were more involved in caregiving had higher scores in cognitive growth fostering as measured by the Nursing Child Assessment Teaching Scale.