Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 8, 2026

A Common Marmoset Model of Mother-Infant Intervention for Breastfeeding Disorders in the Presence of Paternal Inhibition and Maternal Neglect
05:04

A Common Marmoset Model of Mother-Infant Intervention for Breastfeeding Disorders in the Presence of Paternal Inhibition and Maternal Neglect

Published on: September 22, 2023

Parental Childrearing Attitudes as Correlates of Father Involvement During Infancy

Bridget M Gaertner1, Tracy L Spinrad, Nancy Eisenberg

  • 1Erikson Institute, Fussy Baby Network, 420 North Wabash Ave., Chicago, IL 60611-5627.

Journal of Marriage and the Family
|January 5, 2008
PubMed

Insights

Fathers' authoritarian attitudes negatively impact weekday infant involvement. Mothers' protective attitudes also reduce fathers' weekend engagement, affecting shared parenting responsibilities.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Family Studies
  • Sociology of the Family

Background:

  • Parental involvement is crucial for child development.
  • Understanding factors influencing fathers' engagement is essential for promoting equitable co-parenting.
  • Existing research often overlooks the nuanced interplay of parental attitudes and division of labor.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine the relationship between parents' childrearing attitudes and fathers' relative involvement with infants.
  • To investigate how these associations change over a six-month period.
  • To identify specific parental attitudes that may hinder fathers' direct caregiving and play activities.

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal study design using daily diary data.
  • Participants included 142 fathers and mothers with infants aged 6-8 months, with 95 followed up six months later.
  • Analysis focused on reported childrearing attitudes and fathers' relative involvement compared to mothers'.

Main Results:

  • Fathers' authoritarian attitudes were negatively associated with their relative weekday involvement in caregiving and play, a finding consistent over time.
  • Mothers' protective attitudes showed a negative association with fathers' relative weekend involvement.
  • These attitudes appear to influence the distribution of parenting tasks within families.

Conclusions:

  • Parental attitudes significantly shape the division of infant care responsibilities.
  • Fathers' authoritarian and mothers' protective attitudes may limit fathers' direct involvement with their infants.
  • Interventions promoting shared parenting should consider addressing parental attitudes and their impact on involvement.

More Related Videos

The Other End of the Leash: An Experimental Test to Analyze How Owners Interact with Their Pet Dogs08:59

The Other End of the Leash: An Experimental Test to Analyze How Owners Interact with Their Pet Dogs

Published on: October 13, 2017

Assessing the Coherence of Parents' Short Narratives Regarding their Child Using the Five-Minute Speech Sample Procedure07:56

Assessing the Coherence of Parents' Short Narratives Regarding their Child Using the Five-Minute Speech Sample Procedure

Published on: September 19, 2019

Related Concept Videos

Relationship with Parents: Attachment01:28

Relationship with Parents: Attachment

Parent-child interactions lay the foundation for how we understand relationships throughout life. These interactions are not uniform across families; instead, they are shaped by a range of environmental, emotional, and behavioral factors unique to each caregiver-child dynamic. Social psychologists study these early relationships to understand how patterns formed in infancy influence social functioning and interpersonal behavior in adulthood.Attachment Theory and Early Relational ModelsJohn...
Parenting Styles01:27

Parenting Styles

Diana Baumrind's four parenting styles — authoritarian, authoritative, neglectful, and permissive — each influence children's socio-emotional development differently.
Authoritarian Parenting
This style is strict and controlling, with little room for open dialogue. Authoritarian parents demand obedience and often enforce rules with minimal warmth. Children raised this way may lack social skills and initiative, usually comparing themselves to others unfavorably.
Authoritative Parenting
This...
Parental Care00:55

Parental Care

Many animals exhibit parental care behavior, including feeding, grooming, and protecting young offspring. Parental care is universal in mammals and birds, which often have young that are born relatively helpless. Several species of insects and fish, as well as some amphibians, also care for their young.
Attachment01:20

Attachment

Attachment is vital for infant development, as warm social interactions support growth and well-being. In a classic 1958 study by Harry Harlow, the significance of warmth and comfort in forming attachments was examined. Harlow separated newborn monkeys from their mothers and provided two artificial "mothers": one made of cold wire and the other covered in soft cloth. Despite the wire mother offering food, the infant monkeys preferred the comfort of the cloth mother, demonstrating that physical...
Socioemotional Development during Infancy01:30

Socioemotional Development during Infancy

Socio-emotional development in infancy is primarily shaped by early emotional responses and social connections, with temperament playing a central role. Temperament refers to the consistent patterns in an individual's emotional and behavioral responses, observable even in infancy. By examining temperament, researchers can better understand an infant's unique ways of interacting with the world, influencing subsequent personality and socio-emotional growth.
Primary Temperament Types
Stella Chess...
Theory of Romantic Attachment in Adulthood03:34

Theory of Romantic Attachment in Adulthood

Attachment is a long-standing connection or bond with others. While Attachment Theory was conceived in developmental psychology to describe infant-caregiver bonding, it's been extended into adulthood to include romantic relationships.