Paternal Work Characteristics and Father-Infant Interactions in Low-Income, Rural Families

To examine the implications of paternal occupational conditions for the quality of father-infant interactions, home visits, including interviews and videotaped observations of father-infant interactions, were conducted with 446 fathers living in six low-income, nonmetropolitan counties in North Carolina and Pennsylvania. When a variety of individual and demographic characteristics were controlled for, a less supportive work environment was associated with lower levels of fathers' engaged and sensitive parenting. Significant interactions pointed to the importance of understanding combinations of risk factors. Experiencing high levels of workplace stressors, including low levels of self-direction and high levels of care work, in the presence of other individual or demographic risk factors was associated with lower levels of father parenting quality.