A comparison of mother and father involvement with their preschool age children

doi:10.1016/S0885-2006(05)80080-8

Early Childhood Research Quarterly

Volume 8, Issue 4, 1993, Pages 457-477

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0885-2006(05)80080-8 Get rights and content

This study examined variations in mother and father involvement in childrearing activities. Subjects were 100 families whose oldest children were between the ages of 3 and 5 years. Three aspects of parental involvement (interaction, accessibility, and responsibility) and four predictors of paternal involvement (demographic backgrounds, marital quality, parental stress, and role perceptions) were measured. Results indicated that mothers participated in childrearing activities at a significantly higher rate than fathers. This pattern held true in both dual-earner and single-earner families. Mothers spent a significantly higher proportion of their interaction time in functional and work-related activities whereas fathers spent a significantly greater proportion of their interaction time in play activities. Implications are discussed for future research on father involvement.

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Citation Excerpt :
A third limitation of this study was our sole focus on mothers of toddlers without consideration of fathers in the home. Several studies have demonstrated that mothers’ and fathers’ average stress ratings tend to be more similar than different4, but the consideration of fathers would be particularly useful for better understanding their contribution to parenting tasks, specifically positive parenting observed at bedtime and its downstream effects on sleep in the family system. Indeed, prior research examining both mother and father reports of family process in connection with toddler sleep has shown that fathers’ reports of relationship satisfaction and family functioning are inversely predictive of toddler sleep problems,42 suggesting the key role that fathers play in affecting sleep in the family system.
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A comparison of mother and father involvement with their preschool age children

Parenting Stress Index: Short form manual

Sociodemographic factors, functioning style, social support, and father involvement in African-American families

Journal of Marriage and the Family

Determinants of fathers' participation in family work

Journal of Marriage and the Family

Fathers' participation in family work and children's sex-role attitudes

Child Development

The determinants of parenting: A process model

Child Development

Patterns of marital change and parent-child interaction

Journal of Marriage and the Family

Fatherhood and families in cultural context

Men's involvement in parenthood: Identifying the antecedents and understanding the barriers

Processes underlying father involvement in dual-earner and single-earner families

Developmental Psychology

The impact of maternal employment characteristics on fathers' participation in child care

Family Relations

Social class and fatherhood

Antecedents of fathering

Child Development

Good dads, bad dads: Two faces of fatherhood

Fathers, sons, and daughters: Differential paternal involvement in parenting

Journal of Marriage and the Family

The second shift: Working parents and the revolution at home

The development of father-infant relationships

The changing roles of fathers