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PubMed2006

An exploration of social cognitive theory mediators of father-son communication about sex.

OBJECTIVES: R.E.A.L. MEN (responsible, empowered, aware, living) is an HIV prevention project developed for fathers and their sons. The primary aim of R.E.A.L. MEN was to test the efficacy of an intervention to promote delay of sexual intercourse among 11- to 14-year-old adolescents and to enhance the father's role as a sexuality educator. In this article, we report the outcomes related to father-son communication about sex and the results of an exploratory analysis to test the hypothesis that the intervention effect on father-son communication about sex-related topics is mediated by the social cognitive variables of self-efficacy and outcome expectations. METHODS: Two hundred seventy-seven fathers and their sons enrolled in the study. Fathers randomized to the intervention group attended seven group sessions, and their sons attended the final session with them. Fathers and sons completed baseline and 3-, 6-, and 12-month follow-up assessments. The fathers who completed the 3-month follow-up assessment were included in the mediation analyses described in this article. RESULTS: All the participants were male, most were African American (97%), and most fathers and sons reported residing in the same household. The mean age of father participants was 40.5 years; most had graduated from high school, and about 60% reported a yearly income over 30,000 dollars. Based on the results of mediation analyses, the data supported a mediation model that suggests that the effect of the intervention on father-son communication was mediated by differences in self-efficacy. A mediation effect for outcome expectations was weak and could not be validated using additional tests. CONCLUSIONS: The mediation analysis provides some understanding of the role of self-efficacy and outcome expectations in promoting behavioral change. Understanding the active components of interventions can help refine the interventions to eliminate nonfunctioning components and enhance the active components leading to more streamlined programs.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

The role of stress and family relationships in mediating problem drinking and fathers' personal adjustment.

OBJECTIVE: To test a stress process model in which family stress (negative life events) and fathers' family system resources (marital adjustment and positive father-child relationships) were evaluated as mediators of the relationship between problem drinking (fathers' and mothers') and fathers' personal adjustment. METHOD: Structural equation modeling was used to analyze data from fathers and mothers in 93 two-parent families with early adolescent children. RESULTS: Fathers' problem drinking contributed marginally to family stress and directly to fathers' diminished personal adjustment. Family stress was related to reduced marital adjustment and personal adjustment. Mothers' problem drinking contributed only to less positive father-child relationships. CONCLUSIONS: Stress process models for fathers and mothers differ; in particular, family relationships do not appear to play a significant mediational role for fathers whereas they do for mothers. Interventions for symptomatic fathers might best concentrate on alleviating problem drinking and extrafamilial sources of stress.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2006

Helping fathers understand their new infant: a pilot study of a parenting newsletter.

This paper presents the findings of a pilot study on the views of first-time fathers in the northeast of England on an aged-paced parenting newsletter, and what being a parent means to them.A monthly newsletter for new parents, initially conceived in Wisconsin, USA, has been adapted for use in the UK. Each issue of the newsletter (named 'Baby Express') contains topics relevant to the particular stage of the child's life, and is delivered free to the home monthly in the first year and bi-monthly in the second and third years, when it is renamed Toddler Express'.'Baby Express' is a glossy, eight-page, easy-to-read newsletter, which focuses on emotional development, parent interaction and play. Topics covered include father-related content, such as the father's role in caring for their child and father-child relationships. As part of a randomised controlled study of new parents, fathers were invited to complete a postal questionnaire at the one year follow-up; 42 of 75 fathers responded (56%). The findings showed that fathers wanted to be more involved in caring for their child, and felt it was important to obtain information that would help them to do this. A total of 37(88%) had read 'Baby Express' and all of the fathers who read it thought it was relevant to dads. We concluded that'Baby Express' is as effective an information tool for fathers as for mothers, but additional material for fathers would be valuable. Fathers need to be included in parenting education to a greater extent.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1997

Some roots of persistent homosexual fantasy and the quest for father's love: conflicted parental identifications in a male patient: fragment of an analysis.

This is a clinical paper, which includes material from sessions, presenting the process of the analysis of a young adult male whose narcissistic character patterns, related to and evolved from failed attempts to integrate conflicting parental identifications. These unintegrated mother and father identifications contributed to life-long latent homosexual fantasies. Rodney's analysis indicates that for a boy/man, even a mother who has the qualities of a good enough parent, is not good enough to enable him to reach a nonconflicted manhood. A mother cannot provide for the boy the male model he needs and is searching for, the male who would affirm him in his maleness. Rodney wanted a father on whose shoulders he could stand to become a man. Rodney's persistent homosexual fantasy life, his quest for father's love, and his search for a masculine object to identify with stem from a combination of several factors. Rodney's regression to the negative oedipal phase was probably stimulated when father left the family. Rodney was eleven at the time. He felt overwhelmed experiencing himself as the oedipal victor. Unconsciously, Rodney feared his exacerbated incestuous wishes. He projected them upon his mother and subsequently incorporated them in his fantasies. His regression to more infantile dependency feelings was defensive. Rodney's father was an unsuitable object for identification. He was disinterested in Rodney and emotionally unavailable. Rodney, however, sought his father, whose lack of loving acknowledgement resulted in a lack of affirmation of Rodney's masculinity. Mother provided for Rodney the loving acknowledgement he lacked in his relationship with father. She was emotionally sustaining, an energetic, vibrant personality, who was seen by Rodney as a "superior human being." Rodney consciously idealized his mother toward whom he unconsciously also had ambivalent feelings. Rodney's identification with mother was not counterbalanced by the presence of a strong, loving father figure whom he could have used as a suitable model. This led to the development in Rodney of a strong sense of effeminization. Rodney in his homosexual fantasies assumed the so-called "feminine victimized" role. The regression to the negative oedipal phase contributed to an exacerbation of erotic, father-directed feelings, intensified by the identification with mother. Rodney was fixated in his quest for father's love. In addition, Rodney's unconscious guilt related to father and mother directed incestuous impulses, and his intense aggressivesadistic feelings contributed to the masochistic cast of his masturbation fantasies. Rodney's narcissistic aims and the quality of his narcissism changed during the analysis. His grandiosity almost disappeared. Rodney's goals became realistic and he acquired the skills necessary to achieve them. Inhibitions related to the "fear of success" were worked through. This enabled Rodney to compete successfully. His healthy narcissism derives from the success of his many achievements. Though Rodney remained a basically narcissistic personality, he did derive great pleasure from being a giving person. This was one of the many ways in which he identified with his mother. At the present, Rodney's identifications are selective and do not evoke intrapsychic conflict.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Possible pitfalls in motherless paternity analysis with related putative fathers.

Nowadays, more and more paternity cases are carried out investigating only child and putative father, mostly for economical or private reasons. Usually, reliable results can be obtained and the putative father can be included or ruled out with a high certainty. Considerable problems might arise when a relative of the biological father is investigated as being the putative father. In this study, we investigated 164 persons from 27 families creating artificial deficiency cases using the AmpFlSTRIdentifiler kit, which amplifies 15 STRs simultaneously. We analyzed 93 child/biological father pairs and the corresponding uncles, respectively the brothers of the biological fathers. The average paternity probability for the biological father was 99.9699% (paternity index (PI): 3321.26); only in three cases the results were under 99.9%. In five out of 125 child/uncle pairs no STR mismatches were found and paternity probabilities between 99.9726% (PI 3652) and 99.9970% (PI 33,545) were calculated. The average number of excluding loci was 3.4, but in 31.2% of the cases only zero, one or two mismatches were found. When both putative fathers were genetically typed, the biological father usually had a statistically higher paternity probability. Nevertheless, the differences between probabilities for father and uncle were only small. These results show that a reliable investigation of deficiency cases (i.e. child and putative father) seems to be more difficult than generally assumed. Especially in cases with an unknown familiar background and/or when investigating foreigners for immigration purposes, the laboratory expert should include the mother, increase the number of investigated loci or include a second method such as RFLP-analysis, some serological systems or typing of X-chromosome specific STRs to further ascertain the results.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Communication about sexual issues: mothers, fathers, and friends.

PURPOSE: To identify the content, characteristics, and comfort level of discussions about sexuality held between mothers and their early adolescent children and to determine the extent to which the conversations predicted sexual values and initiation of sexual intercourse of the adolescent. METHODS: This was part of a larger study to evaluate the impact of personal family characteristics on human immunodeficiency virus risk-reduction behavior among low-income predominately African-American adolescents, ages 13-15 years. Adolescents attending a metropolitan community-based afterschool program and their mothers were invited to participate in a 1-hour interview. Mothers and adolescents were interviewed separately. The interview included questions about the type of information related to sexuality that adolescents discussed with mothers, fathers, and friends; in addition, mothers were asked what topics they discussed with their adolescents. Four hundred five adolescents and 382 mothers participated. Some mothers had more than one adolescent in the study. RESULTS: The results showed that both male and female adolescents were more likely to discuss sexual topics with their mothers than their fathers. Male adolescents were more likely than female adolescents to discuss sex-based topics with their fathers. Both male and female adolescents were less likely to discuss sex-based topics with their friends than with their mothers, but more likely to discuss these topics with their friends than their fathers. Content of conversations of male adolescents was fairly consistent among mothers, fathers, and friends, and sexually transmitted disease/acquired immune deficiency syndrome and condom use were popular topics of discussion. Female adolescents tended to talk about the menstrual cycle with their mothers, sexual abstinence with their fathers, and sexual intercourse with their friends. Adolescents who reported a greater number of topics discussed with their mothers were more likely not to have initiated sexual intercourse and to have conservative values, whereas adolescents who reported a greater number of topics discussed with their friends were more likely to report the initiation of intercourse and more "liberal" sexual values. Both male and female adolescents were most comfortable discussing sexual issues with their friends. Male adolescents were less comfortable talking to mothers, but more comfortable talking to their fathers than were females. Mothers were likely to report feeling very comfortable talking about almost all discussion areas. Fathers' comfort level was not measured, as they were not directly questioned. CONCLUSION: Early adolescence (13-15 years old) is characterized by more sex-based discussions with mothers than friends or fathers. Daughters and sons discuss different topics with their fathers, although discussion by both genders with fathers is limited. If an adolescent talks more with the mother about sexual issues than with friends, he/she is less likely to initiate sexual intercourse and more likely to have conservative values. This points to the importance of fostering good communication and comfort between parents and adolescents about sexual issues.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Childhood asthma: paternal critical attitude and father-child interaction.

The study investigated paternal critical attitude (CA) and negative father-child communication in families with an asthmatic child and in controls. Twenty-seven children with bronchial asthma (6-13 yr) and 23 healthy children with their fathers participated in the project. Fathers were asked to describe their child (Five Minute Speech Sample; FMSS). Additionally, father and child discussed a mutual problem (Problem Discussion; PD). Tape recordings were taken. Critical attitude (CA) was assessed from the fathers' responses during the FMSS. Negative verbal behavior during PD was coded for father and child. During the FMSS, significantly more fathers of the asthmatic children than of the controls showed CA. During the PD, fathers of the asthmatic children made significantly more critical remarks than their controls. Significantly more long sequences of negative verbal communication occurred in father-child dyads with an asthmatic child than in the control dyads. No significant relationship was found between either the fathers' attitudes or amount of negative verbal communication and the children's severity of asthma, compliance, or IgE status.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

The primacy of work and fathering preterm infants: findings from an interpretive phenomenological study.

PURPOSE: To improve our understanding of fathers of preterm infants by examining their meanings of work and exploring the impact of their work on their early transition to fatherhood. SUBJECTS: The sample included 9 white fathers between the ages of 22 and 40 years, who had infants born between 25 and 32 weeks gestation. DESIGN AND METHODS: This report explores one theme that emerged from a broader interpretive phenomenological study. Fathers were interviewed 6 to 8 times over a 6-month period, beginning within 1 month of the birth of their infant and continuing after neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) discharge. Interview guides were used only to initiate conversation; probing, clarifying questions helped fathers provide detailed stories of what they did, thought, and felt about specific situations. Transcriptions of all 63 interviews were treated as meaningful text and analyzed using interpretive methods. PRINCIPAL RESULTS: Fathers' narratives revealed the primacy of work in their lives; work remained a pivotal focus even after an early birth. Fathers returned to work quickly after their infant's birth. They approached their work with a renewed sense of fervor in order to provide financially for their families. They found comfort in their work because in the work setting they felt that they were the experts, as opposed to feeling like novices in the NICU. The most stressful aspect of the experience was juggling their time between work and the outside world. CONCLUSIONS: Fathers may respond to the experience of having a premature infant very differently from mothers. Because fathers' stressors often lie outside the NICU, their stressors may be invisible to healthcare providers. A deeper understanding of fathering must consider the social, familial, and historical processes that shape fathering practices.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Father stress during a child's critical care hospitalization.

INTRODUCTION: There is a dearth of research on the experiences of fathers with critically ill children. The specific aim of this study was to examine stress and specific stress symptoms of fathers with a child in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) and compare their stress and stress symptoms with those of fathers with a child in a general care unit (GCU). METHOD: In this descriptive, comparative study, fathers were recruited from a large Midwestern children's hospital within 24 hours of their child's admission. The sample included 15 PICU and 10 GCU fathers who completed the Parental Stressor Scale: PICU and the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised. RESULTS: PICU fathers perceived significantly greater stress than did GCU fathers from the sights and sounds of the unit and by procedures their child underwent. PICU fathers also reported greater frequencies of stress symptoms, such as headache, low energy, annoyance, and worrying. DISCUSSION: Advanced practice and staff nurses should know how fathers of critically ill children feel and what stresses them so they can provide interventions specific for fathers during this stressful time.

Child↗
PubMed1997

Teen father participation in child rearing: family perspectives.

OBJECTIVES: To explore adolescent fatherhood from the perspectives of teen fathers, teen mothers, paternal grandmothers (PGMs), and maternal grandmothers (MGMs). To identify perceived barriers to and recommendations for the enhancement of teen father participation in child rearing. METHODS: A total of 61 teen parents participated in the design of a structured interview. A community-based sample of 173 teen fathers, 167 teen mothers, 76 PGMs, and 79 MGMs were interviewed by teenage assistants. Multiple logistic regression analysis using maximum likelihood estimation and the best subset algorithm identified barriers most predictive of paternal uninvolvement in child rearing. RESULTS: Fifty-four percent of teen fathers and 70% of partners of teen mothers' met the definition of involvement in child rearing. Disinterest in child rearing most consistently predicted uninvolvement. Fathers were less likely than mothers to report paternal disinterest as a barrier and more likely to attribute their lack of involvement to resistance from mothers and MGMs (p < 0.05). The best model predicting paternal involvement from the fathers' perspective included paternal disinterest [odds ration (OR) = 0.42, confidence interval (CI) = 0.19-0.92] and age (OR = 0.74, CI = 0.56-0.97). The best model from the mothers' perspective included paternal disinterest (OR = 0.16, CI = 0.07-0.36) and lack of time (OR = 0.31, CI = 0.15-0.91). Of those fathers who cited disinterest, there was an association with lack of money (p = 0.002) and lack of knowledge of child care (p = 0.069. While fathers and mothers disagreed on several interventions, they agreed (82% and 95%, respectively) that availability of jobs would promote paternal involvement. CONCLUSIONS: Most teen fathers in this study were involved and interested in child rearing. A young father's financial insecurity or confusion about child care was most likely to lead to a stated disinterest, and that disinterest predicted uninvolvement.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Support of fathers of infants by the child health nurse.

The child health nurse is considered to be able to support fathers in the transition to parenthood, through utilizing the fathers' inherent resources for the best development of the child. The aim of present study was to identify what expectations fathers of infants have of the child health care, including the nurse: whether they feel that they have received support in this role and how they think the nurse can support new fathers. A qualitative descriptive design was used with an inductive approach using grounded theory, which was suitable to obtain knowledge and understanding of how fathers perceived and interpreted their interaction with their child health nurse. Twenty fathers of infants gave their informed consent to participate. They were interviewed and data were systematically analysed on three levels by constant comparative method. From the analysis, the core category trustful relationship was discovered, comprising the categories involvement, faith and support. Nurses ought to reflect on that a father of an infant may feel slighted at the child health clinic if, as traditionally, the nurse turns only to the mother. Many fathers of today want to share the infant care and they want more communication with the nurse. It is suggested that in the long run, support in early fatherhood may be of benefit for the child and for the family. If the father has a trustful relationship with the nurse, his involvement in child health care is presumed to increase, as is the possibility of having faith in the nurse, as well as receiving support in his role as father. The findings are discussed in relation to literature in the field.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Drug use among fathers around time of conception: two register based surveys from Denmark and The Netherlands.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: Despite the increasing attention for the role of paternal exposures around the period of conception, there is no factual information about drug utilisation of fathers. Therefore, the aim of this study was to describe the drugs dispensed to fathers around conception, using pharmacy dispensing data of community pharmacies in Denmark and The Netherlands. DESIGN AND SETTING: Using pharmacy dispensing data from the Pharmaco-epidemiological Prescription Database of North Jutland in Denmark and the InterAction database in The Netherlands, we examined the prescriptions reimbursed in the half year before conception of 56,735 Danish fathers from 1991 to 2000, and 5859 Dutch fathers from 1995 to 2000. MAIN RESULTS: One third of all fathers had taken up prescriptions for at least one drug in the half year before conception, both in Denmark and in The Netherlands. In the majority of fathers only one type of drug was dispensed, but in both countries at least 5% of all fathers had redeemed three or more types of drugs. The main drugs purchased by fathers in Denmark and The Netherlands were antibiotics (14.3 and 6.3% of all fathers, respectively), analgesics (6.1 and 7.6%), antihistamines (2.0 and 2.0%) and anti-ulcer drugs (1.6 and 2.5%). CONCLUSION: A large proportion of fathers used drugs around the time of conception. This finding emphasises the importance of safety information on therapeutic drugs with respect to potential paternal teratogenicity.

Abnormalities, Drug-Induced↗
PubMed2006

Comparing maltreating fathers and mothers in terms of personal distress, interpersonal functioning, and perceptions of family climate.

OBJECTIVE: This study compared perceptions of personal distress, interpersonal and marital problems, and aspects of family climate of maltreating fathers and mothers. METHODS: Subjects were 2841 offenders (1918 of whom were fathers or father-figures) who were identified and treated by the USAF Family Advocacy Program between 1988 and 1996. Independent variables for the analysis were parent sex (mother vs. father) as well as type and severity of maltreatment, history of repeat offenses, and history of abuse in childhood. RESULTS: Maltreating mothers were more distressed and reported more problems from individuals outside the family than maltreating fathers; fathers reported more rigid expectations for children, less cohesive families, and less organized families than did maltreating mothers. Regardless of parental sex, victimization in the family of origin was related to distress and unhappiness. Similarly, both victimization in the family of origin and history of repeated offenses were powerful predictors of a more negative family climate regardless of the offending parent's sex. No significant statistical interactions between parental sex and other independent variables were found when predicting personal and interpersonal distress, marital problems, or family climate. CONCLUSIONS: Studies rarely examine maltreating fathers except in the context of sexual abuse. Fewer still compare maltreating mothers and fathers. This study identified meaningful, though generally small, differences between maltreating mothers and fathers. Patterns suggest that maltreating mothers may tend to cope more poorly with personal distress, whereas maltreating fathers tend to operate in a family climate that is both distant and rigid, while holding inappropriate expectations for children's behavior. The absence of interactions between parental sex and the other independent variables included in the analysis indicate that these patterns do not vary by the history of victimization in the family of origin, the type or severity of child maltreatment, or the history of prior maltreatment in the family.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Fathers' experiences of childbirth.

OBJECTIVE: To describe how fathers who are present during childbirth experience the event, what they feel during childbirth and how they understand the meaning of childbirth. DESIGN: Survey using questionnaire. SETTING: Maternity unit in Finland. PARTICIPANTS: A non-random sample of fathers (n = 137) who were present at the birth of their baby at one university hospital in Finland. The response rate was 81% (n = 107). MEASUREMENTS AND FINDINGS: Young fathers and those expecting their first baby reported feeling uncomfortable during delivery more frequently than others. Almost all said that they had plenty of good experiences, younger fathers more so than older fathers. The fathers expressed their confidence in the staff and described the environment at the hospital as pleasant. They said their presence at delivery was important for their growth into fatherhood. The best experience was the moment that the baby entered the world. The hardest things were the pain experienced by their partner and being unable to help. Most of the fathers were very pleased with current midwifery practices followed in childbirth, however, it was felt that more attention ought to be paid to pain relief and to supporting and providing guidance to the father during delivery. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The work of midwives should be planned so that fathers can feel secure and comfortable. Further studies are needed into the ability of midwives to support fathers in their fatherhood.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Serum lipids in fathers and sons at middle age: the study of sons to men born in 1913.

OBJECTIVE: To relate lipid levels in middle-aged men to that of their fathers at 50 years of age measured 30 years earlier. DESIGN AND SUBJECTS: In 1963, 855 men born in 1913 took part in a cardiovascular risk factor survey when they were at 50 years of age. In 1993, 475 sons to these men, aged 44-56, were invited to another examination; 263 of these men were examined (response rate: 56%) and compared with their 217 fathers when they were examined at 50 years of age in 1963. In the 1993 survey, 798 men aged 50, were also examined, from a general population sample of men born in 1943 (response rate: 55%). SETTING: City of Göteborg, Sweden. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Serum lipids in sons as a function of lipids in their fathers. RESULTS: Compared with the men born in 1913, both sons and men born in 1943 had lower mean serum cholesterol, but higher body mass index (BMI) and serum triglycerides. There was a significant relation between serum cholesterol in sons and their fathers (r = 0.25; P < 0.0001). Amongst sons to fathers in the highest cholesterol quartile (>6.9 mmol x L(-1)), 37% had serum cholesterol above 6.5 mmol x L(-1), compared with 16% amongst sons to fathers in the lowest quartile (<5.7 mmol x L(-1)) [adjusted odds ratio 3.73 (1.52-9.12)]. Sons to fathers with the highest serum cholesterol levels had slightly lower BMI; otherwise there was no relation between serum cholesterol in the father and any other lifestyle or biological risk factor in the sons. Serum triglyceride concentration in the father was unrelated to any variable in the son. CONCLUSIONS: There was a moderately strong association between serum cholesterol concentration in fathers and sons at middle age. However, secular trends were also important in determining serum cholesterol concentrations in those born at a later period, indicating a major role of environmental factors.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Socioeconomic characteristics of fathers of children born to teenage mothers in Stockholm, Sweden.

AIMS: Teenage childbearing has been associated with adverse outcomes for the mother and the child. Despite this, no study in Sweden has focused on the fathers of those children. The aim of the present study was to describe and compare the socioeconomic situation of fathers of children born to teenage mothers with those of children born to average-aged mothers. METHODS: A descriptive comparative study was conducted, which comprised 132 fathers of children born to teenage mothers (Group A) and the same number of fathers of children born to older mothers (Group B). All fathers answered a structured questionnaire regarding socioeconomic and reproductive factors. RESULTS: On certain critical variables the Group A fathers were more likely to have had a more compromised and difficult socioeconomic background. Compared with the Group B fathers they were more likely to have tried illicit drugs and to be involved in criminality. In addition, the Group A fathers often came from single-parent households. CONCLUSION: Many fathers of children born to teenage mothers showed problem behaviours, which may negatively influence their ability to engage in successful parenting. Therefore increased attention should be paid to the fathers at an early stage of pregnancy, during the antenatal visits.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Involved fathers of preschool children as seen by themselves and their wives: accounts of attachment, socialization, and companionship.

Studies of infant-father attachment and other aspects of father-child relationships burgeoned during the 1980s and 90s, in step with new expectations for greater father participation in childrearing, but less is known about how involved fathers experience themselves as attachment figures, socialization agents, and playmates/companions of their young children. In an attempt to investigate these topics from a relationship perspective, we administered the Parent Attachment Interview (PAI) to 49 married fathers from dual career families who, based on current literature, were expected to be active participants in caring for and interacting with their preschool children. The 22 open-ended PAI questions were designed to probe fathers' thoughts and feelings about parent-child attachment, but also elicited extensive descriptions of other aspects of fathering, including socialization and companionship. In addition, fathers reflected on similarities and differences between the father- and mother-child relationships, and these accounts were compared with corresponding discussions by their wives. Among new issues raised by the study were the role of affection in attachment relationships, evidence for the attachment hierarchy construct, issues of parental self-control in relation to discipline, conceptual overlaps between attachment and other aspects of parenting, and the diverse meanings of father-mother differences and disagreements in the three domains of parenting addressed in this study.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Anxiety and depression in fathers in teenage pregnancy.

OBJECTIVE: It is recognized that pregnant teenagers have higher levels of psychological symptomatology compared to older pregnant women. However, there are limited data on fathers in the setting of teenage pregnancy. The aim of this study was to compare levels of psychological symptomatology in fathers in the setting of teenage as compared to non-teenage pregnancy. METHOD: A cross-sectional cohort study was undertaken. Data from interviews with consecutive fathers in the setting of teenage (Teenage) and non-teenage (Control) pregnancy were compared during the antenatal period. Subjects were interviewed to obtain information covering demographic and family information, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28). RESULTS: Significantly more fathers in the setting of teenage pregnancy met the case criteria for HADS-A and HADS-D subscales compared to older fathers. They had significantly higher GHQ-28 totals and all subscale scores and were more likely predictive of a young age of death compared to older fathers. However, formal contact with psychiatric services was similar between groups. Interestingly, 14% of fathers in the setting of teenage pregnancy reported losing their own father as a child. In multivariate analysis, a high HADS score was significantly associated with younger age of onset of fatherhood and exposure to domestic violence as a child, whereas having their own father alive was significantly protective against a high HADS score. CONCLUSION: Fathers, in the setting of teenage pregnancy, have unrecognized psychological symptomatology and require services along with teenage mothers.

Adolescent↗