Expectant Fathers' Beliefs and Expectations about Fathering as They Prepare to Parent a New Infant.

FATHERHOOD & psychology; STATISTICAL correlation; FATHER-child relationship; INTERVIEWING; RESEARCH methodology; QUESTIONNAIRES; SOCIAL support; EDINBURGH Postnatal Depression Scale; THEMATIC analysis; FATHERS' attitudes; EXPECTANT fathers; DATA analysis software; DESCRIPTIVE statistics

The parent--infant relationship begins during pregnancy as parents prepare psychologically for the birth of their child. Father involvement, beginning in pregnancy, is associated with positive maternal and infant outcomes. Less is known about fathers' experiences as they prepare to parent a new baby, especially fathers who are parenting in contexts of risk. The current study interviewed 44 expectant fathers to gain a deeper understanding of their thoughts and experiences during the prenatal period. Fathers described the importance of preparing their children to be productive citizens and described their anticipated parenting roles with their child as an older child (that is, beyond early childhood). For many fathers a sense of increased responsibility and the need to provide financially for their family weighed heavily. When seeking parenting support, the majority of fathers described a reliance on women in their lives for advice. Fathers' focus on their parenting role with older children during interviews conducted in the prenatal period suggests that the importance of active engagement with their infant may be overlooked. Interventions that help fathers identify and engage in parenting roles with their infants have the capacity to support the early father-infant relationship, which forms the foundation for a long-lasting father-child relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Social Work Research is the property of Oxford University Press / USA and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)