Complexities in Research on Fathering: Illustrations from the Tufts Study of Young Fathers

Theory and research suggest that the transition to parenthood is a major life transition, and that adaptation to the parenting role is influenced by a complex set of factors, including the relationship with the child's mother, family of origin, and how the father is situated within sociocultural contexts. The father–]mother relationship is particularly important for men making the transition to fatherhood. This study examined patterns of fathering among young fathers (15–24 years) and investigated how fathers' relationships with the mothers of their young children (infants and toddlers) were related to fathering. In general, higher quality father–mother relationships were related to greater father involvement with children; when mothers were perceived as barriers to involved fathering fathers also had less accurate and adaptive parenting knowledge, attitudes, and behavior. Person-centered analyses revealed quite complex relations between father–mother relationships and father–child interaction. One pattern showed strong positive father–mother relationships associated with a disengaged pattern of father–child interaction, while another pattern showed sensitive and positive father–child engagement in the context of negative or distant father–mother relationships. Four patterns of association between fathering and mother–father relationships were demonstrated. Results highlight the complexity of understanding fathering and family relationships among young fathers.     

Differential facial resemblance of young children to their parents: who do children look like more?

In humans, paternal investment is highly variable and is modulated by paternity uncertainty. Facial phenotypic similarity between a father and a child is one possible paternity indicator. However, whether such paternal-biased traits are expressed in children is unclear, as previous empirical results are contradictory. Therefore, we quantified the facial resemblance between a child and each of his or her parents, from birth to 6 years old. Resemblance was assessed from pictures of the face by nonrelated judges. We found that, at all ages, children resemble both their parents more than would be expected by chance, although there is a differential resemblance toward one or the other parent depending on the age and sex of the child. For newborns, boys and girls resemble their mothers more, this differential resemblance persisting through time for girls. For boys, an inversion occurs and they resemble their fathers more between 2 and 3 years of age. The resemblance ascribed by the parents shows that, at birth, mothers ascribe a resemblance to the father, as previously found, although assessment by external judges revealed the opposite. These results suggest that facial appearance is a cue for kin recognition between a father and a child. Patterns of differential resemblance are discussed within the context of evolutionary theories on parental investment.     

Impact of Father Involvement: A Closer Look at Indirect Effects Models Involving Marriage and Child Adjustment

In this article we present a framework for understanding the indirect effects of fathering on child development in the context of the marriage. We discuss three central pathways of influence: through relations between marital quality and fathering, through children's exposure to father expressions of marital discord, and through relations between marital quality and father psychological functioning. We provide corresponding hypotheses and review recent research to support or refute each. A common theme is that fathers, as well as mothers, have important influences in marital contexts, with some evidence for different or even greater impact of fathers in terms of the relations between the marital relationship and parenting, the impact of child exposure to marital conflict expressions, and as a function of parental symptomatology, although these effects are often complex. We discuss the value of including fathers in research on families and child development, and point out some promising directions for future study.     

Child and Parent Psychological Problems Influence Child Weight Control

This study used path analytic methods to assess the influence of child psychopathology measured using the Child Behavior Checklist and parent psychiatric symptoms measured using the Cornell Medical Index on changes in child percent overweight in obese 8- to 11-year-old children over 2 years (6 months of treatment, 18 months of follow-up) provided family-based behavioral intervention. Path analysis for the 0–6 month change showed the influence of mother and father psychiatric symptoms and child age on child anxiety/depression scores that in turn influenced child percent overweight change during treatment, accounting for 41 % of the shared variance. The path analysis for follow-up change showed mother and father psychiatric symptoms influenced child social problems at the first stage, and child social problems influenced child percent overweight change, accounting for 68.5% of the shared variance. These results provide the first demonstration that both parent and child problems may influence the short- and long-term success of obese children who participate in family-based behavioral treatment programs.     

Family factors and somatic traits of newborns

The paper is focused on relationships between somatic traits of newborns and family factors. Data for 779 families and their offspirng born in hospitals of Bialystok and Zambrow were analyzed. Family factors were extracted based on a factor analysis of 23 family traits. Multiple regression analysis was used to find relationships between offspring traits and family factors. It has been found that the most important factor of the somatic development of the fetus is the body size of the mother and placenta weight (factor F5). The mother has a greater effect on the development of the child than the father does. Family culture (consciousness-F1) is an important factor during the prenatal devlopment, more important than socio-economic conditions of the family (F3). Also the effect of father's morbidity (factor F8) is relatively high, almost as high as the effect of mother's morbidity (factor F6), more important than the body build of the father (factor F7). Age of the parents and the number of earlier pregnancies (factor F2) have the lowest effect on somatic traits of newborns. Blood pressure of the mother (factor F4) has relatively little effect on the development of somatic traits in newborns. The traits most affected by family factors include frontal breadth, body weight, chest size, and hip breadth.     

Mothers,Fathers, Families,and Circumstances: Factors Affecting Children's Adjustment

The burgeoning empirical literature exploring the factors accounting for individual differences in psychological adjustment is reviewed. Many studies have shown that adjustment is largely affected by differences in the quality of parenting and parent–child relationships, the quality of the relationships between the parents, and the richness of the economic and social resources available to the family; more recent research signals the importance of congenital differences as well. Dimensions of family structure—including such factors as divorce, single parenthood, and the parents' sexual orientation—and biological relatedness between parents and children are of little or no predictive importance once the process variables are taken into account, because the same factors explain child adjustment regardless of family structure. These findings have important social and legal implications, especially in relation to decisions regarding foster care and adoption, as well as those concerning children's well-being following family dissolution.     

Time-Limited,Structured Youth Mentoring and Adolescent Problem Behaviors

Four theoretical perspectives about why father involvement could have positive consequences for child development are briefly reviewed: attachment theory, social capital theory, Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory, and "essential father" theory. Strengths and weaknesses of each perspective are discussed, and the prospects for an integrated ecological-parental capital theory of paternal influence on child development are considered.     

Iminoglycinuria in a child in Czechoslovakia

Summary The child with iminoglycinuria is in our observation. Hyperprolinuria was seen at 5 months by screening program. The child was repeatedly examined in the hospital and was seen last time at 16 months. IQ was 67, in the urine were excessive amounts of glycine, proline a hydroxyproline. In the blood aminoacids were in normal levels. In the child was noticed the same increase of proline in the blood as in the control child of the same age following loading test with L-proline, indicating normal intestinal absoption. Both parents and father's sister's 2-year-old mentally retarded child exhibit excessive glycinuria. The father, his sister, father's father, and grandfather are partialy, congenitaly deaf.     

Probability of paternity exclusion when relatives are involved.

In diagnosis of paternity by means of polymorphic markers, the proportion of men excluded on the basis of the phenotypes of the mother and child is the best index for controlling information. Its expected value, the probability of exclusion of a male chosen at random with respect to a random child-mother couple, calculated from gene frequencies of every genetic system, may be modified by a close relationship between the mother, the real father, and the presumptive father. The father and even more the brother of the mother, if he is the father of the child, diminishes the probability of exclusion of an individual chosen at random in the population, and if he is falsely accused, he has a higher probability of being excluded. On the other hand, the brother of the real father chosen at random in the population has the least chance of being excluded. The two different rules of exclusion are involved in the calculations, the first one being the more reliable.     

Characterization of a spontaneous mutation to a beta-thalassemia allele.

We have studied a nuclear family containing a single child with severe beta-thalassemia intermedia, a Greek-Cypriot mother with hematological findings of beta-thalassemia trait, and a Polish father who is hematologically normal. Since both the child and her father were heterozygous for a DNA polymorphism within the beta-globin gene, it was possible to clone and sequence the beta-globin gene identical by descent from both the child and her father. A nonsense mutation in codon 121 (GAA----TAA) was found in the beta-globin gene of the child, while the same gene from her father lacked this mutation and was normal. This mutation has not been previously observed among over 200 beta-thalassemia genes characterized in Caucasians. Since the mutation eliminates an EcoRI site in the beta-globin gene, we could show that the mutation is not present in genomic DNA of the father. To rule out germinal mosaicism, sperm DNA of the father was also digested with EcoRI, and the mutant EcoRI fragment was not observed under conditions that would detect the mutation if it were present in at least 2% of sperm cells. Routine HLA and blood group testing supported stated paternity. In addition, studies with 17 DNA probes that detect multiple allele polymorphisms increased the probability of stated paternity to at least 10(8):1. These data provide evidence that the G----T change in codon 121 of the beta-globin gene in the child is the result of a spontaneous mutation that occurred during spermatogenesis in a paternal germ cell.     

Parents' testosterone and children's perception of parent-child relationship quality

We examine the link between parental testosterone and children's perceptions of their relationship with their mother and father. Using data from 352 predominantly white working and middle class families, we find no direct link between mother's and father's testosterone and parent–child closeness. However, the association between mothers' testosterone and mother–child closeness appears to be influenced by the quality of two other family relationships. When father's marital satisfaction is low, mothers with high testosterone have a poorer relationship with their children. And, when fathers report low levels of intimacy with their children, high testosterone women have a poorer relationship with their children. No comparable associations were observed among fathers.     

The General Factor of Personality (GFP) and parental support: testing a prediction from Life History Theory

In the present study, we tested whether the General Factor of Personality (GFP) is related to the level of parental support. The GFP is assumed to occupy the apex of the hierarchy of human personality structure and is believed to reflect a socially and sexually selected aggregate of behavioral characteristics that are generally valued as “desirable” in interpersonal relationships. The relationship between the GFP and parental support tested in this study is predicted by Life History Theory, a midlevel evolutionary account of systematic differences in evolved reproductive strategies. A total of 428 families with mother, father, and two children (range 14–16 years) participated. Parents filled out personality questionnaires (Big Five) and their level of parental support. The children also independently rated the amount of support they perceived from their parents. In the present sample, parents' GFPs were found to explain 33% of the variance in the Big Five. Moreover, the parents' GFPs showed significant relationships with the parents' self-rated parental support, but also with the child-rated parental support. The monoinformant (parents ratings) and multi-informant (parent and child ratings) data support the notion of a substantive GFP that is related to the investment of parents into their offspring.     

Bayesian interval estimation of genetic relationships: application to paternity testing.

Using genetic marker data, we have developed a general methodology for estimating genetic relationships between a set of individuals. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the practical utility of these methods as applied to the problem of paternity testing. Bayesian methods are used to compute the posterior probability distribution of the genetic relationship parameters. Use of an interval-estimation approach rather than a hypothesis-testing one avoids the problem of the specification of an appropriate null hypothesis in calculating the probability of paternity. Monte Carlo methods are used to evaluate the utility of two sets of genetic markers in obtaining suitably precise estimates of genetic relationship as well as the effect of the prior distribution chosen. Results indicate that with currently available markers a "true" father may be reliably distinguished from any other genetic relationship to the child and that with a reasonable number of markers one can often discriminate between an unrelated individual and one with a second-degree relationship to the child.     

Preadolescents’ relationships with pet dogs: Relationship continuity and associations with adjustment

Research on human–animal interaction in children has been studied in isolation rather than integrated with core theories of children’s relationships. This study is one of the first to examine how children’s relationships with pet dogs are related to their human relationships (parent–child attachments, friendships) and to child adjustment, and to include observational assessment of children’s interactions with their pet dog. Children (9 to 11 years old, n = 99) completed questionnaires regarding relationships with pet dogs, parents, and friends. Half the children were observed interacting with their pet dog. Children and teachers reported children’s adjustment. Children who felt closer to their dogs were more securely attached to mothers and fathers and reported more positive qualities and less conflict with friends. Children with more secure attachments to mothers, and greater companionship with dogs, interacted more with their dogs. Parental attachment and friendship quality, but not the pet dog relationship, were related to child adjustment.     

Do Babies Resemble Their Fathers More Than Their Mothers? A Failure to Replicate Christenfeld and Hill (1995)

Contrary to Christenfeld and Hill (1995), we find that children aged 1, 3, and 5 do not appear to resemble their fathers significantly more than their mothers. We provide an explanation as to why this should be. In addition, we note that any father–child resemblance that does exist, although better than chance, is far from overwhelming.     

Prolactin, Oxytocin, and the development of paternal behavior across the first six months of fatherhood

Animal studies have implicated the neuropeptides Prolactin (PRL) and Oxytocin (OT) in processes of maternal bonding and PRL has similarly been shown to play a role in the neurophysiology of fatherhood. Yet, very little is known on the involvement of PRL and OT in human fathering. Forty-three fathers and their firstborn infant were seen twice: in the second and sixth postpartum months. Paternal plasma PRL and OT were sampled at both time-points and analyzed with ELISA methods. At six months fathers were videotaped interacting with their child in social and exploratory play contexts and interactions were micro-analyzed for father-infant Affect Synchrony and father facilitation of child toy exploration. PRL and OT showed high individual stability across time and were correlated at the second observation. PRL was related to father-infant Coordinated Exploratory Play in the toy context whereas OT was associated with father-infant Affect Synchrony in the social context. Results point to the role of PRL and OT in the development of human fathering and underscore their differential relations with patterns of paternal care.     

Paternal investment and status-related child outcomes: timing of father's death affects offspring success

Recent work in human behavioural ecology has suggested that analyses focusing on early childhood may underestimate the importance of paternal investment to child outcomes since such investment may not become crucial until adolescence or beyond. This may be especially important in societies with a heritable component to status, as later investment by fathers may be more strongly related to a child's adult status than early forms of parental investment that affect child survival and child health. In such circumstances, the death or absence of a father may have profoundly negative effects on the adult outcomes of his children that cannot be easily compensated for by the investment of mothers or other relatives. This proposition is tested using a multigenerational dataset from Bangalore, India, containing information on paternal mortality as well as several child outcomes dependent on parental investment during adolescence and young adulthood. The paper examines the effects of paternal death, and the timing of paternal death, on a child's education, adult income, age at marriage and the amount spent on his or her marriage, along with similar characteristics of spouses. Results indicate that a father's death has a negative impact on child outcomes, and that, in contrast to some findings in the literature on father absence, the effects of paternal death are strongest for children who lose their father in late childhood or adolescence.     

Occult HBV Infection May Be Transmitted through Close Contact and Manifest as an Overt Infection

The importance of transmission of occult HBV infection (OBI) via transfusion, organ transplantation and hemodialysis has been widely recognized. However, data regarding the transmission of OBI through close contact remain limited. In this study, serum samples were obtained from a child and his parents. The child had received the standard vaccination regimen at birth and produced protective antibody. Sera were tested for HBV serological markers. Nested PCR assays were used to detect HBV DNA and the amplicons were cloned and their sequences subjected to phylogenetic analysis. The results showed that both parents had occult infections while the child had an overt infection. Twelve, eleven and nine clones, from the father, mother and son, respectively, were sequenced. Serotypes adrq+, ayw1, ayw and ayr were found in the father and ayw1, adw2 and adwq+ in the mother; adrq+ was the only serotype in son. Genotype B, subgenotype C2 and a recombinant were identified in the father and genotype B, subgenotype C5 and three recombinants were found in the mother. Subgenotype C2 was the only genotype identified in the child. A phylogenetic tree showed that all of the child’s sequences and most of the father’s sequences clustered together. However, none of mother’s sequences clustered with those of the child. The surface gene from the child and his father had the same amino acid substitution pattern (T118K, T123N and G145A). We concluded that the father was the source of the son’s HBV infection, suggesting that occult HBV infection may be transmitted through close contact and manifest as an overt infection.     

Fathers and Public Policy

Until recently, policy makers viewed fathers' provision of child support as the most policy-relevant form of father involvement. In contrast, other policy initiatives have not been as widely explored. This article identifies current fatherhood policies and considers the mixed implications of these policy and practice interventions for father involvement and child well-being. We conclude with suggestions for future fatherhood policies and initiatives.