Kroll Mary E, Carson Claire, Redshaw Maggie, Quigley Maria A
Policy Research Unit in Maternal Health and Care, National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
PLoS One. 2016 Sep 21;11(9):e0162339. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0162339. eCollection 2016.
Fathers are increasingly involved in care of their babies and young children. We assessed the association of resident fathers' involvement with subsequent behaviour of their children, examining boys and girls separately.
We used longitudinal data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study for children born in 2000-2001, divided into three separate analysis periods: ages 9 months to 3 years, 3 to 5 years, and 5 to 7 years. By exploratory factor analysis of self-reported attitudes and engagement in caring activities, we derived composite measures of various types of father involvement at 9 months, 3 and 5 years. Where possible we created equivalent measures of mother involvement. Child behaviour was assessed by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), which was completed by the mother when the child was aged 3, 5 and 7 years. We estimated gender-specific odds ratios for behaviour problems per quintile of father involvement, using separate logistic regression models for boys and girls in each analysis period. We controlled for a wide range of potential confounders: characteristics of the child (temperament and development at 9 months, and illness and exact age at outcome), equivalent mother involvement where appropriate, and factors related to socioeconomic status, household change, and parental well-being, where statistically significant.
Paternal positive parenting beliefs at age 9 months and increased frequency of creative play at age 5 years were significantly associated with lower risk of subsequent behaviour problems (SDQ total difficulties) in both boys and girls (p<0.05), odds ratios ranging between 0.81 and 0.89 per quintile of involvement. No associations were observed for other composite measures of caring activity by the father at 9 months, 3 years or 5 years.
Quality of parenting, rather than the division of routine care between parents, was associated with child behavioural outcomes.
父亲越来越多地参与到对其婴幼儿的照料中。我们评估了常住父亲的参与度与其子女后续行为之间的关联，并分别对男孩和女孩进行了研究。
我们使用了英国千禧队列研究的纵向数据，这些数据来自于2000 - 2001年出生的儿童，分为三个独立的分析阶段：9个月至3岁、3至5岁以及5至7岁。通过对自我报告的态度和照料活动参与情况进行探索性因素分析，我们得出了9个月、3岁和5岁时父亲不同类型参与度的综合测量指标。在可能的情况下，我们创建了母亲参与度的等效测量指标。儿童行为通过优势与困难问卷（SDQ）进行评估，该问卷由母亲在孩子3岁、5岁和7岁时填写。我们使用每个分析阶段中针对男孩和女孩的单独逻辑回归模型，估计了父亲参与度每增加一个五分位数时行为问题的性别特异性比值比。我们控制了一系列潜在的混杂因素：孩子的特征（9个月时的气质和发育情况，以及结果出现时的疾病和确切年龄）、适当情况下等效的母亲参与度，以及与社会经济地位、家庭变化和父母幸福感相关的因素（在统计上显著时）。
9个月时父亲积极的育儿观念以及5岁时创造性游戏频率的增加，与男孩和女孩后续行为问题（SDQ总困难得分）风险较低显著相关（p<0.05），参与度每增加一个五分位数，比值比在0.81至0.89之间。在9个月、3岁或5岁时，未观察到父亲其他照料活动综合测量指标与行为问题之间存在关联。
育儿质量而非父母之间日常照料的分工，与儿童行为结果相关。
