Jackson Dylan B
University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA.
Prev Sci. 2017 Jan;18(1):106-115. doi: 10.1007/s11121-016-0734-4.
The current study examines the association between early father involvement and infant neurodevelopment, and whether neonatal medical risk moderates this association. Data from approximately 6000 fathers and their children were obtained from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study: Birth Cohort (ECLS-B). Hierarchical regression was employed to analyze the data. The findings reveal that the association between early father involvement and infant neurodevelopment is contingent on both the timing of involvement (i.e., prenatal/perinatal or infancy) and offspring medical status at birth. The neurodevelopment of medically at-risk neonates was enhanced when fathers were involved during the gestational period and at the time of their birth. This relationship was not detected, however, in the case of infants who did not experience medical risks as neonates. Neonatal medical risk appears to be an important moderating factor in the link between father involvement during pregnancy and childbirth and infant neurodevelopment. Practitioners should continue to make efforts to involve fathers during gestation and childbirth. The findings of the present study suggest that doing so may protect against neurodevelopmental delays in neonates with medical risks.
本研究考察了早期父亲参与与婴儿神经发育之间的关联，以及新生儿医学风险是否会调节这种关联。约6000名父亲及其子女的数据来自《儿童早期纵向研究：出生队列》（ECLS - B）。采用分层回归分析数据。研究结果表明，早期父亲参与与婴儿神经发育之间的关联取决于参与的时间（即产前/围产期或婴儿期）以及出生时后代的医学状况。当父亲在孕期和孩子出生时参与时，有医学风险的新生儿的神经发育会得到改善。然而，在新生儿期未经历医学风险的婴儿中，未发现这种关系。新生儿医学风险似乎是孕期和分娩期间父亲参与与婴儿神经发育之间联系的一个重要调节因素。从业者应继续努力让父亲在孕期和分娩期间参与进来。本研究结果表明，这样做可能预防有医学风险的新生儿出现神经发育迟缓。
