Sethna Vaheshta, Perry Emily, Domoney Jill, Iles Jane, Psychogiou Lamprini, Rowbotham Natasha E L, Stein Alan, Murray Lynne, Ramchandani Paul G
King's College London.
Imperial College London.
Infant Ment Health J. 2017 May;38(3):378-390. doi: 10.1002/imhj.21642. Epub 2017 Apr 27.
The quality of father-child interactions has become a focus of increasing research in the field of child development. We examined the potential contribution of father-child interactions at both 3 months and 24 months to children's cognitive development at 24 months. Observational measures of father-child interactions at 3 and 24 months were used to assess the quality of fathers' parenting (n = 192). At 24 months, the Mental Developmental Index (MDI) of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, Second Edition (N. Bayley, ) measured cognitive functioning. The association between interactions and cognitive development was examined using multiple linear regression analyses, adjusting for paternal age, education and depression, infant age, and maternal sensitivity. Children whose fathers displayed more withdrawn and depressive behaviors in father-infant interactions at 3 months scored lower on the MDI at 24 months. At 24 months, children whose fathers were more engaged and sensitive as well as those whose fathers were less controlling in their interactions scored higher on the MDI. These findings were independent of the effects of maternal sensitivity. Results indicate that father-child interactions, even from a very young age (i.e., 3 months) may influence children's cognitive development. They highlight the potential significance of interventions to promote positive parenting by fathers and policies that encourage fathers to spend more time with their young children.
父子互动的质量已成为儿童发展领域中越来越多研究的焦点。我们考察了3个月和24个月时的父子互动对儿童24个月时认知发展的潜在影响。采用3个月和24个月时父子互动的观察性测量方法来评估父亲的养育质量（n = 192）。在24个月时，使用贝利婴幼儿发展量表第二版（N. 贝利）的心理发展指数（MDI）来测量认知功能。使用多元线性回归分析来检验互动与认知发展之间的关联，并对父亲年龄、教育程度和抑郁状况、婴儿年龄以及母亲的敏感性进行了校正。在3个月时，父亲在父子互动中表现出更多退缩和抑郁行为的孩子，在24个月时的MDI得分较低。在24个月时，父亲参与度更高、更敏感以及在互动中控制欲较弱的孩子，MDI得分更高。这些发现不受母亲敏感性的影响。结果表明，即使在很小的时候（即3个月），父子互动也可能影响儿童的认知发展。它们凸显了促进父亲积极养育的干预措施以及鼓励父亲花更多时间陪伴幼儿的政策的潜在重要性。
