Department of Health and Welfare Services, National Institute of Public Health, 2-3-6 Minami, Wako City, Saitama, Japan.
Department of Global Health Promotion, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, 1-5-45 Yushima, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
BMC Pediatr. 2021 Sep 10;21(1):397. doi: 10.1186/s12887-021-02838-2.
There have been numerous reports on the effects of paternal childcare on children's behavioral development. However, little is known about these effects in Asian countries such as Japan, where fathers do not have sufficient time for childcare due to long working hours. This study explored the association between paternal childcare during toddlerhood in terms of childcare hours and the type of caregiving behavior and subsequent behavioral problems in children aged 5.5 years, stratified by sex.
We analyzed data from the Longitudinal Survey of Newborns in the twenty-first Century (2001-2006), a population-based cohort survey in Japan (N = 27,870). Paternal childcare was assessed at 18 months in terms of paternal childcare hours on weekdays or weekends and the frequency of each type of childcare (feeding, changing diapers, bathing, putting the child to sleep, playing with the child at home, and taking the child outside). Based on the frequency or lack of paternal involvement, six categories of child behavioral problems were assessed when the children were 5.5 years old. Logistic regression analysis was applied to account for the known confounding variables.
Longer paternal childcare hours, on both weekdays and weekends in toddlerhood, had a protective effect on behavioral problems at 5.5 years of age. The dose-effect relationships were found between the frequency of fathers taking their children outside and behavioral problems in boys, and the frequency of fathers playing with their children at home and behavioral problems in both boys and girls.
Paternal childcare during toddlerhood could prevent subsequent behavioral problems in children. Several specific paternal caregiving behaviors, such as taking their children outside and playing with them at home, may play an important role in preventing subsequent behavioral problems.
已有大量报告探讨了父亲照顾子女对儿童行为发展的影响。然而，在日本等亚洲国家，由于父亲工作时间长，没有足够的时间照顾子女，因此对于这些影响知之甚少。本研究探讨了幼儿期父亲照顾子女的时间和照顾行为类型与 5.5 岁儿童行为问题之间的关联，并按性别进行了分层。
我们分析了来自日本基于人群的纵向调查新世纪婴儿（2001-2006）的数据（N=27870）。在幼儿期（18 个月），通过父亲在工作日或周末照顾子女的时间以及每种照顾行为（喂养、换尿布、洗澡、哄孩子入睡、在家与孩子玩耍和带孩子外出）的频率来评估父亲的育儿情况。根据父亲参与的频率或缺乏情况，在孩子 5.5 岁时评估了六种儿童行为问题类别。应用逻辑回归分析考虑了已知的混杂变量。
幼儿期父亲照顾子女的时间较长（无论是工作日还是周末）都能保护 5.5 岁时的行为问题。在男孩中，父亲带孩子外出的频率与行为问题之间存在剂量-效应关系，而父亲在家与孩子玩耍的频率与男孩和女孩的行为问题之间存在关系。
幼儿期父亲照顾子女可以预防儿童随后出现行为问题。几种特定的父亲照顾行为，如带孩子外出和在家与他们玩耍，可能在预防随后的行为问题方面发挥重要作用。
