University of Texas at Austin.
University of Georgia.
J Consult Clin Psychol. 2023 Jan;91(1):43-49. doi: 10.1037/ccp0000781.
High levels of father engagement are associated with better outcomes for children across a number of domains. Correlational evidence suggests that the quality of the romantic relationship between parents plays a strong role in the extent to which fathers are meaningfully involved with their children, but existing literature cannot address whether this link is causal. To address this gap, the present study leveraged data from a randomized controlled trial of a couple-focused relationship education program for low-income couples to examine whether intervention-induced improvements in couple functioning led to better fathering outcomes.
Data were drawn from the Supporting Healthy Marriages study, in which 6,298 low-income, married couples with children were randomized to an intervention or control condition. Couple relationship functioning was assessed 12-months postrandomization, and fathering behavior across four dimensions (involvement, warmth, responsiveness, and monitoring) was assessed 30-months postrandomization.
Structural equation models revealed that the intervention had a significant direct effect on fathers' and mothers' couple functioning, but did not have a significant direct effect on fathering outcomes. However, the intervention did have a significant indirect effect on fathering outcomes through fathers' ratings of couple functioning, such that the intervention was associated with small positive indirect effects on fathers' involvement, warmth, responsiveness, and monitoring.
Intervention-derived improvements in the couple relationship led to improvements in father engagement, supporting a causal association between these variables. Couple-focused interventions may be a viable option to enhance couple functioning and (indirectly) fathers' parenting among families living with low incomes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
父亲的高度参与与儿童在多个领域的更好结果相关。相关证据表明，父母之间浪漫关系的质量在很大程度上决定了父亲是否能真正参与到他们孩子的生活中，但现有文献无法确定这种联系是否具有因果关系。为了解决这一差距，本研究利用一项针对低收入夫妇的夫妻关系教育计划的随机对照试验数据，来检验夫妻关系功能的干预改善是否会导致更好的育儿结果。
数据来自支持健康婚姻研究，其中 6298 对低收入已婚夫妇及其子女被随机分配到干预组或对照组。在随机分组后 12 个月评估夫妻关系功能，在随机分组后 30 个月评估四个维度（参与度、温暖度、响应度和监控度）的育儿行为。
结构方程模型显示，干预对父母双方的夫妻关系功能有显著的直接影响，但对育儿结果没有显著的直接影响。然而，干预通过父亲对夫妻关系功能的评价对育儿结果有显著的间接影响，干预与父亲参与度、温暖度、响应度和监控度的小的正间接效应相关。
夫妻关系的干预改善导致了父亲参与度的提高，支持了这些变量之间的因果关系。以夫妻为中心的干预措施可能是增强低收入家庭夫妻关系功能（间接）和（父亲）育儿的一种可行选择。
