Father to infant attachment: effects of early contact and characteristics of the infant.

Fifty-one father-infant dyads were studied at 24-72 hours of age and at 1 month to determine the effects of early contact, sex, and irritability of the infant on fathers' perceptions and behaviors. Irritability was measured by a factor of four items from the Brazelton Neonatal Assessment Scale administered at 24-72 hours. Fathers who held their infants in the first hour of life demonstrated more nonverbal behavior toward their infants during on observation at 1 month than those who did not have this early contact. Fathers interacted more verbally with girls than with boys at 1 month. A sex and irritability interaction effect was found in fathers' perception of high-irritability boys and low-irritability girls. Fathers also reported more frequent care-taking of high-irritability infants of both sexes than of low-irritability infants.