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Trait anger reflects a tendency to feel irritation, annoyance, and rage, and involves a narrowing of cognition and attention. This narrowed scope may impact the capacity to understand the mental states of oneself and others (mentalizing), which for fathers of infants may compromise bonding and caregiving involvement. Here, we investigated the extent to which mentalizing mediated the relationship between father trait anger and both father-infant bonding and father involvement in infant caregiving. Data were from 168 fathers (M = 30.04 years of age, SD = 1.36) of 190 infants (M = 7.58 months of age, SD = 5.06) in the longitudinal Men and Parenting Pathways (MAPP) study. We assessed fathers' preconception trait anger at Wave 1 and their mentalizing 2 years later at Wave 3. At Waves 3, 4, and/or 5, we assessed father-infant bonding and father involvement in infant caregiving when men had an infant younger than 18 months of age. Associations were examined using path analysis. Poorer mentalizing fully mediated the relationship between preconception trait anger and father-infant bonding (total score), but not involvement in infant caregiving. Further, poorer mentalizing fully mediated the relationships between trait anger and each component of the father-infant bond (i.e., patience and tolerance, affection and pride, and pleasure in interactions). Findings suggest that for men high on trait anger, targeted interventions that facilitate mentalizing capacities may help to develop a foundation for a strong father-infant bond. Interventions may be offered on becoming a father (perinatal), or prior to becoming a father (preconception) to prevent future bonding problems., (© 2023 The Authors. Family Process published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Family Process Institute.)

The transition to parenthood (TP) interview and coparenting capacity (CC) coding scheme is a mixed method approach to evaluating readiness for the interpersonal challenges of parenthood. This paper focuses on the validation of the TP-CC system with a diverse sample of 140 young expectant father/mother pairs. The TP interview is designed to assist expectant parents in expressing their thoughts and feelings about parenthood and coparenting and the CC coding scheme is designed to assess a new parent's capacity for expressing fondness, acceptance, growth, cohesion, and commitment in their relationship with their coparenting partner. Convergent validation of the TP-CC system involved measuring self- and partner-reported relationship quality, relationship security, and observed warmth and hostility during the pregnancy. Predictive validation focused on the same set of variables, measured at the 6-month postbirth follow-up. Results supported the convergent validity of the TP-CC system for mothers and fathers, with higher-specific CC scores correlating with higher relationship quality, relationship security and warmth scores, as well as lower hostility scores. Results partially supported predictive validity, with fathers' total CC scores predicting fathers' interpersonal hostility and mothers' relationship quality, relationship security, hostility, and warmth at follow-up. Consistently positive and significant correlations between both mothers and fathers prebirth and postbirth CC scores provide evidence for the test-retest reliability of the TP-CC system. Generally, findings demonstrate the potential utility of the TP-CC system for evaluating coparenting readiness across the transition to parenthood., (© 2023 Family Process Institute.)

Bundling multiple interventions have been implemented and evaluated in response to global recognition that young children benefit from the multiple components of nurturing care. Engaging Fathers for Effective Child Nutrition and Development in Tanzania Study evaluated the impact of adding a parenting intervention to a nutrition program and involving fathers on children's development. The study found that the bundled nutrition-parenting intervention improved children's short-term cognitive and receptive language scores over the nutrition only intervention, with no difference between involving mother-father couples versus mothers only. This study adds to recommendations for future multiple component interventions, including to investigate the mechanisms driving interventions, to address the potential for both benefits and harms, to involve household and community caregivers, and to incorporate implementation research to transition evidence-based programs to scale. Expanding nurturing care through multiple component interventions has the potential to promote equity by ensuring that all children have opportunities for healthy growth and development., (© 2024 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.)

Parent-centered emotion socialization beliefs that children should manage their emotions on their own without parent support may seem convenient for parents but may actually relate to greater parenting stress if this approach is incompatible with children's developmental needs. We explored relations between mothers' and fathers' parent-centered autonomy beliefs about children's emotions and their parenting stress, controlling for child behavior problems and parent education. We also examined whether these associations varied depending on child age. Participants included 142 mothers and 60 paired fathers with a 5- to 8-year-old child who completed survey measures on parenting and child behavior. The sample was primarily White (59%) or Hispanic (20%) and low (44%) to middle income (47%). Path analyses revealed significant actor effects, such that mothers and fathers who endorsed more parent-centered emotion socialization beliefs reported greater parenting stress. Partner effects showed that mothers also reported greater parenting stress when their partners endorsed more parent-centered emotion socialization beliefs. Child age did not moderate these associations. Findings are discussed in terms of developmentally appropriate parenting expectations, gender roles for family emotion work, and practical implications., (© 2023 Family Process Institute.)

While parenting children with difficult behaviors can intensify stress within the entire family system, families may lean on other familial relationships to mitigate that stress. The coparenting relationship is known to play a key role within the family system for child outcomes and familial interactions, but it is not clear whether it eases the stress and challenge of raising a difficult child, nor how that plays out differently for mothers versus fathers. Ninety-six couples (89.7% married) parenting young children (Mean age = 3.22 years) were included in this study. Using cross-sectional and aggregated daily response data, actor-partner interdependence models were used to examine how mothers' and fathers' perceived coparenting support lessened or intensified parenting stress and/or daily problems with their child/children-for themselves or their parenting partner. We found that greater coparenting support reported by mothers coincided with stronger links between the mother's report of child difficulty and daily problems encountered by both mothers and fathers. In contrast, when fathers reported greater coparenting support, the intensity between reported child difficulty and daily problems decreased for mothers, and fathers reported lower parenting stress. Coparenting support also moderated associations between parents' perception of child difficulty and daily problems with their children. These results suggest that mothers incur heightened coparenting support from fathers when experiencing more difficult child behavior and that coparenting support experienced by fathers may alleviate parenting challenges for mothers. These findings further contribute to the literature by emphasizing distinct differences between mothers and fathers in coparenting associations within the family system., (© 2023 The Authors. Family Process published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Family Process Institute.)

The development of prosocial skills in children is a key predictor of long-term social, cognitive, and emotional functioning. However, the role of fathers' psychological characteristics in fostering prosocial development, including during the prenatal period, and the mechanisms underlying their influence, remain relatively unexplored. This study aimed to examine whether a higher tendency of alexithymia, a difficulty to identify and verbalize emotions, in expectant fathers predicts prosocial behavior of two-year-old toddlers through the quality of coparenting and whether greater testosterone increase during a stressful parenting task moderates this indirect effect. A sample of 105 couples and their children was tracked longitudinally starting from the third trimester of pregnancy (T1), at three months (T2), and at two years postnatally (T3). Using self-report questionnaires, fathers reported on alexithymia (T1) and mothers and fathers reported on coparenting quality (T2). Additionally, fathers provided saliva samples before and after engaging in a stressful parenting task (the Inconsolable Doll Task) to measure testosterone reactivity (T1). Children's prosocial behavior was observed during an out-of-reach task (T3). A moderated mediation analysis using structural equation modeling showed that higher levels of alexithymia pre-birth predicted lower coparenting quality three months after birth, which in turn predicted lower prosocial behavior of two-year-old children, but only among fathers with mean or high testosterone increases. This study illuminates a potential mechanism by which fathers' alexithymia and testosterone reactivity forecast their toddlers' prosocial behavior., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest In the interest of full disclosure, Douglas A. Granger is Chief Scientific and Strategy Advisor at Salimetrics LCC and Salivabio LLC. These relationships are managed by the policies of the committees on conflict of interest at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the University of California at Irvine., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

The objective of this scoping review was to map the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the paternal parenting experience. Studies published between January 2020 and October 2021 reporting on paternal mental health, interparental relations, and child interactions were eligible. Forty studies from 17 different countries were included. Most studies included data from both mothers and fathers (83%); five studies reported data from fathers only, and three examined same-sex partners. Most commonly reported outcomes included division of childcare activities ( n = 14), delegation of household tasks ( n = 10), depression ( n = 12), and stress ( n = 9). The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on fathers varied globally with no clear trends except for the division of childcare and household tasks, in which fathers increased their contribution to childcare and household tasks yet mothers continued to experience a higher domestic burden. Further research is recommended to advance our understanding of how fathers coped during the COVID-19 pandemic and document the long-term impact of the pandemic on families., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

The role of parents in fostering children's healthy habits is a robust area of research. However, most of the existing literature predominantly focuses on mothers' parenting practices. Given the emergence of nuclear, dual earning families and the recent surge in maternal employment in urban India, fathers' engagement in child rearing and feeding warrants attention. The purpose of this research was to document the views of Indian fathers about paternal parenting practices, with an emphasis on children's diet among other health behaviors. Thirty-three fathers of children aged 6-59 months from Kolkata, India took part in semi-structured interviews conducted either face-to-face or over Zoom/telephone in Hindi, Bengali, and English. The interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and translated to English. The transcribed data were subjected to thematic analysis informed by the Template Analysis technique. Themes were detected using the NVivo software program. Overall, these Indian fathers played an important role in early childhood care and feeding as reflected in the following seven themes: (i) Involvement of fathers in various childcare activities; (ii) Implementation of responsive and non-responsive feeding practices; (iii) Concerns regarding fussy and slow eating; (iv) Concerns regarding excessive screen time; (v) Paternal vs maternal parenting; (vi) Barriers to routine engagement of fathers in childcare; (vii) Desire for more nutrition and health knowledge. This enhanced understanding of paternal parenting behavior supports the inclusion of fathers in future family-focused lifestyle interventions aimed at improving children's health outcomes, including their dietary habits., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this research article., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Fathers play a critical yet underappreciated role in adolescent development. To examine contributions of fathers' parenting to attachment in adolescence and adulthood, this longitudinal study followed 184 adolescents from ages 13-24. At age 13, adolescents reported on their fathers' parenting behavior and were observed in a father-teen conflict task; at ages 14 and 24, they completed the Adult Attachment Interview. Adolescents who lived with their father showed higher attachment security at age 14 (Cohen's d  = .72), compared to those with non-residential fathers. Fathers' positive relatedness and support for teens' psychological autonomy predicted attachment security at age 14. Fathers' physical aggression predicted attachment insecurity in adolescence, whereas fathers' verbal aggression predicted insecurity in adulthood, illuminating developmental shifts. Pathways to security were moderated by father residential status, adolescent gender, and race. Findings underscore the importance of fathers' presence, autonomy support, and non-aggression in predicting adolescents' state of mind in close relationships.

Parental reflective functioning (PRF) is considered a key parental competence. Since most research on PRF has focused on infancy or the first years of life, there is a gap in our understanding of PRF among parents of older children. Therefore, we investigated PRF in mothers and fathers with preschool-aged children, examining associations between PRF, parent's romantic attachment, and observed parenting behavior. The sample comprised 50 mothers, 40 fathers, and their 5-year-old children. PRF was assessed using the parental reflective functioning questionnaire (PRFQ), parental romantic attachment was assessed using the experiences in close relationships scale-revised (ECR-R), and parenting behavior was assessed during a parent-child free-play interaction with the coding interactive behavior (CIB) coding system. Results showed that mothers scored higher on the interest and curiosity scale than fathers, indicating that mothers show a more active interest and curiosity in their child's mental states. Further, higher levels of attachment anxiety in fathers were associated with higher levels of pre-mentalizing modes. In mothers, higher levels of attachment avoidance were associated with lower levels of interest and curiosity. Finally, and unexpectedly, higher levels of interest and curiosity in mothers were associated with less sensitivity during free play. In summary, the study found meaningful associations between mothers' and fathers' romantic attachment and their PRF indicating a spill-over of their attachment strategies into their relationship with their child. Further, the study results suggest that very high levels of interest and curiosity in mothers reflect hypermentalizing., (© 2024 The Authors. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology published by Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

There are few studies on the parenting of fathers with autism traits. To investigate this issue, we examined the type of parenting performed by fathers with autism traits using data from a nationwide birth cohort study, the Japan Environment and Children's Study. Paternal parenting was evaluated by mothers or caregivers when the child was 2 years old. Father's autism traits were measured using the Japanese version of the self-administered Autism Spectrum Quotient. Logistic regression analysis was performed to statistically analyze the data. Fathers with autism traits were significantly less likely to prepare meals for their child and helping them eat (adjusted OR (aOR): 1.11, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.01-1.23), to helping the child change clothes (aOR: 1.17, 95% CI: 1.04-1.31). However, there were no associations between some parenting behaviors and autism traits (not changing diapers, not bathing with the child, and not playing with the child). Father's communication skill difficulties by autism traits associated with a lower tendency to perform all types of parenting. Interestingly, there were association between difficulties with social skills or attention-switching and more performing change diapers. These results indicate it is important to respect the child-rearing that fathers with autistic tendencies are able to do, while supporting them in child-rearing that they are significantly less able to do than fathers without autistic tendencies., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Parenting stress has been related to adverse health outcomes in parents, children, and their families. This systematic review aimed to provide an overview of parental, child, and situational factors related to parenting stress in mothers and fathers. We searched Embase, Medline Epub (Ovid), PsychInfo (Ovid), Web of Science, and Google scholar for studies published between January 1980 and May 2021 evaluating the association between at least one factor and parenting stress. Studies were included only if they reported the association in a general population sample of mothers and fathers with children aged 0-12 years. The parent-child relationship model by Abidin guided the data synthesis. Quality of the evidence was assessed using the Standard Quality Assessment Criteria for Evaluating Primary Research Papers from a variety of fields. In total, 29 studies were included with excellent quality (55%), good (31%), and adequate (14%) methodological quality. There was evidence of an association between maternal depression, child overall problems, child externalizing and internalizing problems, social support, maternal educational level and maternal parenting stress. Evidence was inconsistent for an association between maternal anxiety, family income and maternal parenting stress. There was no evidence of an association for maternal age, child sex and maternal parenting stress. Several modifiable factors (i.e., parental depression and social support) were identified that might guide the development of preventive interventions. Future research should employ longitudinal study designs evaluating protective and risk factors and the pathways that lead to parenting stress, among both fathers and mothers., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Context: Studies on parenting, including feeding styles and practices in general, have focused mainly on mothers. Consequently, there is a gap with respect to fathers in the scientific literature., Objective: This study's main objective is to determine paternal feeding styles toward children aged 0 to 18 years and to identify those most commonly used by men., Data Sources: The PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane, and PsycINFO databases were consulted., Data Extraction: Articles that were not published in English, Spanish, or Italian were excluded, as well as those that referred to other subjects, those whose sample did not include men, or those studying children with pathologies that could influence their diet. All the articles ultimately included were assessed using the STROBE checklist., Data Analysis: A total of 183 articles were found. Of these, 13 were included in the review. No trend was found for paternal parenting style, and disparities existed among the authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive styles. In terms of feeding practices, men were more likely to use coercion. The most reported feeding styles were authoritarian and permissive., Conclusions: The findings of systematic review suggest cultural and gender differences exist with respect to parenting styles and feeding styles and practices. In terms of paternal parenting styles, there is some disparity. However, when it comes to feeding, men showed a tendency toward an authoritarian feeding style and coercive feeding practices., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Life Sciences Institute. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a lifelong neurological condition which results in social skill deficits, communication difficulties, and restrictive and repetitive behaviour. The difficulties associated with parenting children with ASD have been studied extensively, mainly from the perspectives of mothers. The extent of involvement of fathers in the raising of children with ASD has received limited scholarly attention, especially in non-Western contexts such as the United Arab Emirates., Objectives: This study asked mothers to evaluate the involvement of fathers in the development of children with ASD., Methods: In all, 240 mothers completed the Fathers' Involvement in Development and Rehabilitation Scale, designed based on a review of literature on the construct of involvement, namely attitude, participation in training, and support domains. The data were subjected to computation of mean scores, multivariate analysis of variance, hierarchical regression, and moderation analyses., Results: The results suggested that fathers held positive attitudes and provided substantial support to their children with ASD. However, mothers were ambivalent regarding the participation of fathers in training to support the development of their children. Differences were also observed between participants according to marital status, location, child gender, and ASD severity., Conclusion: Recommendations for targeted training for fathers and other study implications are discussed., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Introduction: The desire for parenthood in the LGBT+ community is still a matter of critical debate worldwide., Objectives: We aimed to (i) analyse the prevalence of desire for fatherhood in a cohort of white-European sexually active men who have sex with men and (ii) explore the characteristics of men who have sex with men with respect to those without the desire for fatherhood., Materials and Methods: An anonymous self-compiled survey with 23 closed socio-demographic general questions, one section aimed to assess medical history and recreational habits and two sections devoted to investigate genital and sexual health, was provided to each participant. Likewise, all participants were invited to complete a number of questionnaires, including the Male Sexual Health Questionnaire and the Beck Inventory for Depression., Results: Of 191 men who have sex with men white-European participants who eventually completed the survey, 112 (58.6%) clearly expressed their desire for fatherhood. Of all, the wish to become a parent was strong in 99 (51.8%) individuals and higher in younger participants (35 [28-46] vs. 43 [32-50] years, p = 0.01). No other significant differences in terms of educational level and relational status were identified between the two groups. Of all, the wish to become a parent was strong in 99 (51.8%) individuals and higher in younger participants (35 [28-46] vs. 43 [32-50] years, p = 0.01)., Conclusion: Current preliminary findings highlight that more than one in two men who have sex with men has a desire for fatherhood, with almost 81% of all having a high desire for fathering, which is clearly more intense in younger men., (© 2023 American Society of Andrology and European Academy of Andrology.)

Previous research concerning the interplay between genetics and parenting in the development of the parent-child relationship during adolescence has been extremely scarce, predominantly adopting single-gene designs. This limited body of work has largely overlooked the distinct effects of maternal and paternal roles, as well as potential gender differences. Additionally, existing gene-by-environment (G × E) studies have mainly concentrated on adverse environmental factors and associated negative outcomes, somewhat neglecting positive environments and outcomes. The present study examined the interactions of cumulative genetic scores (CGS, dopamine receptor D2 TaqIA and oxytocin receptor gene rs53576 polymorphisms) with both positive and negative parenting on parent-adolescent cohesion and conflict. Furthermore, this study aimed to ascertain with which gene-environment model the potential G × E interactions would align. A total of 745 Chinese Han adolescents (M age  = 13.36 ± 0.96 years; 46.8% girls) from grades 7 to 9 participated in this study. Results revealed a significant effect of CGS and negative maternal parenting on mother-adolescent conflict among males, consistent with the weak differential susceptibility model. As CGS increased, the effects of negative maternal parenting on mother-son conflict were magnified. These findings have implications for the timing and focus of interventions aimed at improving parent-adolescent relationships., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: Multicomponent interventions are needed to address the various co-occurring risks that compromise early child nutrition and development. We compared the independent and combined effects of engaging fathers and bundling parenting components into a nutrition intervention on early child development (ECD) and parenting outcomes., Methods: We conducted a 2×2 factorial cluster-randomized controlled trial across 80 villages in Mara Region, Tanzania, also known as EFFECTS (Engaging Fathers for Effective Child Nutrition and Development in Tanzania; ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03759821). Households with children under 18 months of age residing with their mother and father were enrolled. Villages were randomly assigned to one of five groups: a nutrition intervention for mothers, a nutrition intervention for couples, a bundled nutrition and parenting intervention for mothers, a bundled intervention for couples, and a standard-of-care control. Interventions were delivered by trained community health workers through peer groups and home visits over 12 months. Mothers, fathers, and children were assessed at baseline, midline, and endline or postintervention. We used a difference-in-difference approach with intention-to-treat analysis to estimate intervention effects on ECD (Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, third edition) and maternal and paternal parenting and psychosocial well-being., Results: Between October 29, 2018, and May 24, 2019, 960 households were enrolled (n = 192 per arm). Compared to nutrition interventions, bundled interventions improved children's cognitive (β = .18 [95% CI: 0.01, 0.36]) and receptive language development (β = .23 [0.04, 0.41]). There were no differences between interventions for other ECD domains. Compared to nutrition interventions, bundled interventions achieved additional benefits on maternal stimulation (β = .21 [0.04, 0.38]) and availability of home learning materials (β = .25 [0.07-0.43]) and reduced paternal parenting distress (β = -.34 [-0.55, -0.12]). Compared to interventions with mothers only, interventions that engaged fathers improved paternal stimulation (β = .45 [0.27, 0.63])., Conclusions: Jointly bundling parenting components into nutrition interventions while also engaging both mothers and fathers is most effective for improving maternal and paternal parenting and ECD outcomes., (© 2023 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.)

Perinatal reductions in gray matter volume have been observed in human mothers transitioning to parenthood, with preliminary evidence for similar changes in fathers. These reductions have been theorized to support adaptation to parenting, but greater investigation is needed. We scanned 38 first-time fathers during their partner's pregnancy and again after 6 months postpartum, and collected self-report data prenatally and 3, 6, and 12 months postpartum. Significant gray matter volume reductions were observed across the entire cortex but not the subcortex. Fathers who reported stronger prenatal bonding with the unborn infant, and planned to take more time off from work after birth, subsequently showed larger cortical volume decreases. Larger reductions in gray matter volume also emerged among fathers who reported stronger postpartum bonding with the infant, lower parenting stress, and more time spent with their infant. Larger volume reductions predicted more postpartum sleep problems and higher levels of postpartum depression, anxiety, and psychological distress, controlling for prenatal sleep and mental health. Volume reductions were smaller among fathers whose infants were older at the postpartum scan, indicating potential rebound. These results suggest that perinatal gray matter volume reductions might reflect not only greater parenting engagement but also increased mental health risk in new fathers., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

An important cause of stunting is limited consumption of complementary foods, in terms of both quantities and nutrients. Although existing studies show a positive association between fathers' engagement and children's diet, programmes designed to improve complementary feeding practices often only target mothers. In response to this, maternal behaviour change communication (BCC), paternal BCC and food voucher programmes were designed and implemented in Ethiopia using a clustered randomized controlled trial design. The paternal BCC programme included gender-equal messages to increase fathers' participation in childcare, household labour and decision making. The research reported in this paper is an examination of the BCC programmes, characterizing the behavioural, normative and control beliefs of both mothers and fathers in BCC households compared to those in control households. In this study, a total of 40 participants were included, with 13 mother-father pairs in the BCC + food voucher group, and seven pairs in the control group. Each participant was interviewed separately. We found that BCC mothers showed more gender-equal tendencies than the control mothers despite being more rural in location. By contrast, the beliefs of BCC and control fathers were similar overall, suggesting men are more resistant to gender-equal BCC. More work is needed to develop and test effective methods for changing fathers' beliefs and practices., (© 2024 The Authors. Maternal & Child Nutrition published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Lower fetal heart rate variability (FHRV) may be a prenatal endophenotypic susceptibility marker and increase the impact of both positive and negative coparenting on infant regulatory capacity. This study analyzed the moderator role of FHRV in the association between positive and negative coparenting and infant regulatory capacity at 3 months. The sample comprised 86 first-born infants and their mothers and fathers recruited at a public Health Service in Northern Portugal. FHRV was recorded during routine cardiotocography examination at the third trimester of gestation. Mothers and fathers reported on coparenting and infant regulatory capacity at 2 weeks and 3 months postpartum. FHRV moderated the association between mother's and father's negative coparenting at 2 weeks postpartum and infant regulatory capacity at three months. Infants with low FHRV presented higher regulatory capacity when mothers or fathers reported less negative coparenting, while lower regulatory capacity when mothers or fathers reported more negative coparenting, than infants with high FHRV. Findings suggested lower FHRV as a prenatal endophenotypic susceptibility marker that increases the impact of negative coparenting on infant regulatory capacity., (© 2024 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.)

Little effort has been made to integrate developmental cascades with maternal/paternal parenting in a single investigation. The present study seeks to test cascading effects among academic and internalizing/externalizing symptoms and their associations with maternal/paternal parenting across three time points from 8 to 10 years. Data for this investigation came from a nationally representative prospective cohort study of children born in April through July of 2008 in South Korea who were followed up annually. The sample included 1,598 families (48.5% girls). Parents rated their parenting and teachers rated children's internalizing/externalizing problems and academic performance. Structural equation modeling showed that externalizing problems were negatively related to academic performance. Academic performance was negatively related to internalizing problems and positively related to maternal/paternal authoritative parenting, which in turn led to children's higher academic performance. Bidirectional relations were found between academic performance and externalizing problems and between paternal authoritative parenting and children's internalizing problems. Findings suggested cascading effects and their associations with parenting were not attributable to child gender, intelligence, or socioeconomic differences. These findings lend support to adjustment erosion and academic incompetence models and underscore the need for greater attention to the role that fathering may play in children's development and mothering.

Introduction: In the post-COVID-19 era, small-scale and long-term recurrences of the pandemic can exacerbate future economic uncertainty. Previous studies have found that stressful situations are strongly associated with a controlling type of parenting. The relationship between parental perceptions of future economic uncertainty (PFEU) and helicopter parenting is currently unclear. This study aimed to examine the dyadic relationship between PFEU and helicopter parenting among Chinese parents in the postpandemic era and its underlying mechanisms from a family system perspective., Methods: Questionnaire data were collected from 395 pairs of parents (M father  = 43.65 ± 5.30, M mother  = 40.71 ± 5.16, M adolescent  = 13.17 ± 0.87, 45.3% male) in Jiangxi Province, China in October 2021. An actor-partner interdependence mediation model was established., Results: The results indicated that fathers' and mothers' PFEU were positively associated with their own helicopter parenting. Additionally, paternal parenting stress mediated the relationship between fathers' and mothers' PFEU and paternal helicopter parenting, whereas mothers' parenting stress mediated the association between mothers' PFEU and paternal and maternal helicopter parenting., Conclusions: The current research provides important insights for improving Chinese family education practices in the postpandemic era., (© 2023 Foundation for Professionals in Services to Adolescents.)

Competing Interests: PH was employed by Identitea. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Introduction: Late adolescents differ in the degree to which they are thoroughly engaged in the study choice process and in the degree to which their choices are autonomous in nature. This study examined the unique and interactive roles of (a) parental involvement in the study choice process and (b) late adolescents' sense of having an authentic inner compass (AIC) in predicting their study choice decision-making., Method: A cross-sectional questionnaire study was conducted among 331 12th-grade adolescents from the Flemish part of Belgium (68.3% female; M age  = 18.04, SD = 0.48) in the spring of 2017 and 2018., Results: Results of the latent sum and difference models revealed that late adolescents experiencing a stronger AIC and more need-supportive parental involvement showed more engagement in and autonomous regulation of the study choice process. In contrast, when experiencing more controlling parental involvement or uninvolvement, late adolescents showed more controlled regulation, with parental control also being linked to less commitment. Although mothers were perceived to be more involved than fathers, maternal and paternal involvement were equally strongly related to the study choice tasks., Conclusion: Overall, late adolescents' sense of having an AIC and parental involvement were related independently to the outcomes, with sense of having an AIC yielding the strongest associations., (© 2023 Foundation for Professionals in Services to Adolescents.)

Becoming a father is a common transitional event, however men are often not adequately prepared for their fathering role. The United States (U.S.) health care system does little to support fathers' parenting needs during the postnatal and infancy period. Moreover, father's support needs are often perceived as secondary to the mother's needs in the maternal-child system. It is important that fathers' social support needs be investigated in the first year of his newborn's life, especially in diverse populations. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the social support needs of urban, African American fathers during early parenthood. Using the Critical Incident Technique (CIT), a descriptive, qualitative design was used to interview 35 fathers about their social support at 2-12 months after the birth of their baby. Using a semi-structured interview guide, fathers were asked to describe helpful and unhelpful events they experienced since the birth of their baby. Fathers reported 36 helpful events and 32 unhelpful events for an overall total of 68 events. Data was analyzed using House's Social Support Theory and the four social support categories: instrumental, informational, emotional, and appraisal. Using the CIT, main categories and subcategories were developed. The helpful categories included: 1) Helping father with infant care, 2) Providing information on infant care, 3) Receiving HCP assistance, 4) Managing relationships, and 5) Becoming a father. The unhelpful categories included: 1) Receiving unhelpful assistance, 2) Receiving unreliable or unwanted assistance, 3) Offering bad advice, 4) Conflicting relationships, 5) Conflicts with friends, 6) Unsatisfying HCP experience, and 7) Receiving no support from family/organizations. The results of the study validated House's Social Support Theory and served as an excellent framework for exploring social support needs in fathers. More research needs to be conducted on the social support needs of fathers during the first year of their infants' lives, especially with experienced African American fathers and nonresidential fathers, and how health care professionals (HCPs), specifically postnatal and child health nurses, can better support fathers during the infancy period.

Though differences in informant perceptions of family processes are associated with poorer health, few studies have examined discrepancies between father- and adolescent-report of family phenomena and their impact on adolescent mental health. This study examined how father and adolescent-reported parenting and the differences in their perceptions is related to adolescent mental health. Participants were 326 father-adolescent dyads (Fathers: M age  = 41.2; Adolescents: 7th grade students, M age  = 12.0, 48.5% female). Overall, analyses revealed significant main effects of father and/or adolescent report of father-adolescent conflict and harsh parenting on adolescent internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Analyses revealed two instances in which discrepancies between father- and adolescent-report of family phenomena was related to adolescent mental health. Given the mixed nature of the findings based on the outcome reporter, the current study discusses implications for discrepancy research and future directions to better understand discrepant perceptions as useful information on their own. The parent clinical trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (Identifier: NCT03125291, Registration date: 4/13/2017)., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Despite the important contributions that fathers make to parenting, the neurobiological underpinnings of men's adaptation to parenthood are still not well understood. The current study focuses on prolactin, a hormone that has been extensively linked with reproduction, lactation, and parental behavior in mothers. There is preliminary evidence that prolactin may also reflect the transition to sensitive fatherhood. We sampled prolactin in 91 first-time expectant fathers who participated in a laboratory visit along with their pregnant partners. Fathers' prolactin levels were correlated with their partners' prolactin levels. Men's prolactin levels during their partner's pregnancy were associated with their self-reported antenatal bonding to the unborn infant. Prenatal prolactin levels in fathers also predicted more positive attitudes toward fatherhood at three months postpartum, including lower parenting stress, greater enjoyment of the infant, and a more attunement-oriented parenting style. Within a smaller sample of 32 men who participated in MRI scanning before and after their child's birth, prenatal prolactin also predicted greater reductions in grey matter volume in the left posterior cingulate, left insula, and left nucleus accumbens. In conclusion, men's prenatal prolactin may reflect their perceptions of fatherhood and changes to their perinatal brain structure., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest None., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Sensitivity in parent-child interaction is essential for child development. Since fathers are increasingly involved in childrearing, identifying factors leading to paternal sensitivity is crucial. We examined the relation between attachment representation and reflective functioning (RF) as factors influencing paternal sensitivity in a longitudinal study including N  = 40 first-time fathers ( M  = 33) and their 6-month-old children. We used the Adult Attachment Interview during pregnancy to assess paternal attachment representation and general RF, the Parental Development Interview to assess fathers' parental RF, and the Emotional Availability Scale to measure sensitivity at child's age of 6 month. Data show that secure paternal attachment representation, high general and parental RF are associated with higher levels of paternal sensitivity. Further, parental RF mediates the association between attachment representation and paternal sensitivity. These findings contribute to the identification of a causal interplay in that they suggest an explanatory effect of RF on the association between fathers' attachment representation, and sensitivity.age  = 33) and their 6-month-old children. We used the Adult Attachment Interview during pregnancy to assess paternal attachment representation and general RF, the Parental Development Interview to assess fathers' parental RF, and the Emotional Availability Scale to measure sensitivity at child's age of 6 month. Data show that secure paternal attachment representation, high general and parental RF are associated with higher levels of paternal sensitivity. Further, parental RF mediates the association between attachment representation and paternal sensitivity. These findings contribute to the identification of a causal interplay in that they suggest an explanatory effect of RF on the association between fathers' attachment representation, and sensitivity.

Objectives: The majority of the evidence about the effectiveness of early parenting and nutrition interventions pertains to 1 targeted index child in a given household. We evaluated whether nontargeted sibling children benefited from a bundled parenting and nutrition intervention., Methods: We designed a sub-study within a broader cluster-randomized trial that evaluated the effects of engaging both mothers and fathers and bundling parenting and nutrition interventions in Mara, Tanzania. Trained community health workers delivered interventions to parents through peer groups and home visits. Interventions encompassed various content including responsive parenting, infant and young child feeding, and positive couples' relationships. The main trial enrolled mothers and fathers and 1-index children <18 months of age in 80 clusters. Between June and July 2021, in 32 clusters (16 intervention, 16 control), we reenrolled 222 households (118 intervention, 104 control) from the main trial that had another child <6 years of age (ie, sibling to the index child). We compared caregiving practices and child development and nutrition outcomes among siblings in intervention versus control households., Results: Compared with control siblings, intervention siblings had improved expressive language development (β = 0.33 [95% confidence interval: 0.03 to 0.62]) and dietary intake (β = 0.52 [0.10 to 0.93]) and reduced internalizing behaviors (β = -0.56 [-1.07 to -0.06]). Intervention caregivers reported greater maternal stimulation (β = 0.31 [0.00 to 0.61]) and paternal stimulation (β = 0.33 [0.02 to 0.65]) and displayed more responsive caregiving behaviors (β = 0.40 [0.09 to 0.72]) with sibling children., Conclusions: A father-inclusive, bundled parenting and nutrition intervention can achieve positive spillover effects on sibling children's developmental and nutritional outcomes., (Copyright © 2023 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.)

Single-parent families led by fathers are an increasing demographic globally, Furthermore, single fatherhood is associated with poorer self-reported health and mental health, lifestyle practices and habits, increased health complications, psychological symptoms, hospital admissions, and higher mortality. However, there is still a dearth of evidence exploring single fathers' experiences. A systematic review and meta-synthesis were conducted using Sandelowski and Barroso's approach. Six electronic databases were searched from each database's inception to December 2021, and 34 studies were included in this review. In total, six themes were synthesized: (i) "Doing it alone": Double the work, stress, and tears; (ii) Beyond ambivalence and towards stability, (iii) Walking into the lion's den; (iv) Education as a foundation for a better future; (v) "Single but not alone": Support systems; (vi) "Reconceptualising my predicament": Double the love and growth. Our findings suggest the need to: help fathers better navigate their relationships with their children and ex-partners, increased awareness and availability of parent-teaching and support programs, and reform guidelines and policies to enable greater participation and involvement of fathers in future judicial systems, and social and public assistance services., (© 2022 Family Process Institute.)

Objective: Knowledge of parenting self-efficacy and social support can help healthcare professionals to facilitate the parents' transition to parenthood. However, few studies have explored parenting self-efficacy and social support in Chinese mothers and fathers across six months postpartum. Thus, this study aimed to (a) investigate changes in parenting self-efficacy and social support over the six months postpartum; (b) explore the relationships between parenting self-efficacy and social support; and (c) compare the differences in parenting self-efficacy and social support between the mothers and fathers., Design, Setting, and Participants: A prospective cohort study was carried out from September 24, 2020, to October 8, 2021, at a local teaching hospital in Guangzhou, China. One hundred and sixteen pairs of Chinese parents who gave birth to a single full-term newborn were included in this study., Measurements: The Parenting Self-Efficacy Subscale of the Parenting Sense of Competence Scale and Social Support Rating Scale were completed within 2-3 days after delivery (T1), six weeks postpartum (T2), three months postpartum (T3), and six months postpartum (T4). Demographic and obstetric information was collected at T1., Findings: Maternal parenting self-efficacy decreased from T1 to T2 and then increased to T3 and T4, while paternal parenting self-efficacy remained stable throughout the six months postpartum. Overall, maternal and paternal social support declined during the six months postpartum. Parenting self-efficacy had a positive correlation with social support. Moreover, maternal subjective support was significantly lower than that of fathers at T1 and T4., Key Conclusions and Implications for Practice: The present study highlighted the changes and relationships between parenting self-efficacy and social support in mothers and fathers across six months postpartum in mainland China. Healthcare professionals should treat mother and father as a system to help their transition to parenthood., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Introduction: There are few empirically supported social and emotional well-being programmes for First Nations adolescents, and we found none targeting those living in Aboriginal communities in remote areas of Australia. The dearth of social and emotional well-being programmes is concerning given that adolescents in remote Australia are at much greater risk of mental disorder and suicide. Our pragmatic community-based research intervention 'Enabling Dads and Improving First Nations Adolescent Mental Health' is designed by and for First Nations people living in remote communities to promote and support the parenting role and examine the interconnection between men's parenting knowledge and adolescent mental health. The aim is to improve adolescent mental health by strengthening the participating father's empowerment, parenting confidence and engagement in the parenting role. The words Aboriginal, First Nation and Indigenous are applied interchangeably, as appropriate, throughout the article., Methods and Analysis: The intervention is currently being conducted in five remote First Nations communities in Far North Queensland, Australia. The project is funded by the Medical Research Future (MRFF UNSW RG200484), and staff recruitment and training began in early December 2020. The aim is to recruit 100 men and dyad adolescents, that is, in each of the five community sites, we will recruit 20 men and adolescent dyads at baseline. To date, we have complete data collection in one community, and fieldwork will begin in the final community in September 2023.The intervention involves a pragmatic randomised controlled trial, using a novel and culturally designed and manualised parenting programme with men (Strong Fathers, SF). The comparison group is receiving a culturally congruent and familiar yarning/relaxation (YR) condition. The SF component focuses on reinforcing knowledge related to parenting adolescents, promoting father's empowerment, and increasing their confidence and engagement with the adolescent. The second component systematically measures and examines differences in adolescent social and emotional well-being before and after their father's involvement in either the SF or YR. The adolescent is blind to the father's group allocation. The outcome measures for the men include parenting knowledge, attitudes and beliefs; a First Nations measure for empowerment; the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (Indigenous) used to assess post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms; and alcohol use. The adolescent mental health outcomes are measured by a culturally congruent social and emotional well-being measure., Ethics and Dissemination: Ethics approval was granted from the Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council of Australia: Human Research Ethics Committee (1711/20). Results will be verbally shared at community meetings and conferences, and reports will be produced for community stakeholder use. Data will be available for community-controlled health services and stakeholders. Findings will also be published in peer-reviewed journals, and summaries will be provided to the funders of the study as well as male participants and adolescents., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Though studies have examined the role of social support in the lives of Black men, less is known about the role and function of multi-domain social support as they navigate fatherhood. This investigation utilizes a profile-oriented approach to identify patterns of general and parenting-specific social support (i.e., family; peers; community) among a sample of 759 Black American fathers. Additionally, this study examines how identified support profiles are associated with Black fathers' parenting outcomes (i.e., stress, satisfaction, self-efficacy, and involvement). Latent class analyses identified 10 distinct social support profiles among Black fathers. Results also indicated that there was some profile variation in levels parenting outcomes. Findings suggest variation in the availability and utilization of general and parenting support among Black fathers., (© 2022 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Objective: Long working hours have been suggested to affect fathers' parenting behavior, but previously reported findings have been inconsistent. This study examined the association between the working hours and parenting behavior of fathers while accounting for other factors related to their parenting behavior, using data from the Japan Environment and Children Study (JECS), a large cohort study in Japan., Methods: Data from 43,159 father-mother pairs were analyzed. The mother assessed the father's frequency of seven parenting behaviors at 6 months after delivery. Then, each behavior was classified into a high-engagement group (always and sometimes) or a low-engagement group (rarely and never). The father's weekly working hours was obtained from his responses and was classified into six levels., Results: Logistic regression analysis showed that after adjustment for covariates, fathers' weekly working hours was inversely associated with the frequency of all parenting behaviors examined in this study ( p for trend <0.0001). Compared with fathers working ≥0 to ≤40 h per week, those working >65 h per week showed the following adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) for low engagement in parenting behaviors: playing at home, 2.38 (2.08-2.72); changing diapers, 2.04 (1.89-2.20); and bathing the child, 2.01 (1.84-2.18)., Conclusion: This study suggests that the greater time constraints imposed by longer working hours constitute a major factor that discourages fathers from engaging in childrearing behavior. Intervention targeting long working hours could contribute to measures aimed at promoting high-engagement parenting behaviors among fathers., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Kasamatsu, Tsuchida, Matsumura, Hamazaki, Inoue, Inadera and the Japan Environment and Children’s Study Group.)

This study examined how parental autonomy support and control are conceptualized by adolescents in Hong Kong (Grades 7-11) using the Perceived Parental Autonomy Support Scale. Competitive models were evaluated using confirmatory factor analyses. Although the 6-factor model demonstrated the best fit, further analyses indicated that a second-order structure was more appropriate. Provision of choice, acknowledgment of child's feelings, rationale for rules, and demands subsumed under autonomy support. Guilt-inducing criticisms and the use of threats subsumed under control. Performance pressure emerged as a first-order construct on its own. Measurement invariance was evident across adolescent gender and age. All subscales had adequate to strong reliability. Discriminate validity was evident. Findings offer insights into the conceptualization of autonomy support and control in Hong Kong., (© 2022 Society for Research on Adolescence.)

Abundant research has shown that self-compassion robustly contributes to adults' psychological well-being. Meanwhile, a few studies have shown that self-compassion is rooted in early experiences with parents. However, it is unclear whether interactions with partners and children affect adults' self-compassion, and the role of their self-compassion in interactions with significant others. This study examined bidirectional longitudinal relationships between Chinese parents' marital satisfaction, parenting stress, and self-compassion following a three-wave longitudinal design. A sample of 322 Chinese father-mother dyads (father's M age  = 35.84, SD age  = 5.76; mother's M age  = 34.32, SD age  = 5.46) completed a set of questionnaires at three time points. The results showed that marital satisfaction positively predicted the fathers' and mothers' self-compassion, while parenting stress did not significantly predict the parents' self-compassion; In contrast, parents' self-compassion did not significantly predict marital satisfaction or parenting stress. Additionally, there was a bidirectional relationship between marital satisfaction and parenting stress in fathers and mothers. Finally, mothers' marital satisfaction positively mediated the relationship between parenting stress and self-compassion/next-stage parenting stress. This study revealed that adults' self-compassion can develop from caring and supportive relationships, including marital relationships. Highlighting key mechanisms of marital satisfaction, such as increasing self-compassion and reducing parenting stress, may contribute to the improvement of adults' mental health., (© 2022 Family Process Institute.)

Little research has examined the potential spillover of parenting difficulties in the coparental stepfamily subsystem. Using family systems theory as a guide, we longitudinally examined: (a) whether early parenting difficulties within stepfamilies persist 1 year later and (b) whether the parenting difficulties experienced by one partner impact the parenting difficulties of the other partner within remarriages. Copies of marriage licenses were used to identify remarried individuals. Surveys were mailed out, with follow-up surveys mailed a year later, resulting in a sample of 676 remarried couples (the majority of which were White and college educated). The sample was split into three groups, according to stepfamily constellation: (a) families with a stepfather and biological mother; (b) families with a biological father and a stepmother; and (c) families with both stepfathers and stepmothers. We estimated three different actor-partner interdependence models (APIM), one for each group. Consistent with family systems theory, our findings showed that parenting and stepparenting difficulties were interrelated, though gendered in effect. All parenting and stepparenting difficulties displayed actor effects, suggesting that parenting difficulties persist 1 year later. However, the only cross-spouse influences (partner effects) were such that the mother's parenting difficulties (of her own biological children) were predicted by the father's parenting and stepparenting difficulties, and these differed by stepfamily constellation. Implications regarding gendered expectations, the importance of the coparenting subsystem in stepfamilies, early establishment of parental boundaries, and the (potentially important) inclusion of the stepfather in the parenting dynamics are discussed., (© 2022 Family Process Institute.)

In recent years, the prevalence rates of children's mental health disorders have increased with current estimates identifying that as many as 15-20% of children meet criteria for a mental health disorder. Unfortunately, the same robust parenting interventions which have long targeted some of the most common and the most treatable child concerns (e.g., externalizing, disruptive behavior, and aggression) have also shown consistently low rates of father engagement. This persistent issue of engagement comes in the wake of an increasingly large body of literature which highlights the unique positive contributions fathers make to children and families when they are engaged in parenting interventions. As the role fathers play in families shifts to become more inclusive of childcare responsibilities and less narrowly defined by financial contributions, it becomes increasingly important to understand how best to engage fathers in interventions that aim to enhance parenting efficacy and family outcomes such as coparenting. The current review examined intervention (e.g., format and setting) and implementation characteristics (e.g., training and agency-level changes) associated with father engagement. Particular attention is paid to studies which described father-specific engagement strategies (e.g., inviting fathers directly, father-only groups, and adapting intervention to incorporate father preferences). A total of 26 articles met inclusion criteria after screening and full-text review. Results indicate that father engagement (i.e., initiating treatment) remains low with 58% of studies either not reporting father engagement or having engagement rates below 50%. More than two-thirds of studies did not include specific father engagement strategies. Those that did focused on changes to treatment format (e.g., including recreational activities), physical treatment setting (e.g., in-home and school), and reducing the number of sessions required for father participation as the most common father-specific engagement strategies. Some studies reported efforts to target racially and ethnically diverse fathers, but review results indicated most participants identified as Non-Hispanic White. Interventions were largely standard behavioral parent training programs (e.g., PCIT and PMT) with few exceptions (e.g., COACHES and cultural adaptations), and very few agencies or programs are systematically making adjustments (e.g., extended clinic hours and changes to treatment format) to engage fathers. Recommendations for future directions of research are discussed including the impact of differential motivation on initial father engagement in treatment, the importance of continuing to support diverse groups of fathers, and the potential for telehealth to address barriers to father engagement., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

The rise of intense competition for younger generation has intensified social expectations of being a good parent. Based on the data of 386 Chinese intact families with fathers (M age  = 48.7), mothers (M age  = 44.7), and adolescents (46.9% girls, M age  = 14.6) as target respondents, this study examined the patterns of dyadic interdependence in the relationships between socially prescribed parenting perfectionism and parental control (indexed by close monitoring and psychological control) using actor-partner interdependence model (APIM) analyses. Results indicated an actor-only pattern in the association of socially prescribed parenting perfectionism with paternal monitoring, and a couple pattern in the relationship between socially prescribed parenting perfectionism and maternal monitoring. However, the patterns of individual and inter-spousal relationships between socially prescribed parenting perfectionism and psychological control were indistinguishable between fathers and mothers. The findings lend support to the social expectations model and the anxious rearing model by illustrating positive associations of socially prescribed parenting perfectionism with parental monitoring and psychological control. The present study suggests that father-prescribed social expectations about parenting are critical in shaping parental control practice in Chinese contexts, which shed light on the development of Chinese socialization model and clinical practice to support Chinese parents in their parenting., (© 2022 Family Process Institute.)

The consequences of Serious Mental Illness (SMI) on parent and child outcomes can be profound. Supporting parents to manage their caregiving roles alongside parental SMI successfully has been recognised as a public health priority. To meet this priority and develop effective and acceptable interventions, it is imperative that parents' experiences and support needs are understood. This systematic review aimed to synthesise qualitative research that explored parents' experiences and perceptions of the impact of SMI on their parenting and their corresponding support needs. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis guidelines were followed. Five databases were searched for terms associated with SMI, parenting, and qualitative research. Twenty-nine studies involving 562 parents who experienced SMI met inclusion criteria, and the methodological quality of included studies was appraised using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme. After findings were synthesised using thematic synthesis, six themes were identified: (1) The constrained parent, (2) parenting difficulties, (3) the strained child, (4) inescapable threat, (5) combatting threat, and (6) wrap-around support needs. Novel insights into the centrality of SMI-related parenting difficulties and threat perceptions across parent, family, healthcare, and wider social systems on strained parent-child and distanced parent-support relationships were highlighted. Systemic practice change initiatives via compassionate and inclusive system-wide support were recommended., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Advancing gender equality and women's empowerment (GE/WE) may contribute to better child nutrition and development in low-resource settings. However, few empirical studies have generated evidence on GE/WE and examined the potential of engaging men to transform gender norms and power relations in the context of nutrition and parenting programs. We tested the independent and combined effects of engaging couples and bundling nutrition and parenting interventions on GE/WE in Mara, Tanzania. EFFECTS (ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03759821) was a cluster-randomized 2 × 2 factorial trial plus control. Eighty village clusters were randomly assigned to one of five intervention conditions: standard of care, mothers nutrition, couples nutrition, mothers bundled nutrition and parenting, or couples bundled nutrition and parenting. Between October 2018-May 2019, 960 households were enrolled with children under 18 months of age residing with their mother and father. Community health workers (CHWs) delivered a bi-weekly 24-session hybrid peer group/home visit gender-transformative behavior change program to either mothers or couples. GE/WE outcomes were analyzed as intention-to-treat and included time use, gender attitudes, social support, couples' communication frequency and quality, decision-making power, intimate partner violence (IPV), and women's dietary diversity (WDD). Data were collected from 957 to 815 mothers and 913 and 733 fathers at baseline and endline, respectively. Engaging couples compared to mothers only significantly increased paternal and maternal gender-equitable attitudes, paternal time spent on domestic chores, and maternal decision-making power. Bundling increased maternal leisure time, decreased maternal exposure to any IPV, and increased WDD over 7 days. A combination of engaging couples and bundling was most effective for paternal gender attitudes, couples communication frequency, and WDD over 24 h and 7 days. Our findings generate novel evidence that CHWs can deliver bundled nutrition and parenting interventions to couples in low-resource community settings that advance GE/WE more than nutrition interventions targeting only women., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Infancy is characterized by intensive parenting which may affect later child development. However, little is known about similarities and differences in maternal and paternal parenting behaviour, as the majority of the studies have mainly focused on mothers. The present study investigated similarities and differences in mothers' and fathers' parenting behaviour during parent-infant interaction in 56 mothers and 56 fathers of 3-months-old infants in a good-resourced sample. Parent-child interactions were videotaped and coded by the Global Rating Scales. Results suggested similar parenting behaviour in terms of maternal and paternal sensitivity, intrusiveness and remoteness. Moreover, regardless of sex infant's behaviour was similar during interactions with mothers and fathers. The low-risk and non-clinical nature of our sample may have had a positive influence on mother-child and father-child dyadic exchanges. These findings suggest including family system models in research and clinical practice., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest None of the authors have any conflict of interest or financial disclosures related to this work., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Screen media use starts in early childhood, despite recommendations to limit use. This study explored low-income Mexican American mothers' and fathers' beliefs, parenting practices, and perceived contextual contributors related to toddler screen use. We conducted interviews with 32 low-income Mexican American parents. Transcripts of audio recordings were analyzed to identify themes. Parents perceived numerous benefits to screen use, including learning and enjoyment, as well as seeing it as a helpful tool for parents. Reported risks included harmful mental and physical effects and a risk of use being all-consuming. Parents managed screen use with a variety of practices, including giving close attention to content, monitoring duration, and engaging in co-use. They also used screens for behavior management and in specific situations, such as to prepare for sleep. Some differences in beliefs and parenting practices exist by screen device type. Parents also reported that contextual factors, such as weather and neighborhood safety, influenced screen use. This study extends the current literature regarding child screen use, with its focus on low-income Mexican American toddlers. The findings offer interventionists and providers insight into the management of screens in the lives of this population.

Background: Few studies have examined how parenting influences the associations between prenatal maternal stress and children's mental health. The objectives of this study were to examine the sex-specific associations between prenatal maternal stress and child internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and to assess the moderating effects of parenting behaviors on these associations., Methods: This study is based on 15 963 mother-child dyads from the Norwegian Mother, Father, and Child Cohort Study (MoBa). A broad measure of prenatal maternal stress was constructed using 41 self-reported items measured during pregnancy. Three parenting behaviors (positive parenting, inconsistent discipline, and positive involvement) were assessed by maternal report at child age 5 years. Child symptoms of internalizing and externalizing disorders (depression, anxiety, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, and oppositional-defiant disorder) were assessed by maternal report at age 8. Analyses were conducted using structural equation modeling techniques., Results: Prenatal maternal stress was associated with child internalizing and externalizing symptoms at age 8; associations with externalizing symptoms differed by sex. Associations between prenatal maternal stress and child depression, and conduct disorder and oppositional-defiant disorder in males, became stronger as levels of inconsistent discipline increased. Associations between prenatal maternal stress and symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in females were attenuated as levels of parental involvement increased., Conclusions: This study confirms associations between prenatal maternal stress and children's mental health outcomes, and demonstrates that these associations may be modified by parenting behaviors. Parenting may represent an important intervention target for improving mental health outcomes in children exposed to prenatal stress.

Although infants' sleep behaviors are shaped by their interactions with parents at bedtime, few tools exist to capture parents' sleep parenting practices. This study developed a Sleep Parenting Scale for Infants (SPS-I) and aimed to (1) explore and validate its factorial structure, (2) examine its measurement invariance across mothers and fathers, and (3) investigate its reliability and concurrent and convergent validity. SPS-I was developed via a combination of items modified from existing scales and the development of novel items. Participants included 188 mothers and 152 mother-father dyads resulting in 340 mothers and 152 fathers; about half were non-Hispanic white. Mothers and fathers completed a 14-item SPS-I for their 12-month-old infant. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used to explore and validate SPS-I's underlying structure. Multigroup CFA was used to examine measurement invariance across mothers and fathers. Reliability was examined using Cronbach's alpha. Concurrent validity was assessed using linear regressions examining associations between SPS-I factors and parent-reported infants nighttime sleep duration. Convergent validity was assessed using paired-sample t -tests to test whether the SPS-I subscale scores were similar between mothers and fathers in the same household. EFA and CFA confirmed a 3-factor, 12-item model: sleep routines, sleep autonomy, and screen media in the sleep environment. SPS-I was invariant across mothers and fathers and was reliable. Concurrent and convergent validity were established. SPS-I has good psychometric properties, supporting its use for characterizing sleep routines, sleep autonomy, and screen media in the sleep environment by mothers and fathers.Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/08964289.2021.2002799 .

Objective: The previous study has shown the impact of paternal involvement in childcare on unintentional childhood injury; yet the causality is unknown. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the intervention of an educational video on paternal involvement in childcare can prevent unintentional injury among young children., Methods: A randomised controlled trial of parents of children born at two obstetrics wards in Japan (n=451, intervention group: 223, control group: 228) was conducted. Parents in the intervention group watched an educational video that promote paternal involvement in childcare, while parents in the control group watched an educational video on the prevention of shaken baby syndrome. The participants were followed for up to 18 months after the birth of their child. The primary outcome of this study was unintentional injury at 3, 6, 12 and 18 months. The secondary outcome was paternal involvement in childcare based on maternal observation. Unintentional injury-free rates over time were assessed using the Cox proportional hazard model., Results: Children in the intervention group were less likely to have unintentional injury, such as burn (HR: 0.29 (95% CI: 0.09 to 0.87)) and caught by a door (HR: 0.66 (95% CI: 0.48 to 0.91)) compared with the control group. Fathers in the intervention group showed higher frequency of taking their children for a walk (coefficient: 0.19 (95% CI: 0.05 to 0.32))., Conclusions: Educational videos promoting paternal involvement in childcare is effective to prevent unintentional childhood injury., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Fathers have an increasingly important role in the family and contribute through their sensitive responsiveness to positive child development. Research on parenting more often included fathers as caregivers in the past two decades. We present a neurobiological model of sensitive responsive parenting with a role for fathers' hormonal levels and neural connectivity and processing of infant signals. We tested this model in a research program ("Father Trials") with correlational and randomized experimental studies, and we review the results of these studies. So far, interaction-focused behavioral interventions seem most promising in supporting fathers' sensitive responsiveness, even though the mechanisms are still uncharted., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Although within- and between-family bidirectional associations between parental knowledge and children's externalizing behavior have been theoretically proposed, studies that unravel these associations simultaneously remain scarce. This study examined these bidirectional associations within and between German families. 3611 families participated across one-year intervals between children ages 8 to 15 (50.6% boys, 34.5% fathers, 89.0% German-born, M waves  = 3.63, SD waves  = 2.00). Random intercept cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPM) with linear slopes revealed negative between-family associations between parental knowledge and children's externalizing behavior, and a negative association between the random linear slopes. Generally, no within-family cross-lagged effects were found, but there were some correlated slopes across families. When teasing apart paternal and maternal knowledge, father-driven but not mother-driven lagged effects of increased knowledge predicting decreased externalizing behavior were found. The findings illustrate the importance of fathers' knowledge and new directions for within-family studies of parent-child interactions., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate an interaction-based prenatal parenting intervention program aimed at promoting parental sensitivity and involvement in expectant fathers using ultrasound images: Prenatal Video-Feedback Intervention to Promote Positive Parenting (VIPP-PRE)., Methods: In this randomized controlled trial, 73 first-time, healthy expectant fathers were enrolled. Participants were randomly assigned to the VIPP-PRE intervention (n = 39) or a dummy intervention (n = 34). Parental sensitivity was coded from video-recorded 10-min interactions with an infant simulator at a prenatal pretest and with fathers' own infant at a postnatal posttest. Prenatal and postnatal involvement was assessed via an application on participants' smartphones., Results: Fathers receiving VIPP-PRE demonstrated increased sensitivity across the perinatal period, relative to fathers receiving a dummy intervention. Fathers' involvement with the infant increased significantly from the prenatal to postnatal period, regardless of the intervention., Conclusions: Prenatal video-feedback using ultrasound imaging of the unborn child has the potential to promote the quality of parenting in an important, but understudied, population and period: men in the transition to fatherhood. Future research should examine the long-term effectiveness of VIPP-PRE and its effectiveness in increasing parenting quality in at-risk families., Impact: This study identifies a brief and focused prenatal intervention using assisted interactions between the father and his baby by means of ultrasound imaging as a promising strategy to improve sensitive fathering in the early postnatal phase. Our study shows that pregnancy provides a window of opportunity for promoting prenatal involvement and bonding in expectant fathers, with potential long-term benefits for the future father-child relationship. Ultrasound measures are currently used to monitor fetal growth and development, but our results suggest that they may also create an opportunity for stimulating father-infant interaction to promote postnatal caregiving quality., (© 2022. The Author(s).)