Explaining the long reach of prenatal behaviors and attitudes in unmarried men at birth on father engagement in early and middle childhood and adolescence.

The current study examined three research questions: (a) Are unmarried at birth fathers' prenatal and birth-related behavioral, attitudinal, and identity adjustments directly related to father engagement in child-related activities during early childhood and father-child closeness in middle childhood and adolescence? (b) Do father engagement in child-related activities during early childhood, coresidence, and coparenting at age 5 mediate the association between unmarried fathers' prenatal and birth-related variables and father-child relationship in middle childhood and adolescence? (c) Do father-child closeness, coresidence, and coparenting in middle childhood mediate the association between fathers' prenatal and birth-related variables and father-child relationship during adolescence? Using a subsample of Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing data (N = 2,647), we found support for our hypotheses that fathers' prenatal and birth-related variables significantly predicted father-child engagement during early childhood and father-child closeness during middle childhood and adolescence, although not all prenatal and birth-related variables are related to outcomes during each stage of childhood development. Father involvement and coparenting cooperation significantly mediated the associations among fathers' prenatal and birth-related variables and father-child closeness at ages 9 and 15. Our findings indicate that researchers, practitioners, and policymakers should take advantage of the prenatal period and direct resources to facilitate and strengthen prospective unmarried fathers' early relationships with their partners and children. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Challenging Parenting Behaviors in Ethnically Diverse Two-Parent Families in the United States: Association with Infants' Social Competence and Behavior Problems.

We used data from a sample of ethnically diverse first-time parents (N = 186) in the United States to examine differences between mothers' and fathers' challenging parenting behaviors (CPB) when infants were 9 months old as well as covariates of CPB. We also examined associations between CPB and infants' social competence and behavior problems when they were 12 months old. Results showed no differences between mothers and fathers in the level of CPB with their infants. Mothers with more depressive symptoms engaged in more CPB. Over and above the contributions of infants' gender and temperament and parents' education, mothers' and fathers' CPB was not associated with infants' social competence and behavior problems. This study expands our understanding of the universality of CPB and whether it is associated with social competence in ethnically diverse families.