Fathering behavior, attachment, and engagement in childcare predict testosterone and cortisol.

The present study examined testosterone (T) and cortisol (Cort) in fathers engaged with caregiving. We collected saliva samples in the mornings and evenings of two consecutive days in 150 fathers of 1- to 5-year-old children. Fathers completed questionnaires on socioeconomic status, family structure and life, sleep characteristics and body mass index (BMI), and reported on their engagement in childcare. Fathers used smartphone-based experience sampling throughout 1 week to sample ongoing activities with their children, including times of supervision, joint play, rough-and-tumble play, and cuddling episodes. External observers rated father-child attachment during a home visit. We began by testing for widely characterized covariates of T and excluded seasonal variations and known predictors associated with lowered T, such as older fathers and those with multiple and young children, lower BMI, shorter sleep duration, and sexual activity before sampling. Most interestingly, however, fathers' engagement in childcare and attachment to the child appeared more pronounced the greater the diurnal decline in T. Cuddling predicted a similar negative association, whereas joint play and rough-and-tumble play (RTP) showed enhancing effects on declining T. Interestingly, all fathering behaviors (except RTP) were positively related to lower Cort. In contrast, supervision was ineffective on both Cort and T.

How fathers' attachment security and education contribute to early child language skills above and beyond mothers: parent-child conversation under scrutiny.

Attachment (AQS) of 100 children aged 12 to 24 months was observed, with more than half of the fathers (and mothers) representing higher social status. Children's language comprehension and production were measured using the Bayley Scales for receptive (RLS) and expressive language skills (ELS). Spontaneous book reading conversations in father-child and mother-child dyads were coded from videotapes, capturing five modes of conversation derived from research on dialogic reading. Path modelling examined the association of these modes on children's RLS and ELS in concurrence with parental attachment and education. First time, significant effects of father-child attachment security on children's RLS were revealed (and confirmed for mother-child dyads). Fathers' impact on child language skills could be further explained through modes which inquire and imitate child responses which were related to RLS and ELS, respectively. Although mothers' modes of conversation were associated with the mother-child attachment relationship, the father-child conversations were not so but instead were associated with the father's educational background.

FATHER-CHILD PLAY DURING THE PRESCHOOL YEARS AND CHILD INTERNALIZING BEHAVIORS: BETWEEN ROBUSTNESS AND VULNERABILITY.

Play observations with a total of 400 toddlers and preschoolers were videotaped and rated for Intensity and Quality of play with their parents. Parents were asked about perceived stress and personality characteristics (Big 5). Child's motor, cognitive skills, temperament, and internalizing behaviors were assessed. Study 1 investigated the robustness of play across child age and gender, and examined differences between fathers and mothers. Study 2 explored the vulnerability of play with fathers of children born preterm (PT-fathers) and fathers who had experienced adverse childhoods (AC-fathers). Study 3 investigated child internalizing behaviors. Intensity of play was maintained almost independently of child age and gender. It was similar for AC- and PT-fathers, and similar to maternal Intensity. In contrast, paternal Quality of play was higher with boys and independent of fathers' personality and perceived parenting stress whereas maternal Quality of play was higher with girls and linked to mothers' perceived parenting competence, acceptability of the child, and neuroticism. AC-fathers scored significantly low on Quality, as did PT-fathers, but the Quality of their play became better with growing child age, birth weight, and cognitive (but not motor and temperament) scores. Finally, child internalizing behaviors were negatively related to paternal Quality of play.