Protective and risk factors associated with involved fatherhood in a traditional culture

Abstract

Objective: Consistent with ecological systems theory and the heuristic model of parental behavior dynamics, the current study is focused on both individual and contextual factors that determine fatherhood involvement in the context of a traditional patriarchal culture. Background: Father-child interaction during the early childhood period is a salient factor in predicting later child outcomes. However, studies on antecedents of involved fatherhood are scarce, mostly concentrated on one aspect of fathering behavior, and limited to few cultural contexts. Method: Data were collected from a representative urban sample of fathers of preschoolers in Turkey (N = 1,070). Different components of fatherhood involvement were assessed to project three distinct paternal behavior dimensions as care, affection, and control. Results: Father role satisfaction, psychological value attributed to the child, and perceived family support were positively associated with involved fatherhood and higher parental warmth. Working hours per day was negatively associated with involved fatherhood, as expected. Higher life satisfaction was associated with higher positive parenting. Patriarchal views of masculinity were found to be the main predictor of parental physical punishment, controlling for all other predictors in the model. Conclusion: Study findings emphasized the importance of factors other than parenting skills that contribute to fathers' parental effectiveness. Implications: Our study's findings have implications for family practices and policies. For example, besides parenting skills, father support programs should also focus on other factors such as developing awareness of traditional masculinity norms and gender role prescriptions that can harm democratic family environments and childcare practices.