Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Williamson, Hannah C.
• Chen, Po-Heng
• Lavner, Justin A.
• Cuijpers, Pim

Titel

Enhancing Fathers' Parenting Through Strengthening Couple Functioning: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Low-Income Couples

Ist Teil von

• Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 2023-01, Vol.91 (1), p.43-49

Ort / Verlag

United States: American Psychological Association

Erscheinungsjahr

2023

Quelle

Applied Social Sciences Index & Abstracts (ASSIA)

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Objective: High levels of father engagement are associated with better outcomes for children across a number of domains. Correlational evidence suggests that the quality of the romantic relationship between parents plays a strong role in the extent to which fathers are meaningfully involved with their children, but existing literature cannot address whether this link is causal. To address this gap, the present study leveraged data from a randomized controlled trial of a couple-focused relationship education program for low-income couples to examine whether intervention-induced improvements in couple functioning led to better fathering outcomes. Method: Data were drawn from the Supporting Healthy Marriages study, in which 6,298 low-income, married couples with children were randomized to an intervention or control condition. Couple relationship functioning was assessed 12-months postrandomization, and fathering behavior across four dimensions (involvement, warmth, responsiveness, and monitoring) was assessed 30-months postrandomization. Results: Structural equation models revealed that the intervention had a significant direct effect on fathers' and mothers' couple functioning, but did not have a significant direct effect on fathering outcomes. However, the intervention did have a significant indirect effect on fathering outcomes through fathers' ratings of couple functioning, such that the intervention was associated with small positive indirect effects on fathers' involvement, warmth, responsiveness, and monitoring. Conclusions: Intervention-derived improvements in the couple relationship led to improvements in father engagement, supporting a causal association between these variables. Couple-focused interventions may be a viable option to enhance couple functioning and (indirectly) fathers' parenting among families living with low incomes. What is the public health significance of this article? Children who have meaningful involvement from their fathers have better outcomes across multiple areas of their life, including better social behavior, academic achievement, cognitive development, and self-esteem. These findings from a randomized controlled trial of low-income married couples with children indicate that fathers' parenting can be enhanced by improving couple functioning, suggesting that strengthening the quality of parents' romantic relationship may be a viable path to enhancing fathers' engagement with their children.