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Father Involvement in Immigrant and Ethnically Diverse Families from the Prenatal Period to the Second Year: Prediction and Mediating Mechanisms

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Abstract

This longitudinal study focused on fathers’ involvement from the prenatal period through infants’ first year in Dominican immigrants (n = 73), Mexican immigrants (n = 65) and African Americans (n = 66) residing in New York City. Fathers’ prenatal involvement, the quality of the mother–father relationship, fathers’ postnatal involvement with their 1- and 6 month olds and fathers’ involvement with their 14 month-olds (i.e., time spent with infant; eating meals with infant; activities with infant) were examined. Father involvement was uniformly high and stable. Fathers’ prenatal involvement predicted involvement at 14 months, and the quality of the mother–father relationship mediated these associations. Father ethnicity and residency moderated associations between the father–mother relationship, father postnatal involvement and father involvement with 14 month olds.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Psychology, New York University, 239 Greene Street, 5th floor, New York, NY, 10003, USA

    Catherine S Tamis-LeMonda

  2. New York Institute of Technology, Northern Boulevard, Old Westbury, NY, 11568, USA

    Ronit Kahana-Kalman

  3. Harvard Graduate School of Education, 14 Appian Way, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA

    Hirokazu Yoshikawa

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  1. Catherine S Tamis-LeMonda
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  2. Ronit Kahana-Kalman
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  3. Hirokazu Yoshikawa
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Correspondence to Catherine S Tamis-LeMonda.

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Tamis-LeMonda, C.S., Kahana-Kalman, R. & Yoshikawa, H. Father Involvement in Immigrant and Ethnically Diverse Families from the Prenatal Period to the Second Year: Prediction and Mediating Mechanisms. Sex Roles 60, 496–509 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-009-9593-9

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