Attitude Difference between Fathers and Mothers toward Fathers Involvement in Child Rearing Activities among Couples with 0-12 Months Old Babies. Community based Study in a Primary Health Care Setting

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Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 190 ( 2015 ) 92 – 96

Peer-review under responsibility of Academic World Research and Education Center. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.04.921

ScienceDirect

2nd GLOBAL CONFERENCE on PSYCHOLOGY RESEARCHES, 28-29, November 2014

Attitude difference between fathers and mothers toward fathers

involvement in child rearing activities among couples with 0-12

months old babies. Community based study in a primary health care

setting

Mita Puspita Sary

a

*, Sherly Saragih Turnip

a

a_{Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Indonesia, Kampus Baru UI, Depok 16424, Indonesia}

Abstract

Parents need to be active in child rearing activities from the beginning of the baby’s life. So far, child rearing activities are more related to mothers rather than fathers. That is why fathers are not involved in baby rearing activities. Many factors influence father involvement in child rearing activities, one of these factors is the mother's attitude toward father involvement. This research will investigate the differences of attitude between fathers and mothers toward father involvement in child rearing activities among couples with 0-12 month old babies. This is a community based study and data were collected in a primary health care setting. There are 102 data pairs of fathers and mothers. Results indicated that fathers’ attitude toward child rearing is significantly influenced by their spouses’ attitude. It means if mothers have a positive attitude toward father involvement, fathers will also have a positive attitude. And if mothers have a negative attitude toward father’s involvement in child rearing activities, fathers will have a negative attitude. This research also found that mothers had a more positive attitude toward father involvement rather than father. The reason why fathers have lower attitude compared to mothers is because of their lack of confidence and lack of positive feedback in child rearing activities. Higher involvement in child rearing among fathers should be encouraged through their spouses.

Peer-review under responsibility of Academic World Research and Education Center. Keywords: Father Involvement, Child Rearing Activities, Primary Health Care Setting

* Mita Puspita Sary. Tel.:+4-345-434-342. E-mail address: [email protected]

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1. Introduction

Parents have responsibility to taking care of their children since the beginning of children’s life. However, in some communities, responsibility to rearing children is only associated with mothers, especially on children’s first year of life (Deutsch, 2001). Father role in parenting is considered unusual, therefore father only a substitute if the mother is not present (Deutsch, 2001). Furthermore, father recognized as a forgotten contributor in child development (Lamb, Grossman et al, 2002).

Father involvement in child rearing activities indeed has a positive impact on child development. Children become easygoing (Dagun, 2002) and more obedient towards rule than other kids whom the father is not present (Hoffman, 1971; Dagun 2002). Moreover, father involvement also has a positive impact on mothers. A father who helps mothers toward child rearing activities tend to be a good friend for mother and committed to fulfill a mother’s need (Belsky et al, 1995; Seifert & Hoffnung, 1997). On the other hand by showing cooperation on parenting, father will have a good quality time with mother (Belsky et al, 1995; Seifert & Hoffnung, 1997).

Positive effects of father involvement promote a new perspective of father role. Consequently, a concept of a good father is a father who involves in child rearing activities (Lupton & Barclay, 1997; Deutsch 2001). A Father who can share a responsibility with mother by providing, protecting and caregiving also considered as a good father (Furstenberg, 1988; Marsiglio, 1995; Pleck & Pleck, 1997; Fox et al., 2000). These new perspectives of father influence a new form of cooperation in the family especially on rearing children (Ehrenberg et al., 2001). Cooperation on child rearing activities in fact have a positive effect on children. Good cooperation between parents by showing positive interaction will influence children to have secure attachments to their parent (Caldera & Lindsey, 2006).

Cooperation on child rearing activities is an ideal image of parenting, nevertheless it is difficult to implement. For instance, cooperation is harder when mother believes that mother are more capable to rearing a child than the father (Boivin et al., 2005; Gilmore & Cuskelly, 2009; Tremblay and Pierce, 2011). Another theory from Lamb (1986; Beitel & Parke, 1998) stated that mother has gatekeeping role, which mother determine to accommodate or to prevent father to involve in child rearing activities. Although there are several theories concerning about father and mother’s attitude toward father involvement, the explanation about these relationships have not been comprehensively tested, especially in Indonesia.

This present study focus on the question of whether there is an attitude difference between fathers and mothers toward fathers’ involvement in child rearing activities among couples with 0-12 months old babies. Furthermore, this study will explore more about fathers and mothers’s attitude toward several child rearing activities during children’s first year of life. The primary hypothesis examined in this study was there is a significant difference on fathers and mothers attitude towards fathers’ involvement in child rearing activities. This research will enrich literature about father involvement in Indonesia. Moreover, intervention from this study will promote awareness and knowledge about father involvement in Indonesia.

2. Methods

2.1. Participant

The participants in the study were 102 married couples with 0-12 months baby. The Participant was recruited in primary health care (Puskesmas) in South Jakarta. The data collected by incidental sampling method because there are no exact data regarding patient who come to primary health care. There were 46 baby boys and 57 baby girls from 1 to 11 months of age (M = 4.25 months). 41 of the babies in the study were firstborns, the remaining had one or more siblings. There were 93 mothers and 89 fathers on young adulthood stage (21-40 years old). Most of the participants’ background of education was in secondary education. 87 mothers were housewives and the remaining were working.

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2.2. Measure

Family demographics. Mothers and fathers completed a demographic questionnaire designed to obtain information namely age, education background, employment, and baby’s age.

KAP (Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice) Questionnaire. Parent, both father and mother, completed KAP Questionnaire to assess father involvement in family based on three sections: knowledge, attitude, and practice. This questionnaire was made based on father involvement theory by Pleck (2010). There are five components: positive engagement activities, warmth and responsiveness, control, indirect care and process responsibility. There are 15 statements in each section that contain father involvement component. In this particular research, attitude questionnaire was used as a research instrument. Scores for each section are different. Attitude questionnaire, which used as the primary instrument, used 4-point Likert-type scale, ranging from Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, and Strongly Disagree. The knowledge questionnaire used true and false. Next, practice questionnaire used 4 point Likert-type scale, ranging from Always, Sometimes, Rarely, Never.

Table 1. Example statement on attitude questionnaire for father

No. Attitude Component

1. Parent do not have to talk with their babies _{because they are not understand.} Positive Engagement 2. It is important to father to know _{breastfeeding schedule of their babies} Control

3. In early months, babies feel comfortable _{when their father carrying them.} Warmth and _{responsiveness}

3. Result

Almost all participants, both mothers and fathers, have similar background especially age and educational background. Most of the mothers (87,25%) and father (91,17%) participants are between 21-40 years old. Furthermore, both fathers and mothers were obtaining secondary education (junior high school and senior high school) for 63,72% and 60,78% respectively. All of the fathers have an occupation that makes them as breadwinners in the family. In contrast, most of the mothers (85,29%) are full time housewives. It shows that mothers have more time with their children compare it with their husband.

Table 2. Background of fathers and mothers

Component Father Mother

Age 21-40 years old (87,25%) 21-40 years old (91,17%)

Education Secondary Education

(63,72%) (60,78%) Secondary Education

Occupation Full Time Housewives

(85,29%)

A dependent samples t-test was conducted to compare between fathers and mothers’ attitude toward father involvement. The result revealed that there was a significant difference in score between mothers (M = 46.85, SD = 4.040) and fathers (M = 45.83, SD = 4.631), t (101) = 2.02, p = .046, p <.05 (two-tailed). Hence, the null hypothesis was rejected because there was a difference between fathers and mothers’ attitude toward father involvement. From the analyses showed that mothers have a more positive attitude toward father involvement than fathers. The effect size value for this analysis is d = .23 showed that there was a small effect size between the distributions.

Extended analyses between father’s knowledge on child rearing with fathers attitude toward father involvement has been done and it showed that r = .05, n = 99, p = .62 (two-tailed). The findings suggest that father’s knowledge did not correlate with father’s attitude toward father involvement

Furthermore, Father has several child rearing activities which perceived as positive by the father. For instance: knowing children’s disease, accompany mother and child to the doctor and play with children. However, there are also several activities that father perceived it negative. Namely, holding the baby on their first month and tapping baby’s back after breastfeeding.

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4. Discussion

Previous research showed that mother’s perception on paternal role is a good predictor to see father involvement in child rearing activities (Mcbride & Rane, 1997; Mcbride et al., 2005). One of the reasons is because the mother has a role as a gatekeeper, the mother determines if the father can involve in child rearing activities or not. In this present study, mother has more positive attitude toward father involvement than father. Apparently, these finding are natural attitude regarding that most of the father not confidence in their ability toward child rearing activities (Bornstein, 1988; Wille, 1995). Lack of confidence on father possibly happen because of lack of experience in child care and lack of positive feedback on child rearing activities by the mother (Bronstein, 1988; Wille, 1995). In addition, mother has direct impact to father involvement in child rearing activities (Hoffman, n.d.).

Additional findings showed that there is no correlation between father’s attitudes toward father’s involvement with father’s knowledge on child rearing. Father’s source of information about child care is the mother (Hoffman, n.d.). Therefore, mother’s feedback on father involvement is significant to father. Father have a positive attitude toward several child rearing activities as well. These activities will help father to more involve in child care as well as in child rearing activities. Namely, take a child to the doctor and play with children could promote father involvement in child rearing activities. There are also several activities which have a negative perception by father as well. Carrying baby in their first months is one of the activities that father perceives it negative.

Taking children to the doctor was child rearing activities which categorized by control component of Pleck theoy (2010). Fathers were also have a positive attitude toward playing activities which categorized by positive engagement activities (Pleck, 2010). These findings were linear with the previous notion which suggest that father more related on playing with their children (Lamb, 1977; Martin & Colbert, 1997). Nevertheless, there were also child rearing activities which perceived negative by the father. Carrying baby in the first month was a caregiving task which associated with mother task (Lamb, 1977; Martin & Colbert, 1997).

The limitation of this present study was the sample is only from one primary health care. Hence, the participant could be not representative to Indonesia families. Consequently, different findings might appear if the study is situated in a private hospital or health care in other cities in Indonesia. Further study in different sample need to be done to have a better understanding regarding this issue.

Second, there were no data about baby’s condition to measure whether father involvement correlate with baby’s development. Unfortunately, primary health care did not provide the data about baby’s development comprehensively. Future research with baby’s condition variable will enrich the analysis about the association between father involvement and baby development.

The advantage of this study showed an actual image about parenting in South Jakarta community. Moreover, data from both mother and father give more accurate perception about parenting in the family. With this study, intervention to encourage mothers to believe of their husband competencies in handling the baby and give positive feedback to husband could be made to promote father involvement.

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