the role of fathers in child cohorts experiences from relevant cohort studies in germany prof. dr....
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The role of fathers in child cohorts
Experiences from relevant cohort studies in Germany
Prof. Dr. Bernhard Kalicki
State Institute of Early Childhood Research (IFP) Munich, Germany
Topics and trends of our fatherhood research
1 The Impact of the Transition to Fatherhood on the Marital Relationship
2 Effects of Fathers on their Children:Outlines of a Child Cohort Study
1 The Impact of the Transition to Fatherhood on the Marital Relationship
T1
Preg-nancy
T2
8 Weeks T3
4 Months
T4
1 ½ Years
T5
3 Years
T6
4 ¼ Years
T7
5 ½ Years
T8
7 Years
T9
9 Years
N
First Child
91
SecondChild
84
T1: N = 175 parental couples
T9: N = 109 complete data sets
Increase of Conflict
First Child Second Child
0
2
4
6
8
T1 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8 T9 T1 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8 T9
Women
Men
Decline of Positive Communication
First Child Second Child
14
16
18
20
22
24
T1 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8 T9 T1 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8 T9
Women
Men
Decline of Intimacy & Sexuality
First Child Second Child
12
14
16
18
20
22
T1 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8 T9 T1 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8 T9
Women
Men
0
10
20
30
40
50
Men Women Men Women
before
18 months
3 years
Hoursper
Week
Berufstätigkeit von Frauen und Männern vor und nach der Geburt
Labour-force Participation of Women and Menbefore and after childbirth
First Child Second Child
0
10
20
30
40
50
Men beforeWomen before
First Child Fathers after 3 YearsFirst Child Mothers after 3 Years
Second Child Mothers after 3 Years
Relocation of Income
Personal Net-Income (DM per month)
%
Verteilung der Hausarbeit bei Ersteltern
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Participation of Women Participation of Men
Pregnancy
after 4 Months
after 18 Months
after 3 Years
Relocation of Homework(First Child Group)
Changes of Life Situation
Dissatisfaction with one‘s Situation
• Dissatisfaction with … - Occupational Status, Job, Income - Distribution of Homework, Child-care - Parental Role (‚parenting stress‘)
Changes of Life Situation
Dissatisfaction with one‘s Situation
Dyadic Coordination
Individual Adaptation
• Allocation of Roles• Commensurability of
Costs and Benefits• Procedural Norms for Fairness
• Role-Preferences & Life Plans• Expectations• Role-Competence
Changes of Life Situation
Impairment of Marital Interaction
Decline in Marital Satisfaction
Dissatisfaction with one‘s Situation
Constructive/Destructive Conflict
• Condition & Mood• Occasions (time & place)• Postponing other Tasks
• Increase of Conflict• Decline of Positive Communication• Decline of Intimacy & Sexuality
• Rising of Discrepancies in one‘s Partner Concept
Changes of Life Situation
Impairment of Marital Interaction
Decline in Marital Satisfaction
Dissatisfaction with one‘s Situation
Attribution of perceived Changes
• Critical vs. Benevolent Attribution
• Similarity of Life Situations• Perspective-Taking
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
low high
Frequency of Negative Partner Behaviour
Dissatisfaction with one'sPartner
Subjective Attribution determines Impact of Negative Partner Behaviour
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
low high
Frequency of Negative Partner Behaviour
Dissatisfactionwith one'sPartner
Subjective Attribution determines Impact of Negative Partner Behaviour
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
low high
Frequency of Negative Partner Behaviour
Dissatisfactionwith one's Partner
Subjective Attribution determines Impact of Negative Partner Behaviour
Changes of Life Situation
Impairment of Marital Interaction
Decline in Marital Satisfaction
Dissatisfaction with one‘s Situation
Attribution of perceived Changes
Conflict Behaviour
Dyadic Coordination
Individual Adaptation
Transition to Fatherhood
Summary and Discussion
1. The birth of the first child triggers a relocation of roles according to traditional gender-roles.
2. Emerging dissatisfaction with one‘s life situation typically leads to lower marital quality.
3. Fathers experience these changes in gender-specific ways.
4. Nevertheless the underlying processes can be explained using general psychological theories.
2 Maintaining Self-esteem during
the Transition to Fatherhood
Contradictory Evidenceand Four Hypotheses
Decline of Marital Quality (PFB total score)
First Child Second Child
50
55
60
65
70
T1 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8 T9 T1 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8 T9
Women
Men
Stability/Increase of Self-Esteem(‚Positivity‘ of Real Self)
First Child Second Child
145
150
155
160
165
170
T1 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8 T9 T1 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8 T9
Women
Men
Stability/Decrease of Self-Discrepancy(Real-Ideal Discrepancies in Self-Concept)
First Child Second Child
30
35
40
45
50
T1 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8 T9 T1 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8 T9
Women
Men
Four Hypotheses
H1: The coping style of Flexible Goal Adjustment protects the person‘s self-esteem against the negative implications of the deterioration of the marital relationship.
(Brandtstaedter & Greve 1994, Brandtstaedter, Wentura & Rothermund 1999)
Four Hypotheses
H2: For men, high job satisfaction buffers the negative implications of a declining marital quality on their self-esteem.
H3: For women, high satisfaction within the maternal role buffers the negative implications of a declining marital quality on their self-esteem.
(Greenberger & O‘Neil 1993)
Four Hypotheses
H4: An initially positive attitude towards pregnancy/parenthood serves as a protective factor for the self-esteem given the deterioration of the marital relationship.
Flexibility of Goal Adjustment (FGA) buffers the Impact of Declining Marital Quality
on Self-Esteem of Men
-30
-20
-10
0
10
20
30
40
50
-45 25
M-SDMM+SD
Increase of Martial QualityDecrease of Marital Quality
Decrease of Self-Discrepancy
ΔT1-T9:Increase of Self-Discrepancyof Men
High Job Satisfaction buffers the Impact of low Marital Quality
on Self-Esteem of Men
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
25 81
M-SDMM+SD
Marital Quality (T8)
Self-Discrepancy(T8)
High Frustration in the Maternal Role boosts the Impact of low Marital Quality
on Self-Esteem of Women
20
30
40
50
60
70
24 84
M-SDMM+SD
Marital Quality (T6)
Self-Discrepancy(T6)
Positive Attitude towards Pregnancyboosts the Impact of declining Marital Quality
on Self-Esteem of Men
-20
-10
0
10
20
30
40
-45 25
M-SDMM+SD
Increase of Marital QualityDecrease of Marital Quality
ΔT1-T9:Increase of Self-Discrepancy
Decrease of Self-Discrepancy
Summary and Discussion
1. Various protective mechanisms contribute to the maintainance of self-esteem given the decline of marital quality.
2. These processes are highly gender-specific.
3. Very positive attitudes of becoming fathers towards pregnancy and the forthcoming parenthood are risky given the typical course of marital quality.
3 Effects of fathers onchild outcomes:Outlines of a cohort study
Child Cohort Study
• multi-center study (7 research groups)
• inspired by the NICHD study on Child Care
• Timeline: 2009-2012 (data collection: Feb-Jul/2010)
• Main Questions:
- Effects of Type, Quantity & Quality of Care experienced during Early Childhood on Child Development
- Interplay of Care inside & outside the Family
Fathers in the NUBBEK child cohort study
• Observation & Teacher Interview (daycare setting)
• Family Interview and Testing of Child (family)
• Measures of Fathering:
- Quantity & Quality of Care
- Educational Beliefs & Goals
- Personality (Big Five)
- Life Satisfaction (domain-specific)
- Marital Quality