Do early father–infant interactions predict the onset of externalising behaviours in young children? Findings from a longitudinal cohort study

Abstract

Background: Factors related to parents and parenting capacities are important predictors of the development of behavioural problems in children. Recently, there has been an increasing research focus in this field on the earliest years of life, however, relatively few studies have addressed the role of fathers, despite this appearing to be particularly pertinent to child behavioural development. This study aimed to examine whether father–infant interactions at age 3 months independently predicted child behavioural problems at 1 year of age. Method: A sample of 192 families was recruited from two maternity units in the United Kingdom. Father–infant interactions were assessed in the family home and coded using the Global Rating Scales. Child behaviour problems were assessed by maternal report. Hierarchical and logistic regression analyses were used to examine associations between father–infant interaction and the development of behavioural problems. Results: Disengaged and remote interactions between fathers and their infants were found to predict externalising behavioural problems at the age of 1 year. The children of the most disengaged fathers had an increased risk of developing early externalising behavioural problems [disengaged (nonintrusive) interactions – adjusted Odds Ratio 5.33 (95% Confidence Interval; 1.39, 20.40): remote interactions adj. OR 3.32 (0.92, 12.05)] Conclusions: Disengaged interactions of fathers with their infants, as early as the third month of life, predict early behavioural problems in children. These interactions may be critical factors to address, from a very early age in the child’s life, and offer a potential opportunity for preventive intervention.

Shown for reading. Its publisher allows quoting it, not republishing it.

References 47

1. 1.

   Achenbach T, Rescorla L. Manual for the ASEBA preschool forms & profiles. 2000.

   Not in our library

2. 2.

   Alink LR, Mesman J, van Zeijl J, Stolk MN, Juffer F, Koot HM, van Ijzendoorn MH. The early childhood aggression curve: Development of physical aggression in 10- to 50-month-old children. Child Development. 2006;77:954-966.

   Not in our library10.1111/j.1467-8624.2006.00912.x

3. 3.

   Amato P, Rivera F. Paternal involvement and children’s behaviour problems. Journal of Marriage and Family. 1999;61:375-384.

   Not in our library

4. 4.

   Bateson P, Barker D, Clutton-Brock T, Deb D, D’Udine B, Foley RA, Sultan SE. Developmental plasticity and human health. Nature. 2004;430:419-421.

   Not in our library10.1038/nature02725

5. 5.

   Campbell S. Behaviour problems in preschool children: A review of recent research. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 1995;36:113-149.

   Not in our library10.1111/j.1469-7610.1995.tb01657.x

6. 6.

   Caspi A, Moffitt TE, Newman DL, Silva PA. Behavioral observations at age 3 years predict adult psychiatric disorders. Archives General Psychiatry. 1996;53:1033-1039.

   Not in our library10.1001/archpsyc.1996.01830110071009

7. 7.

   Cox JL, Holden JM, Sagovsky R. Detection of postnatal depression. Development of the 10-item Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. British Journal of Psychiatry. 1987;150:782-786.

   Not in our library10.1192/bjp.150.6.782

8. 8.

   DeKlyen M, Biernbaum M, Speltz L, Greenberg M. Fathers and preschool behaviour problems. Developmental Psychology. 1998;34:264-275.

   Not in our library10.1037//0012-1649.34.2.264

9. 9.

   DeKlyen M, Speltz L, Greenberg M. Fathering and early onset conduct problems: Positive and negative parenting, father-son attachment, and the marital context. Clinical Child and Family Psychological Review. 1998;1:3-21.

   Not in our library10.1023/a:1021844214633

10. 10.
    Depression in fathers in the postnatal period: Assessment of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale as a screening measure · 2010

    No notice
11. 11.

    Egger H, Angold A. Common emotional and behavioral disorders in preschool children: Presentation, nosology, and epidemiology. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 1996;47:313-337.

    Not in our library10.1111/j.1469-7610.2006.01618.x

12. 12.

    Fergusson DM, Boden JM, Horwood LJ. Tests of causal links between alcohol abuse or dependence and major depression. Archives of General Psychiatry. 2009;66:260-266.

    Not in our library10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2008.543

13. 13.

    Flouri E, Buchanan A. Early father’s and mother’s involvement and child’s later educational outcomes. British Journal of Educational Psychology. 2004;74:141-153.

    Not in our library10.1348/000709904773839806

14. 14.

    Gardner F, Dishion T, Shaw D, Burton J. Randomized prevention trial for early conduct problems: Effects on proactive parenting and links to toddler disruptive behaviour. Journal of Family Psychology. 2007;21:398-406.

    Not in our library10.1037/0893-3200.21.3.398

15. 15.

    Glover V. Annual research review: Prenatal stress and the origins of psychopathology: an evolutionary perspective. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 2011;52:356-367.

    Not in our library10.1111/j.1469-7610.2011.02371.x

16. 16.

    Goodman R, Scott S. Comparing the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and the Child Behavior Checklist: Is small beautiful? Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology. 1999;27:17-24.

    Not in our library10.1023/a:1022658222914

17. 17.

    Grossman KE, Grossman K, Fremmer-Bombik E, Kindler H, Scheuerer-Englisch H, Zimmerman P. The uniqueness of the child-father attachment relationship: Fathers’ sensitive and challenging play as pivotal variable in a 16-year longitudinal study. Social Development. 2002;11:307-331.

    Not in our library

18. 18.

    Gunning M, Conroy S, Valoriani V, Figueiredo B, Kammerer MH, Muzik M, … & TCS-PND Group. Measurement of mother-infant interactions and the home environment in a European setting: Preliminary results from a cross-cultural study. British Journal of Psychiatry Supplement. 2004;46:s38-s44.

    Not in our library10.1192/bjp.184.46.s38

19. 19.

    Jaffee S, Moffitt TE, Caspi A, Taylor A. Life with (or without) father: The benefits of living with two biological parents depend on the father’s antisocial behavior. Child Development. 2003;74:109-126.

    Not in our library10.1111/1467-8624.t01-1-00524

20. 20.

    Lamb ME, Pleck JH, Charnov EL, Levine JA. Paternal behaviour in humans. American Zoologist. 1985;25:883-894.

    Not in our library

21. 21.

    Lewis C, Lamb M. Fathers’ influences on children’s development: The evidence from two-parent families. European Journal of Psychology of Education. 2003;XVIII:211-228.

    Not in our library

22. 22.

    Lewis C, Lamb M. Fatherhood: Connecting the strands of diversity across time and space. 2006.

    Not in our library

23. 23.

    Loeber R, Burke J, Pardini D. Perspectives on oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, and psychopathic features. The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 2009;50:133-142.

    Not in our library10.1111/j.1469-7610.2008.02011.x

24. 24.

    Martin J. A longitudinal study of the consequences of early mother-infant interaction: A microanalytic approach. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development. 1981;46.

    Not in our library

25. 25.

    Matthey S, Barnett B, Kavanagh DJ, Howie P. Validation of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale for men, and comparison of item endorsement with their partners. Journal of Affective Disorders. 2001;64:175-184.

    Not in our library10.1016/s0165-0327(00)00236-6

26. 26.

    Miner J, Clarke-Stewart K. Trajectories of externalizing behaviour from age 2 to age 9: Relations with gender, temperament, ethnicity, parenting and rater. Developmental Psychology. 2008;44:771-786.

    Not in our library10.1037/0012-1649.44.3.771

27. 27.

    Moffitt T, Scott S, Rutter M, Bishop D, Pine D, Scott S, Stevenson J, Taylor E, Thaper A. Conduct disorders of childhood and adolescence. Rutter’s child and adolescent psychiatry. 2008;543-564.

    Not in our library

28. 28.

    Murray L, Fiori-Cowley A, Hooper R, Cooper P. The impact of postnatal depression and associated adversity on early mother-infant interactions and later infant outcome. Child Development. 1996;67:2512-2526.

    Not in our library

29. 29.

    Murray L, Hipwell A, Hooper R, Stein A, Cooper P. The cognitive development of 5-year-old children of postnatally depressed mothers. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 1996;37:927-935.

    Not in our library10.1111/j.1469-7610.1996.tb01490.x

30. 30.

    Nagin D, Tremblay R. Trajectories of boys’ physical aggression, opposition, and hyperactivity on the path to physically violent and nonviolent juvenile delinquency. Child Development. 1999;70:1181-1196.

    Not in our library10.1111/1467-8624.00086

31. 31.

    Owens EB, Shaw DS. Predicting growth curves of externalizing behavior across the preschool years. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology. 2003;31:575-590.

    Not in our library10.1023/a:1026254005632

32. 32.

    Paulson JF, Dauber S, Leiferman JA. Individual and combined effects of postpartum depression in mothers and fathers on parenting behavior. Pediatrics. 2006;118:659-668.

    Not in our library10.1542/peds.2005-2948

33. 33.

    Petitclerc A, Tremblay R. Childhood disruptive behaviour disorders: review of their origin, development, and prevention. La Revue Canadienne de Psychiatrie. 2009;54:222-231.

    Not in our library10.1177/070674370905400403

34. 34.

    Pleck JH, Lamb M. Paternal involvement: Revised conceptualization and theoretical linkages with child outcomes. The role of the father in child development. 2010;58-93.

    Not in our library

35. 35.
    Paternal depression: an examination of its links with father, child and family functioning in the postnatal period · 2011

    No notice
36. 36.

    Ramchandani P, Stein A, Evans J, O’Connor T. Paternal depression in the postnatal period and child development: A prospective population study. The Lancet. 2005;365:2201-2205.

    Not in our library10.1016/s0140-6736(05)66778-5

37. 37.

    Rothbaum F, Weiss JR. Parental caregiving and child externalizing behavior in non-clinical samples: a meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin. 1984;116:55-74.

    Not in our library10.1037/0033-2909.116.1.55

38. 38.

    Sarkadi A, Kristiansson R, Oberklaid F, Bremberg S. Fathers’ involvement and children’s developmental outcomes: A systematic review of longitudinal studies. Acta Paediatrica. 2008;97:153-158.

    Not in our library10.1111/j.1651-2227.2007.00572.x

39. 39.

    Schoppe-Sullivan SJ, Brown GL, Cannon EA, Mangelsdorf SC, Sokolowski MS. Maternal gatekeeping, coparenting quality, and fathering behavior in families with infants. Journal of Family Psychology. 2008;22:389-398.

    Not in our library10.1037/0893-3200.22.3.389

40. 40.

    Scott S, Knapp M, Henderson J, Maughan B. Financial cost of social exclusion: Follow up study of antisocial children into adulthood. British Medical Journal. 2001;323:191-194.

    Not in our library10.1136/bmj.323.7306.191

Cited by papers we hold 3

• Mental health and wellbeing during the transition to fatherhood: a systematic review of first time fathers’ experiences · 2018
  No notice
• Longitudinal Associations Between Parental Bonding, Parenting Stress, and Executive Functioning in Toddlerhood · 2017
  No notice
• Fathers’ engagement in pregnancy and childbirth: evidence from a national survey · 2013
  No notice

Reads

A person counts once a day per paper. We keep no cookie and no address: a reader is a hash that changes every day. Any month under five reads shows no number.