Research to Inform the National Children's Study: Father resources and father involvement in maternal health and child well being

As past studies have shown, father involvement is important to the well being and social development of children. However, less is known about what factors increase positive father involvement in the lives of pregnant women and young children. A father's psycho-social and economic resources may be particularly critical to enabling him to carry out his paternal role in an effective and supportive manner. Fathers with few psycho-social and economic resources may be unwilling or feel they are unable to be involved in their children's lives. To address the gap in understanding what factors encourage effective father involvement, this study will investigate how fathers' psycho-social and economic resources contribute to their positive involvement in their wife/partner's pregnancy and their child's first three years. Data from the first three waves of The Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study will be analyzed, providing a view of how father resources contribute to involvement during the prenatal period and the child's first and third years. The Fragile Families study follows a cohort of nearly 5,000 children (approximately three-quarters of whom were born to unmarried mothers) and interviews both the mother and father, including non-residential parents. Our analysis will take into account differences in effects by residence status and race/ethnicity. Findings from our analysis may be particularly helpful to other major investigations into the well being of children, such as the National Children's Study, by identifying which father resources may be most relevant to future study.