A R T I C L E

FATHERS WITH INFANTS:

KNOWLEDGE AND INVOLVEMENT IN
RELATION TO PSYCHOSOCIAL FUNCTIONING
AND RELIGION

LORI A. ROGGMAN
BRAD BENSON
LISA BOYCE
Utah State University

ABSTRACT: Fathers in northern Utah and southern Idaho (N 132), whose families were applicants for
an Early Head Start (EHS) program, answered interview questions about their knowledge of infant de-
velopment, their involvement with their own infants, their psychosocial functioning, and other background
information. Because of the predominance of Mormon culture in this region, religious groups were
compared. For Mormon and non-Mormon fathers, knowledge was related to feeling in control of their
lives and involvement was related to feeling less depressed and using more community support resources.
Mormon fathers knowledge was related to spiritual support, religious activity, and education; their in-
volvement was related to informal support, more ambivalence in close relationships, and fewer work
hours. Non-Mormon fathers knowledge was related to less depression and to less avoidance and ambiv-
alence in close relationships; their involvement was related to feelings of control, spiritual support, and
less avoidance in close relationships. Non-Mormon fathers who knew more about infants were also more
involved with them, but surprisingly, Mormon fathers who were more knowledgeable were less involved
with their infants. These differences in religious groups are discussed in relation to explicit and implicit
messages about parental roles in Mormon theology and culture.

RESUMEN: Padres en el norte de Utah y en el sur de Idaho (N 132), cuyas familias solicitaban un
programa Early Head Start, respondieron preguntas de entrevista acerca de su conocimiento del desar-
rollo del infante, su compromiso con su propio infante, su comportamiento sicosocial, asi como otras

This research is part of an ongoing longitudinal study of low-income families in the Early Head Start Research project.
Supported by grants from the Head Start Bureau, ACF, ACYF, DHHS, for local research on Early Head Start (90-
YF-0004) and also from the College of Family Life, Utah State University. The authors are grateful to the fathers
who answered our questions, to Early Head Start staff who recruited families for their program and provided contact
information for the research, and to Jerry Cook and Wade Taylor for help with data collection. Direct correspondence
to: Lori A. Roggman, Department of Family and Human Development, 2905 Old Main Hill, Utah State University,
Logan, UT 84322-2905; e-mail: FaLori@cc.usu.edu.

INFANT MENTAL HEALTH JOURNAL, Vol. 20(3), 257 277 (1999)

1999 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health CCC 0163-9641/99/030257-21

257
258 L.A. Roggman, B. Benson, and L. Boyce

informaciones de su pasado personal. A causa del predominio de la cultura de los Mormones en esta
region, se compararon grupos religiosos. Tanto para los padres Mormones como para los no Mormones,
el conocimiento estaba relacionado con el sentirse en control de sus vidas, y el compromiso se relaciono
con el sentirse menos deprimido y usar mas recursos de apoyo de la comunidad. El conocimiento de los
padres Mormones se relaciono con el apoyo espiritual, la actividad religiosa y la educacion; su com-
promiso se relaciono con el apoyo informal, mas ambivalencia en relaciones cercanas, y menos horas de
trabajo. El conocimiento de los padres no Mormones se relaciono con menos depresion, menos ambi-
valencia y menos actitud de evitar en relaciones cercanas; su compromiso se relaciono con sentimientos
de control, apoyo espiritual, y menos actitud de evitar en relaciones cercanas. Los padres no Mormones
que saban mas acerca de sus infantes, de hecho estaban mas comprometidos con ellos, sin embargo,
sorprendentemente, los padres Mormones que saban mas de sus infantes estaban menos comprometidos
con ellos. Estas diferencias en grupos religiosos son discutidas en relacion a los mensajes implcitos y
explcitos acerca del papel de los padres dentro de la teologa y cultura de los Mormones.

RESUME: Des peres venant du nord de letat de Utah et du sud de letat dIdaho aux Etats-Unis (N
132), dont les familles etaient candidates pour un programme dEducation Precoce, ont repondu a des
questions dentretien sur leurs connaissances en matiere de developpement infantile, leur degre de par-
ticipation a la vie de leurs propres enfants, leurs fonctionnement psychosocial, et dautres renseignements
dordre contextuel. De par la predominance de la culture Mormone dans cette region, des groupes religieux
ont ete compares. Pour a la fois les peres mormons et les peres non-mormons, les connaissances etaient
liees a un sentiment de controler leurs vies et la participation etait liee au fait detre moins deprime et
dutiliser davantage de ressources communautaires de soutien. Les connaissances des peres mormons
etaient liees au soutien spirituel, a lactivite religieuse, et leducation. Leur participation etait liee au
soutien informel, a une ambivalence superieure dans les relations intimes, et a moins dheures de travail.
Les connaissances de peres non-mormons etaient liees a moins de depression, et a moins dambivalence
et a moins de resistance dans les relations intimes. Leur participation etait liee a des sentiments de matrise,
de soutien spirituel et a moins de resistance dans les relations intimes. Les peres non-mormons qui savaient
plus de choses sur les nourrissons etaient aussi plus impliques dans la vie de leurs bebes. Ces differences
entre les groupes religieux sont discutees en relation avec les messages implicites et explicites sur les
roles parentaux de la theologie et de la culture mormone.

ZUSAMMENGASUNG: Vater im nordlichen Utah und sudlichen Idaho (N 132) deren Familien sich um die
Teilnahme in einem Fruhen Anfangerprogramm beworben hatten, beantworteten Interviewfragen uber
ihre Kenntnisse der kindlichen Entwicklung, die Bezogenheir auf ihr eigenes Kleinkind, dessen psycho-
sozialen Fertigkeiten und andere Hintergrundsinformationen. Wegen der Vorherrschaft der Mormonen-
religion konnten religos bestimmte Gruppen verglichen werden. Sowoh fur Mormonenvater, als auch fur
nicht-Mormonenvater standen die Kenntnisse in Zusammenhang mit dem Gefuhl ihr Leben unter Kon-
trolle zu haben. Bezogenheit war verbunden mit einem Gefuhl wenig depressiv zu sein und der Ausnut-
zung von kommunalen Unterstutzungen. Die Kenntnisse der Mormonenvater waren in Beziehung zu ihrer
spirituellen Unterstutzung, religiosen Aktivitat und Bildung; ihre Bezogenheit stand im Zusammenhang
mit informellen Unterstutzungen, groerer Ambivalenz bie nahen Beziehungen und weniger Arbeitsstun-
den. Bei nicht-Mormonenvatern waren ihre Kenntnisse in Beziehung zu geringerer Depression und zu
weniger Abwehr und Ambivalenz bie nahen Beziehungen; ihre Bezogenheit war in Beziehung zu Ge-
fuhlen ihr Leben kontrollieren zu konnen, geistliche Unterstutzung und weniger Abwehr in nahen Bezie-
hungen. Nicht-Mormonenvater, die mehr von ihren Kindern wuten waren auf sie auch bezogener, aber-
uberraschenderweise-war es bei Mormonenvatern so, da die, die mehr wuten weniger bezogen auf ihre
Kinder waren. Diese Unterschiede bei den religiosen Gruppen werden in Beziehung zu expliziten und
impliziten Botschaften uber elterliche Rollen in der Theologie und Kultur der Mormonen besprochen.
 Fathers Knowledge, Involvement, and Religion 259

* * *
Fathers represent an important source of support for infant development (Amato, 1998;
Belsky, 1996, 1998; Lamb, 1997). They often provide caregiving for infants similar to mothers,
but they also interact with their infants in unique ways (Pruett & Litzenburger, 1992; Yogman,
1981). The role of fathers may be particularly important for families considered at risk for
social and educational problems because of poverty (Elder, Conger, Foster, & Ardelt, 1992;
Solomon, Martin, & Cottington, 1993). But the fathers in this population are often perceived
as being uninvolved with their infants and not being knowledgeable about infant development.
To the extent that this is true, fathers who know little about infant development may be reluctant
to be involved with their infants because they are unaware of what the infants may do or need
or they may have unrealistic expectations of their infants. Differences in skills or perceptions
of skills in caring for infants may be related to how involved fathers are with their infants
(Parke, 1996) and may stem from not understanding infant development. Fathers who know
very little about babies may feel unprepared for the experience of parenting, and compared to
mothers, they are likely to receive even less preparation for parenting (Parke, 1996). Fathers
who spend little time being involved with their infants may learn less about infants and be less
motivated to seek out information.
Early intervention programs that promote infant development in at-risk populations need
to consider the role of fathers in infants lives. Intervention programs may be able to develop
ways to increase fathers knowledge of infants and their involvement in parenting. A strategy
used by early intervention programs is to provide parents with information to help them provide
the support and experiences infants need for optimal development (Ramey & Ramey, 1998).
Efforts to implement this strategy with fathers have been recommended (Meyers, 1993; Russell
& Radojevic, 1992) and some intervention programs have been successful in increasing the
involvement of fathers with their infants (Mahoney, Wiggers, & Lash, 1996; Myers, 1982).
Early Head Start (EHS) programs, in particular, have emphasized the involvement of fathers
and have been developing programmatic plans for providing information about development
to fathers and involving them in their babies lives. For example, in the EHS program in
northern Utah and southern Idaho, where this study is based, staff members try to schedule
home visits when fathers can be available and plan group activities specifically for fathers.
Targeting fathers in this way, this program intends to increase fathers knowledge about infants
260 L.A. Roggman, B. Benson, and L. Boyce

and involvement in their infants lives. Information about the factors related to fathers knowl-
edge of development and to their involvement with their infants will help inform the efforts of
EHS and other early intervention programs.
What fathers know about infant development and how involved they are with their own
infants may depend on a variety of factors including their psychological well-being, their
attitudes about close relationships, and their use of support resources (Belsky, 1996; Jain,
Belsky, & Crnic, 1996; Jarvis & Creasey, 1991). Fathers who are functioning well psycholog-
ically, without symptoms of depression and with feelings of control over their lives and feelings
of security in close relationships, may be more likely to make use of available support. Use of
social support has been shown in several studies to promote more appropriate involvement by
parents who are at risk for problems in interactions with their infants and children (Cochran,
Larner, Riley, Gunnarsson, & Henderson, 1993). Fathers who are more involved in caring for
and interacting with their infants may then become more likely to seek out more information
about infant development.
Fathers who use social support from neighbors, extended family, and communities, may
learn more about infants and become more involved with them for a variety of reasons. When
they become parents, extended family members and neighbors may provide information about
infants and their needs as well as encouragement for being involved. For example, a neighbor
saying, Dont worry, youll get a good nights sleep in a few months, is providing information
that infants are not expected to sleep through the night in the early months and also suggesting
that fathers are expected to lose some sleep because of that. Extended family members telling
stories about when their own infants had colic may let fathers know that some healthy babies
cry for long periods of time and cannot be soothed. Fathers who use community resources for
social support may also come in contact with information about infants in a variety of contexts
such as magazines in office waiting rooms, posters in the health department, even formal
parenting preparation classes at the hospital that provide information and encourage involve-
ment. For example, in a study of first-time fathers, those who received information on infant
development had higher post-test scores than fathers in a control group who did not receive
such information (Pfannenstiel & Honig, 1995).
The influence of these factors, psychological well-being, relationship attitudes, support,
and involvement, may depend on culture. Cultural differences affect fathers functioning in
their families and with their infants and children (Mortazavi & Karimi, 1992). One cultural
distinction that may be relevant to fathers knowledge about infants and to other related factors
is religion. A recent SRCD Policy Report on fathers stated that cultural values and religious
traditions serve to define masculinity and the role of men and fathers in the society, but noted
that there are more studies of the influence of religion on the behavior of women than on men
(Engle & Breaux, 1998, p. 12). Religion and religious activity were included as factors in the
current study because the fathers in this study live in Utah and Idaho, where the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS or Mormon) is the dominant religious culture. The
values of this religion include a strong and direct theologically based emphasis on children and
family that pervades many dimensions of Mormon culture and is likely to affect parenting in
ways that are specific to members of this religion (Lambert & Thomasson, 1997). Those who
are not Mormon may also be in religious groups that emphasize family life, but are likely to
have limited exposure to the explicit teachings of the Mormon Church and be less influenced
by Mormon culture.
Mormon doctrine is explicit about the roles of fathers and mothers. A recent proclamation
by the president of the Mormon Church (Hinckley, 1995) stated, By divine design, fathers
are . . . responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers
are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities,
 Fathers Knowledge, Involvement, and Religion 261

fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners. In regular church
meetings, there is explicit encouragement for fathers to take an active role in child rearing (e.g.,
Faust, 1993). For these reasons, there are strong expectations in the Mormon culture that fathers
will place a high priority on being involved with their infants and children (Pinegar, 1977). In
fact, one study showed that fathers who were more actively involved in Mormon religious
activities in the home were more likely to share in child rearing than fathers who were less
involved in such religious activities (Thomas, 1988). In addition, because of larger then average
families (Heaton, 1988), emphasis on parenting, and time spent with extended family, Mormon
fathers are likely to be exposed to multiple sources of information about infant and child
development (Boger & Smith, 1986; Lambert & Thomasson, 1997).
The purposes of this study, then, were (a) to explore how several measures of psychosocial
functioning are related to fathers knowledge and involvement (b) to test whether fathers
knowledge of infant development is related to involvement with their infants, and (c) to ex-
amine the influence of religion on relations between psychosocial functioning and fathers
knowledge and involvement.

METHODS
The local research on the EHS program in northern Utah and southern Idaho is a comprehensive
study of family and infant development that includes interviews with fathers at several time
points. The first set of interviews were conducted when families initially applied to be in the
program, before they were randomly assigned to either the program or a comparison group.
These baseline interviews with fathers included questions about knowledge of infant devel-
opment, psychological well-being, attitudes about relationships, use of available supports, re-
ligion, and religious activity. Interviews were also conducted with fathers when infants were
10 and 14 months old.

Participants
Interviews with 132 fathers of infants were completed at baseline, when families first applied
for the EHS program and research project. Interviews were completed with 92 EHS fathers
when their infants were 10 months old and 79 when their infants were 14 months old. Baseline
data were available for 89 of the fathers interviewed at 10 months and 74 of the fathers
interviewed at 14 months; 66 fathers were interviewed at all three time points. Several of the
fathers who were interviewed at baseline (n 9) were not subsequently enrolled in the EHS
research study and therefore were not contacted for interviews at 10 and 14 months. Some
fathers interviewed at baseline have infants who have not yet turned 10 months (n 11) or
not yet turned 14 months (n 21). In a few cases, fathers were interviewed at 10 and/or 14
months who had not been interviewed at baseline.
Approximately 75% of these fathers were biological fathers who lived with their infant,
and the rest were step-fathers who lived with the infants or biological fathers who lived apart
from their infants all or most of the time. The exact status of the fathers in the sample is only
approximate because they were not asked about their status in relation to the infant and mother
until the 10 month interview. Families could apply for EHS at any time before the infant reached
8 months of age, even during pregnancy, so the ages of infants varied at the time of the baseline
interviews.
Although income and employment data are not available for this sample, the program for
which these families applied requires that family income be below federal poverty guidelines.
Education levels varied, ranging from ninth grade to a college degree, and averaging 13.24
262 L.A. Roggman, B. Benson, and L. Boyce

years (SD 2.0) of education. Family size, as indicated by information on application forms,
also varied, ranging from 0 (first infant not yet born) to 7 children in the home, and averaging
1.74 (SD 1.2) children.

Measures
All interviews were conducted by trained interviewers, mostly by telephone and in the native
language of the father. Items from standardized self-report measures were used in the inter-
views. Following each self-report measure, an open-ended question was asked to provide fa-
thers the opportunity to add or clarify information related to that particular measure. Fathers
were asked background questions that included the number of hours they worked. Fathers also
were asked whether or not they were currently in school and the highest grade they had com-
pleted. Religion was asked directly and coded into several categories, but because the distri-
bution in this sample included 79% Mormons, only the distinction between Mormons and non-
Mormons was included in the analyses. The group of non-Mormon fathers included mostly
other Christians and also those who reported no religion. Religious activity was assessed by a
single question, How often are you actively involved in your religion? The responses were:
more than once a week, once a week, 2 3 times a month, once a month, 2 3 times a year,
yearly or rarely, and never.
Knowledge of infant development was assessed using a set of 14 items from the Knowledge
of Infant Development Inventory (KIDI; MacPhee, 1981). These items included statements
such as Babies with colic sometimes cry for 20 or 30 minutes at a time, no matter how much
you try to comfort them, All infants need the same amount of sleep, Taking care of a baby
can leave the parent feeling tired, frustrated, or overwhelmed. After each item, fathers were
asked to say how much they agreed with the statement on a 1 to 5 scale, ranging from strongly
agree to strongly disagree. The KIDI was developed based on texts and other literature related
to child care and development and has been shown to reflect parenting experience and practice
(MacPhee, 1984; MacPhee & Fabio, 1992). Multiple domains of development are addressed
in these items, and the total score represents an accumulation of knowledge that fathers may
have about infants and what is normal or appropriate for them. Internal consistency for this
measure when used with parents has been reported with Cronbachs alpha .82 (MacPhee,
1983). Knowledge of infant development was assessed at three times: baseline, 10 months, and
14 months.
Father involvement was assessed in three ways through several questions on the 10- and
14-month interviews. Fathers were asked about the amount of time spent with infants, the
frequency of sole caregiving of their infants, and the frequency of specific activities with their
infants. Time spent was how much time they spend with their infants, with responses on a 1
to 5 scale, ranging from no time to more than 2 hours per day. Caregiving was how often they
looked after (child) while his/her mother did other things, with responses on a 1 to 5 scale,
ranging from never to everyday. Activities were rated in terms of how often fathers did partic-
ular activities with their child, such as reading or telling stories, feeding, eating a meal together,
going to the playground or for a walk outside, and playing at home. Responses to the activity
question were on a 1 to 5 scale, ranging from not at all to several times a week, and the mean
of the five activities was used for the third measure of father involvement. Mothers were asked
similar questions about fathers involvement, but their responses were not correlated with
fathers responses (rs approximating 0). This lack of convergence suggests that mothers and
fathers reports are not separate measures of the same thing but instead reflect each parents
own perceptions of their own experiences. On this basis, we chose to use only the father
responses, because we were most interested in fathers own perceptions of their experiences in
 Fathers Knowledge, Involvement, and Religion 263

relation to their knowledge and attitudes. The correlations among the three involvement mea-
sures within time points ranged from .12 to .33 at 10 months and from .19 to .27 at 14 months
suggesting that time spent, caregiving, and activities are not indications of the same thing but
rather reflect distinct dimensions of fathers involvement with their infants.
Psychological well-being was assessed with measures of depression and mastery. Depres-
sion was measured using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale of 22 items
describing symptoms of depression (Radloff, 1977). Items included statements such as During
the past week, I was bothered by things that usually dont bother me, during the past week,
I did not feel like eating; my appetite was poor, during the past week, I had trouble keeping
my mind on what I was doing. After each item, fathers were asked to say how often these
symptoms had occurred, using a 1 to 4 scale, ranging from less than once to more than 5 days
in the past week. High internal consistency for this measure has been reported with Cronbachs
alpha .90 (Hall, Williams, & Greenberg, 1985). Mastery, or control over ones life, was
measured using the Pearlin Mastery scale of 7 items (Pearlin & Schooler,1978). Items included
states such as There is really no way I can solve some of the problems I have, Sometimes
I feel that I am being pushed around in life, I have little control over the things that happen
to me. After each item, fathers were asked how much they agreed with that statement on a 1
to 4 scale, ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. Internal consistency for these items
has been reported as Cronbachs alpha of .81 (Pearlin & Schooler, 1978). Depression and
mastery data were collected in baseline interviews.
Relationship attitudes were assessed using the Adult Attachment Scale of 13 items (Simp-
son, Rholes, & Nelligan, 1992). Examples of items included: I find it relatively easy to get
close to others, Im not very comfortable having to depend on other people, and I often
worry that people close to me dont really love me. After each item, fathers were asked how
much they agreed with that statement on a 1 to 5 scale, ranging from strongly disagree to
strongly agree. Subscales used for this study reflect avoidance and ambivalence in close rela-
tionships. Cronbachs alpha has been reported as .81 for the avoidance subscale and ranging
from .58 to .61 for ambivalence. In this study, relationship attitude data were collected in
baseline interviews.
Social support was assessed in baseline interview with items from the F-COPES (Mc-
Cubbin & Patterson, 1982), a measure developed to assess the use of coping skills and social
support when one has problems. Subscales used for this study include informal support, com-
munity support, and spiritual support, with reported alphas, ranging from .79 to .87 for these
subscales. Fathers were asked how often, when there is a problem, they do things such as talk
about it with relatives, ask for encouragement or support from friends, participate in church
or other spiritual activities, or ask for information from your family doctor. Responses were
on a 1 to 5 scale, ranging from never to always.

RESULTS

Fathers Knowledge and Involvement

What these fathers knew about babies in the first interviews ranged from quite a lot to no better
than chance. The highest item average was 4.64, 93% of the maximum possible item average
of 5.0 representing correct and strong agreement on all items; the lowest item average was
2.43, 49% of 5.0, or an average close to the midpoint of the 1 to 5 scale, representing not
knowing whether to agree or disagree with an item. Table 1 shows the mean item average for
fathers knowledge of infant development at each of the three times of measurement. In baseline
interviews fathers knowledge about infant development averaged 76% of the maximum score.
264 L.A. Roggman, B. Benson, and L. Boyce

TABLE 1. Mean Scores for Fathers Knowledge of Development and Involvement with Infants

Group
All fathers Mormon Non-Mormon difference

Mean Mean Mean t

Variable (SD) (SD) (SD) (df)a

Knowledge 3.80 3.87 3.56 3.10**

(baseline) (.41) (.36) (.48) (34.0)
Knowledge 3.97 4.00 3.83 1.94
(10 months) (.35) (.35) (.31) (24.2)
Knowledge 4.00 4.02 3.91 1.19
(14 months) (.31) (.31) (.33) (18.3)
Time spent 4.12 4.11 4.19 0.26
(10 months) (1.0) (.97) (1.17) (19.64)
Time spent 3.91 3.81 4.33 2.15*
(14 months) (.95) (.96) (.82) (23.93)
Caregiving 4.08 4.09 4.00 0.27
(10 months) (1.01) (.94) (1.32) (18.35)
Caregiving 4.03 3.97 4.29 1.09
(14 months) (.97) (.96) (.99) (18.67)
Activities 5.23 5.26 5.11 0.72
(10 months) (.61) (.58) (.77) (18.71)
Activities 5.49 5.50 5.41 0.64
(14 months) (.44) (.43) (.50) (19.27)

Note. Means represent average item responses on a 1-to-5 scale except Activities that are on a 1-to-6 scale.
a Degrees of freedom are based on separate variance estimates.

p .10; * p .05; ** p .01.

A repeated measure analysis of variance indicated that there was an increase over the 3 time
points in fathers knowledge of infant development [F (2) 7.07, p .001]. Specifically,
fathers knowledge about infants increased from baseline to 10 months, paired t 3.8, p
.001, and from baseline to 14 months, paired t 3.7, p .001, although not from 10 to 14
months. Nevertheless, fathers knowledge relative to others was moderately stable, correlated
r .59, p .001, from baseline to 10 months, and r .62, p .001, from 10 months to 14
months.
Fathers involvement with their infants varied by measure and time of measurement. Three
measures of involvement were used from interviews with fathers. Table 1 shows the mean item
responses at 10 and 14 months for fathers time spent with infants, caregiving, and specific
activities. Time spent with infants ranged from a response of no time to a response of more
than 2 hours per day, with an average response corresponding to approximately 1 2 hours per
day. Caregiving time at both ages ranged from never to everyday, with an average response of
a few times a week. Involvement in specific activities at 10 months ranged from a minimum
response, over 5 types of activities, of several times a year to several times a week, with an
average of about once a week. At 14 months, involvement in specific activities showed a similar
range, but averaged slightly higher at more than once a week. Correlations between these
measures at 10 and 14 months were statistically significant but not high enough to suggest
stability in father involvement, r .32, p .008, for time spent, r .35, p .003, for
caregiving, but only r .19, p .11, for specific activities. The amount of time spent with
infants and amount of caregiving time showed little change between 10 and 14 months, but
the increase in specific activities approached statistical significance, paired t 1.9, p .06.
 Fathers Knowledge, Involvement, and Religion 265

Psychosocial Factors Related to

Fathers Knowledge and Involvement
Most of the factors expected to influence fathers knowledge of infant development were indeed
correlated with how much fathers knew. As shown in Table 2, fathers who were not depressed,
who felt mastery over their lives, who felt secure about close relationships, who used informal
social support and spiritual support, who were better educated, and who were active in their
religion were fathers who knew more about infant development when they were first inter-
viewed. Most of these factors remained associated with fathers knowledge over time. Mastery,
spiritual support, low ambivalence about relationships, and more years of education were re-
lated to knowledge at both 10 and 14 months. Thus, fathers lack of knowledge was consistently
related to feeling little control over their lives, feeling ambivalent about close relationships,
making infrequent use of spiritual support, and having limited education. Family size, although
certainly a possible source of experience with infants, was not related to fathers knowledge
of development at any of the time points.
For father involvement, psychosocial factors were related mostly to specific activities only
at 14 months. As shown in Table 3, fathers who were not depressed, who felt mastery over
their lives, who used informal social support and community support, who did not feel avoidant
in close relationships, and who were active in their religion were fathers who were more
frequently involved in specific activities with their infants at 14 months. At 10 months, only
religious activity was related to father involvement in specific activities, and the relation was
negative. Fewer factors influenced other measures of fathers involvement. Informal social
support was moderately correlated with time spent with infants at 10 but not at 14 months.
More ambivalence about close relationships and less religious activity were correlated with
fathers spending more with infants at 14 months. Thus, psychosocial factors were not consist-
ently related to father involvement across measures or over time.

Relations Between Knowledge and Involvement

Longitudinal data from the entire sample of fathers suggest that fathers knowledge of infant
development, at baseline and when their infants were 10 and 14 months old, was not related

TABLE 2. Correlations of Psychosocial Factors with Knowledge for All Fathers

Psychosocial Knowledge Knowledge Knowledge

Factor (Baseline) (10 Months) (14 Months)
N 132 89 74

Depression .20* .18 .10

Mastery .29** .21* .28*
Avoidance .18* .06 .17
Ambivalence .28** .23* .24*
Informal support .17* .07 .00
Community support .06 .02 .06
Spiritual support .27** .21* .22*
Religious activity .22** .19 .24*
Work hours .01 .15 .01
Education .26** .29** .24*
Family size .06 .04 .04

p .10; * p .05; ** p .01.

266 L.A. Roggman, B. Benson, and L. Boyce

TABLE 3. Correlations of Psychosocial Factors with Involvement for All Fathers

Psychosocial Time Spent Time Spent Caregiving Caregiving Activities Activities

Factor (10 Months) (14 Months) (10 Months) (14 Months) (10 Months) (14 Months)
N 89 75 89 74 89 75

Depression .12 .11 .16 .17 .17 .26*

Mastery .09 .02 .09 .10 .11 .28**
Avoidance .17 .03 .11 .02 .07 .24*
Ambivalence .15 .31** .09 .04 .09 .08
Informal support .21* .11 .11 .18 .18 .30**
Community support .01 .05 .09 .19 .15 .30**
Spiritual support .07 .15 .07 .05 .18 .11
Religious activity .19 .23* .01 .00 .24* .27*
Work hours .02 .09 .20 .14 .09 .29*
Education .09 .12 .06 .02 .04 .13
Family size .02 .09 .08 .10 .15 .10

p .10; * p .05; ** p .01.

to their involvement with their infants in terms of time spent, caregiving, or specific activities.
Only one correlation even approached statistical significance: more knowledge at 10 months
with less time spent at 14 months, r -.21, p . 08. The small magnitude of this correlation
and the substantially larger number of even smaller correlations suggest that there is little or
no association between fathers knowledge about infants and their involvement with them.

Comparisons of Religion Groups

Direct comparisons of means for the Mormon and non-Mormon groups were tested using
separate variance estimates. Separate variance estimates were used for two reasons. First, the
Mormon group was much larger than the non-Mormon group. Second, several comparisons
indicated statistically significant differences in the variances between the two groups. Differ-
ences between religious groups in their knowledge of infant development and their involvement
with their infants is presented in Table 1. Mormon fathers knew more about infant development
than non-Mormon fathers at baseline. However by the time their infants were 10 months old,
this difference was narrowing, and by 14 months it was even less. Contrary to expectations,
the only measure of involvement that differed between religious groups, time spent, was greater
for non-Mormon than for Mormon fathers. However, this difference was statistically significant
only at 14 months.
Other differences between these two religious groups are presented in Table 4. There were
statistically significant differences between Mormon and non-Mormon fathers in their attitudes
about close relationships, their use of spiritual sources of support when they had problems, and
their frequency of religious activity. Mormon fathers expressed less avoidance and less am-
bivalence about close relationships, reported more reliance on spiritual support and more fre-
quent religious activity. The difference in education levels and work hours for Mormon and
non-Mormon fathers approached statistical significance, with Mormon fathers reporting more
years of education and fewer work hours per week. The number of children in each family was
examined because Mormons are often described as having large families (Lambert & Tho-
masson, 1997), but the mean was actually slightly higher for the non-Mormon group although
the difference was not statistically significant.
 Fathers Knowledge, Involvement, and Religion 267

TABLE 4. Mean Scores for Psychosocial Factors for Mormon and Non-Mormon Fathers

Group
Mormon Non-Mormon difference

Mean Mean t
Variable (SD) (SD) (df)a

Depression 1.43 1.58 1.52

(.35) (.49) (33.1)
Mastery 3.41 3.31 0.89
(.37) (.51) (33.4)
Avoidance 2.47 2.77 2.40*
(.59) (.58) (40.6)
Ambivalence 2.12 2.41 2.06*
(.62) (.68) (38.1)
Informal support 2.77 2.62 1.02
(.52) (.75) (32.8)
Community support 2.18 2.14 0.20
(.74) (.87) (36.4)
Spiritual support 3.45 2.59 3.54**
(.93) (1.17) (34.9)
Religious activity 4.55 2.38 4.18***
(1.65) (2.52) (30.6)
Work hours 38.94 44.48 1.79
(14.80) (14.20) (41.8)
Education 13.43 12.31 1.97
(1.96) (2.09) (20.9)
Family size 1.70 1.89 0.64
(1.16) (1.37) (35.7)

Note. Means represent average item responses on a 1-to-5 scale except Education, which is the number of years of education completed;
Work Hours, which are the number of hours worked per week; and Family size, which is the number of children in the home.
a Degrees of freedom are based on separate variance estimates.

p .10; * p .05; ** p .01; *** p .001.

Exploration of Patterns of Relations

within Each Religion Group
To examine differences in the patterns of relations for each religion group, correlations were
computed separately for Mormon and non-Mormon fathers. Table 5 shows the correlations of
psychosocial factors with knowledge of infant development, separated for Mormon and non-
Mormon fathers. For Mormon fathers, mastery, spiritual support, and religious activity were
consistently related to more knowledge at all three times of measurement. Education was related
to Mormon fathers knowledge at baseline and 10 months and approached statistical signifi-
cance at 14 months. When education was controlled in partial correlations, psychosocial factors
were not related to knowledge for Mormon fathers, although the sample was restricted to those
interviewed at 10 months when the education question was asked. Family size, although often
cited in the literature as a possible cause of Mormons emphasis on parenting, was not related
to Mormon fathers knowledge of development at any of the time points. For non-Mormon
fathers, knowledge about infants at baseline was related to less depression, more feelings of
mastery, and less avoidance and ambivalence in close relationships. However, for non-Mormon
fathers, none of the psychosocial factors were related to knowledge when infants were 10 or
268 L.A. Roggman, B. Benson, and L. Boyce

TABLE 5. Correlations of Psychosocial Factors with Knowledge for Mormon

and Non-Mormon Fathers

Mormon Non-Mormon

Psychosocial Knowledge Knowledge Knowledge Knowledge Knowledge Knowledge

Factor (Baseline) (10 Months) (14 Months) (Baseline) (10 Months) (14 Months)
N 105 76 64 27 13 10

Depression .04 .17 .17 .41* .17 .38

Mastery .21* .23* .27* .42* .09 .33
Avoidance .02 .00 .14 .58** .40 .30
Ambivalence .06 .20 .21 .65** .27 .40
Informal support .09 .04 .02 .27 .12 .20
Community support .18 .02 .03 .25 .22 .28
Spiritual support .26** .22* .24* .02 .31 .07
Religious activity .20* .24* .26* .05 .48 .06
Work hours .05 .20 .21 .03 .33 .14
Education .23* .32** .24 .29 .07 .14
Family size .03 .03 .07 .22 .12 .18

p .10; * p .05; ** p .01.

14 months old, perhaps because there were so few non-Mormon fathers interviewed at 10 and
14 months who also had data available on psychosocial factors (n 13 and 11). Because even
fewer non-Mormon fathers had answered the education question at 10 and 14 months, con-
trolling for education in partial correlations was not appropriate for this group.
Table 6 shows the correlations of psychosocial factors with fathers involvement with their
infants for Mormon and non-Mormon fathers, respectively. Surprisingly, time spent with in-
fants at both 10 and 14 months by Mormon fathers was related to more ambivalence about
close relationships (see Table 6). None of the other involvement measures at 10 months were
related to psychosocial factors. Caregiving by Mormon fathers at 14 months was related to
more informal social support and fewer work hours. Mormon fathers involvement in specific
activities at 14 months was related to less depression and more informal social support and

TABLE 6. Correlations of Psychosocial Factors with Involvement for Mormon Fathers

Psychosocial Time Spent Time Spent Caregiving Caregiving Activities Activities

Factor (10 Months) (14 Months) (10 Months) (14 Months) (10 Months) (14 Months)
N 76 64 76 64 76 64

Depression .02 .07 .04 .17 .03 .29*

Mastery .04 .13 .10 .13 .00 .20
Avoidance .11 .09 .01 .01 .00 .16
Ambivalence .25* .30* .18 .09 .01 .07
Informal support .21 .11 .02 .24* .14 .27*
Community support .00 .03 .16 .17 .04 .28*
Spiritual support .08 .10 .03 .00 .02 .04
Religious activity .17 .23 .03 .10 .06 .13
Work hours .01 .08 .22 .25* .00 .24*
Education .14 .15 .16 .11 .03 .05
Family size .02 .07 .07 .06 .09 .16

p .10; * p .05; ** p .01.

 Fathers Knowledge, Involvement, and Religion 269

community support. When education was controlled in partial correlations, the direction and
approximate magnitude of these correlations remained the same.
For non-Mormon fathers (see Table 7), time spent with infants and caregiving of infants
at 10 months were related to less avoidance in close relationships and also to less depression
and more mastery. Non-Mormon fathers involvement in specific activities at 10 months was
related to less depression, more community support and spiritual support, and more religious
activity; at 14 months, it was related to more mastery, less avoidance in close relationships,
and more religious activity. Again, few non-Mormon fathers had complete data at 10 and 14
months, so the correlations for that group should be interpreted with caution. For the same
reason, controlling for education in partial correlations was not appropriate for this group.
Although knowledge was not related to involvement in the larger sample, when Mormons
and non-Mormons were considered separately, knowledge of development was related to sev-
eral measures of fathers involvement with infants at 10 months. Table 8 shows the correlations
between knowledge and involvement for Mormon and non-Mormon fathers. Surprisingly, these
correlations were in the opposite direction for Mormons and non-Mormons. For Mormon fa-
thers, knowledge was negatively correlated with involvement, and for non-Mormon fathers it
was positively correlated. Mormon fathers knowledge, at baseline and 10 months, was related
to less time spent with their infants and less caregiving at 10 months; their knowledge at
baseline was related to less involvement in specific activities at 10 months; and their knowledge
at 14 months was related to less time spent at 10 months. In contrast, non-Mormon fathers
knowledge at both baseline and 10 months was related to more time spent and more caregiving
at 10 months. Tests of the differences between these pairs of correlations for Mormon and non-
Mormon fathers were statistically significant for correlations of time spent at 10 months with
knowledge at baseline [Z 2.54, p .02, and at 10 months, Z 2.92, p .005] and for
caregiving at 10 months with knowledge at baseline [Z 3.49, p .001] and at 10 months
[Z 2.49, p .02]. Tests of the differences between other pairs of correlations were not
calculated because one of the pair was not statistically significant. Partial correlations control-
ling for education were examined for Mormon fathers, and the direction and approximate
magnitude of these correlations remained the same.

TABLE 7. Correlations of Psychosocial Factors with Involvement for Non-Mormon Fathers

Psychosocial Time Spent Time Spent Caregiving Caregiving Activities Activities

Factor (10 Months) (14 Months) (10 Months) (14 Months) (10 Months) (14 Months)
N 13 11 13 10 13 11

Depression .53 .35 .71** .00 .69** .14

Mastery .53 .54 .66** .00 .43 .64*
Avoidance .50 .48 .68** .05 .32 .69*
Ambivalence .35* .36 .36 .41 .45 .10
Informal support .23 .06 .40 .25 .27 .50
Community support .02 .04 .17 .28 .64* .50
Spiritual support .03 .00 .23 .05 .68** .54
Religious activity .13 .32 .18 .08 .57 .63*
Work hours .04 .17 .13 .35 .32 .41
Education .11 .24 .24 .41 .18 .32
Family size .19 .33 .09 .31 .35 .23

p .10; * p .05; ** p .01.

270 L.A. Roggman, B. Benson, and L. Boyce

TABLE 8. Correlations of Involvement with Knowledge for Mormon and Non-Mormon Fathers

Mormon Non-Mormon

Involvement Knowledge Knowledge Knowledge Knowledge Knowledge Knowledge

Measure (Baseline) (10 Months) (14 Months) (Baseline) (10 Months) (14 Months)

Time spent .27* .30** .29* .68** .66** .30

(10 months)
n 76 76 57 13 16 11
Time spent .05 .21 .09 .24 .02 .06
14 months)
n 64 57 64 11 12 14
Caregiving .35** .30** .19 .74** .56* .12
(10 months)
n 76 76 57 13 16 11
Caregiving .06 .20 .17 .08 .13 .15
(14 months)
n 64 57 64 10 11 13
Activities .24* .16 .13 .22 .07 .19
(10 months)
n 76 76 57 13 16 11
Activities .17 .11 .06 .51 .14 .25
(14 months)
n 64 57 64 11 12 14

* p .05; ** p .01.

DISCUSSION
In general, the fathers in this study became more knowledgeable about development and be-
came more involved in specific activities with their infants as the infants got older. This is
consistent with other research showing that fathers spend more time with their children during
the first years of life as the child gets older (Lewis, 1997; MacDonald & Parke, 1986). The
longitudinal data show stability in knowledge about development. In other words, fathers who
knew more about infants when their infants were younger also knew more as their infants got
older. There were also some modest indications of stability in fathers involvement with their
infants.
How much fathers knew and how involved they were with their infants were related to a
number of psychosocial factors. Fathers who knew more about infant development and were
more involved were those who were more psychologically healthy, felt less anxiety in their
close relationships, used more social support, and were better educated. The specific relations
of psychosocial factors with fathers knowledge and involvement, however, depended on mea-
sures and times of measurement. Psychosocial factors were related to fathers knowledge
mostly at baseline, when infants were younger. For involvement, these factors were related
mostly to how often fathers shared specific activities with their infants at 14 months, a time
when such involvement had increased. Higher psychological and social functioning appeared
to support fathers in their roles, thereby making them more likely to acquire information about
infants early in their development and more likely to be involved as their infants got older.
However, among these Utah and Idaho fathers, religious affiliation affected what factors were
correlated with their knowledge of development and their involvement with their infants.
 Fathers Knowledge, Involvement, and Religion 271

Mormon and Non-Mormon Fathers

The factors related to knowledge of development depended on fathers religion. Mormon fa-
thers knowledge was most consistently related to fathers feeling in control of their lives, using
sources of spiritual support, being active in their religion, and having more years of education.
Similarly, non-Mormon fathers knowledge was greater if they felt in control of their lives. In
addition, non-Mormon fathers knowledge was greater if they were less depressed and less
avoidant and ambivalent about close relationships. When fathers were first interviewed, Mor-
mon fathers knew more about infant development than non-Mormon fathers did, but this dif-
ference diminished as infants got older.
The factors related to involvement with infants also depended on fathers religion. Mormon
fathers involvement with their infants was most consistently related to fathers feeling less
depressed, using sources of informal and community support, and working fewer hours. Sim-
ilarly, non-Mormon fathers involvement with their infants was greater if they felt less de-
pressed and used more community support. Non-Mormon fathers involvement was also greater
if they had more feelings of control over their lives, fewer feelings of avoidance in close
relationships, made more use of spiritual support, and were more active in their religion. When
infants were 10 months old, non-Mormon fathers spent more time with their infants than
Mormon fathers. This is consistent with other research findings that non-Mormon fathers report
more direct care of their infants than Mormon fathers (Smith & Shipman, 1996). However,
there were no differences in involvement between Mormon and non-Mormon fathers at 14
months or in any other measures of involvement.
Although it was expected that knowledge and involvement would be related, they were
not correlated in the larger sample. However, when data from Mormon and non-Mormon
fathers were analyzed separately, knowledge about infants was related to involvement in op-
posite ways for the two groups. Mormon fathers who were more knowledgeable about infants
were actually less involved with their infants, spending less time with them and less frequently
caring for them while the mothers did other things. In contrast, non-Mormon fathers who were
more knowledgeable spent more time with their infants and provided caregiving for them more
often. Although Mormon fathers knew more about infant development than non-Mormon fa-
thers, at least when their infants were younger, they were not more involved with their infants
than non-Mormon fathers. Instead, Mormon fathers who knew more about infants were less
involved with them. The reasons for this apparent contradiction are unknown, but may lie in
both the culture and religion of Mormons.
Despite explicit teachings that it is important for fathers to take an active role in child
rearing (e.g., Faust, 1993; Pinegar, 1977), at least one study has shown that the trend in the
division of labor in Mormon homes is for mothers to take on a disproportionate amount of
these family responsibilities, compared to non-Mormon families. In a statewide survey of nearly
1700 randomly selected Utah households (Smith & Shipman, 1996), active Mormon fathers
were less likely to perform child care tasks than were inactive or non-Mormon fathers, with
non-Mormon fathers reporting twice as much participation in child care as Mormon fathers.
Thus, it appears that traditional patriarchal values espoused by the Mormon religion perpetuate
a greater division of roles between parents when it comes to family responsibilities. This
suggests that strong family doctrines like, no success can compensate for failure in the home
(McKay, 1964) are likely to be interpreted in the context of traditional gender roles among
Mormon parents (Lambert & Thomasson, 1997). Official church policy encourages fathers to
preside over their families primarily as the provider and spiritual leader rather than through
direct participation in child care, a responsibility expected primarily of mothers (Hinckley,
1995). Perhaps this is why Mormon fathers are not more directly involved with their infants
even though they are knowledgeable about infant development.
272 L.A. Roggman, B. Benson, and L. Boyce

Additionally, Mormon families are more likely to be two-parent families than the national
average, with marriages rated as higher in satisfaction, especially when children are present
(Smith & Shipman, 1996). Mormons who are active in their religion are less likely to be
divorced than the population generally in the United States (Heaton, 1988). Active commitment
to religious teachings, a positive home environment, strong marital relations, and communi-
cation all have been identified as characteristic of Mormon parents (Lambert & Thomasson,
1997). Based on these characteristics, Mormon fathers may place a high degree of importance
on their families, regardless of the frequency of their direct involvement with their children
(Wilkinson & Tanner, 1980). An alternative way fathers could be involved is indirectly
through a parental partnership with their spouses that includes communicating about and at-
tending to daily issues of infant development. It is possible that Mormon fathers reports of
involvement with infants in a family context are limited because most child care tasks are
actually performed by mothers, based on the traditional gender role definitions in Mormon
families (Smith & Shipman, 1996). Thus, even when it does not translate into increased time,
caregiving, or activities by fathers with their infants, Mormon fathers motivation to attend to
family concerns may lead to increased knowledge about important developmental issues. This
may occur similarly to the transmission of infant development information in multigenerational
families in other cultures (Stevens, 1984). Involvement may have had too narrow a definition
in this study and thereby omitted modes of involvement that are more traditional for fathers.
Adequate measures of father involvement may require a broader definition that allows for mens
traditional roles, a perspective suggested by other experts on fatherhood (Cherlin, 1998; Lamb,
1997; Pleck, 1997).
Spiritual support and religious activity were related to more knowledge by Mormon fathers,
but not to more involvement. Others have also suggested that the Mormon Churchs emphasis
on the family does not always promote more direct involvement with children (Wilkinson &
Tanner, 1980). Following this idea, Mormon fathers who use religious sources of support and
participate frequently in religious activities may be exposed to direct and indirect sources of
information about infants without necessarily becoming more directly involved with their own
infants. The influence of these aspects of religion on Mormon fathers knowledge of infant
development may result from the churchs explicit emphasis on family relationships (Heaton,
1988; Lambert & Thomasson, 1997) and through informal associations with other fathers
attending church (Thomas, 1988). Other information may be acquired from extended family
because of the high priority on maintaining kin ties in Mormon culture (Lambert & Thomasson,
1997). However, when the fathers in this study were asked open-ended questions about sources
of their knowledge about child development, they commonly reported they have not read books,
taken classes, or viewed television programs on this topic but that their wives have, and,
subsequently, that their wives share this information with them. Attending to what their wives
have to say about infant development may be influenced by the emphasis in Mormon culture
and theology about the shared responsibility of mothers and fathers for the quality of family
life (Thomas, 1988). For non-Mormon fathers, spiritual support and religious activity were
related to more involvement with their infants, but because of the smaller group of non-Mor-
mons and the diversity of their religious backgrounds, the possible direct and indirect influences
of these aspects of religion are unclear.
Mastery, or feelings of control over ones life, was related to both knowledge and involve-
ment for non-Mormon fathers but only to knowledge for Mormon fathers. A sense of mastery
over ones life among Mormon parents is consistent with the Mormon belief in the doctrine of
free agency, an emphasis on personal choices and consequences (Lambert & Thomasson,
1997). Mormon fathers with a strong sense of mastery may be concerned about making the
 Fathers Knowledge, Involvement, and Religion 273

right choices about parenting and therefore become knowledgeable about development without
necessarily taking on the traditional tasks of the mother to provide direct care.
A distinction is made by Lamb, Pleck, and Levine (1985) between father presence and
degree of involvement by fathers. Their model of paternal involvement includes factors like
motivation, skills and self-confidence, social supports, and institutional practices (Lamb et al.,
1985). Culture and religion are likely to affect all of these factors. Mastery, social support,
relationship attitudes and the division of labor between parents have a direct conceptual linkage
to this model, and may help explain greater knowledge of infant development among Mormon
fathers, in spite of roles that prescribe less direct involvement with infants. Nevertheless, both
groups of fathers showed evidence of a positive influence on fathering from the self-confidence
reflected in strong feelings of mastery and from the social support reflected in the use of various
sources of support.

Directions for Future Research on Fathers

Several characteristics of our sample and the local population may have influenced the results
but were not analyzed in this study. For example, family size is greater in the Mormon pop-
ulation (Heaton, 1988). Although current family size was not greater for Mormons in our study
and was not related to knowledge or involvement, Mormon fathers greater knowledge about
infant development may stem from their earlier experience with infants in their families of
origin (Boger & Smith, 1986). Knowledge from experience with infants and children may also
be an outcome of the emphasis placed on contact with extended family in Mormon culture
(Lambert & Thomasson, 1997). Data on the size of fathers families of origin were not available
for these analyses, but may be important for further exploration of the influences of religion
on fathers.
Level of education was high in this sample, especially among Mormon fathers. Nearly
50% of the fathers in our sample were enrolled currently or in the past in higher education.
Level of education was higher for Mormon fathers and was consistently related to knowledge
of infant development for Mormon fathers but not for non-Mormon fathers. Education is highly
valued in Mormon culture (Lambert & Thomasson, 1997). Education was such an important
factor for Mormons that controlling for it eliminated the statistical significance of correlations
of other factors with Mormon fathers knowledge. Education may have direct effects. For
example, some fathers were enrolled as students in a local university where they may have
taken a course in child development that would provide information about infants. Education
may also have indirect effects by promoting positive attitudes about acquiring information. As
with other correlates of knowledge, however, potential confounding factors, such as fathers
age, should be explored that may account for both more years of education and greater knowl-
edge about infants.
For non-Mormons, the high correlations should be interpreted with caution and replicated
in larger samples. This study included only a small group of non-Mormon fathers and these
fathers may be rather diverse beyond the fact that they are outsiders in a Mormon community.
For example, Latino Catholics are included in the non-Mormon group along with those who
report having no religion. Religious activity and spiritual support were related to involvement
in the non-Mormon group, even though religious affiliation in that group was diverse. Com-
parisons with larger samples from other areas may help to clarify the factors that influence
fathers knowledge and involvement among a variety of religious groups, including those who
are not affiliated with any religion. Additionally, whether or not some correlations reached
274 L.A. Roggman, B. Benson, and L. Boyce

statistical significance is related to sample size. Therefore, emphasis should be on the magnitude
of the correlations as an accurate effect size.
Another limitation of this study is that fathers who were willing to be interviewed may be
different than those who were not. Although some fathers were initially reluctant to be inter-
viewed, they nevertheless provided data that were not available from those who refused entirely.
Among these fathers who were interviewed, involvement measures were skewed in that a high
proportion of fathers responded that they spend a lot of time with their infants, provide care-
giving for them often, and do other activities with them frequently. Fathers who refused to be
interviewed may be less involved with their infants. Efforts to interview as many of these low-
income fathers as possible, and overcome their reluctance, is a good first step, but is limited
by fathers willingness to participate in the research. One barrier to reaching a wider range of
fathers is the mothers. Although 189 baseline interviews were completed with mothers, 43 of
them did not name a father who could be interviewed. In many of these cases the fathers are
completely uninvolved in their infants lives, having no contact whatsoever, but in some cases
they may have some limited involvement with their infants even if it is infrequent and irregular.
Finding additional ways to contact fathers may provide data on fathers with a wider range of
involvement.
The range of involvement was also limited by the measures of involvement. For example,
only feeding, eating, playing, reading, and going on outings were included as specific activities.
These activities represent father infant experiences common in many families, but other ac-
tivities such as bathing, dressing, rocking, and putting to bed also offer valuable opportunities
for fathers to be involved in the lives of their infants. A broader definition of father involvement
with richer measures of the possibilities for involvement may reveal meaningful variations in
fathering related to their knowledge about infants. Palkovitz (1997) suggests that there are at
least 15 different categories representing fathers involvement including: communication,
teaching, monitoring, thought processes (worrying, planning, praying), errands, caregiving,
child-related maintenance, shared interests, availability, planning, shared activities, providing,
affection, protection, and supporting emotionally. Attention should be paid to the quality of
these activities in addition to the quantity of them. An emphasis on appropriate involvement
instead of just more is better may be helpful in understanding father-infant relationships
(Palkovitz, 1997). Other research shows that fathers knowledge of child development is as-
sociated with more positive interactions, but not necessarily more involvement in infant care
(Bailey, 1993). Qualitative measures and direct observation of fathers interactions with their
infants would clarify the meaning and value of fathers reported involvement.
Measures of father involvement were restricted by the limited range of possible responses.
Fathers could respond with a maximum of over 2 hours spent with their infant daily so
fathers who spent 4 hours with their infants would have the same response as those who spent
just over 2 hours with their infants. Similarly, the maximum response for caregiving was
everyday so that a father who watches his infant for an hour while his wife exercises would
give the same response as a father who watches his infant for a full shift while his wife works.
Finally, the maximum frequency for specific activities was several times a week, which for
playing and eating, was the response selected by almost every father in the study.
Our definitions of other variables may also be too narrow. For example, our measures of
social support omit sources other than informal, community, and spiritual support. Another
source of support neglected in this study is ones spouse. When faced with problems, many
fathers talk things over with their wives. The interviews did not include questions directly
about support obtained from ones spouse, but when asked an open-ended question about
sources of support for coping with lifes problems, many fathers reported that they talk to their
wife first and rely on her most. Several fathers specifically criticized the interview questions
 Fathers Knowledge, Involvement, and Religion 275

related to social support for not addressing spousal support. We would expect to see spousal
support as a correlate of fathers knowledge about infant development.
Additional variables may be important in understanding the factors that support fathers
knowledge and involvement, for both Mormons and non-Mormons. The psychosocial correlates
of knowledge and involvement reflect attitudes that may also influence how some fathers
approach the interview itself, as well as information about the development of their child.
Attitudes about gender roles, for example, are likely to affect how motivated fathers are to
learn about infants and be involved with them. Also, communication with mothers would be
expected to affect what fathers know about infant development if, in fact, a transfer of infor-
mation occurs between parents. Directions for further research include reconceptualizing father
involvement with infants to include more traditional roles, asking about experiences fathers
have had with other infants especially in their families of origin, including spouses as sources
of social support and information, and examining family structure differences between cultural
and religious groups. In addition, assessing the employment status of both parents would show
whether families with employed mothers require more child-care involvement by fathers.

Implications for Intervention

Despite the limitations of this study, the results offer some implications for programs designing
interventions to promote fathers involvement with their infants. In serving families represented
by these fathers, programs would do well to consider not only the individual characteristics of
the fathers themselves, including their attitudes about relationships, feelings about their lives,
and use of social support systems, but also their cultural/religious communities. By taking these
factors into account, programs would be better able to develop effective strategies, both direct
and indirect, for helping fathers learn more about infants and become more involved with their
own babies. For example, helping fathers develop more confidence in life and more trust in
relationships may help them be more open to learning about infants. Also, encouraging fathers
to make use of their social support networks may help them take advantage of sources of
information and support for their role as parents. In regions where religion is closely related
to cultural influences on parenting, it may be necessary to develop intervention strategies with
fathers that are sensitive to the influence of religious values and the social context of religious
communities.

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Bailey, W.T. (1993). Fathers knowledge of development and involvement with preschool children. Per-
ceptual and Motor Skills, 77, 1032 1034.
Belsky, J. (1998). Paternal influence and childrens well-being: Limits of, and new directions for, un-
derstanding. In A. Booth & A.C. Crouter (Eds.), Men in families: When do they get involved? What
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Belsky, J. (1996). Parent, infant, and social-contextual antecedents of fatherson attachment security.
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