Engaging fathers: Expanding the scope of evidence‐based home visiting programs

• Published date: 01 July 2022
• Author: Cynthia Osborne,Jacqueline DeAnda,Kaeley Benson
• Date: 01 July 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12636

RESEARCH

Engaging fathers: Expanding the scope of

evidence-based home visiting programs

Cynthia Osborne

1

|Jacqueline DeAnda

2

|Kaeley Benson

3

1

Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center, Peabody

College of Education and Human

Development, Vanderbilt University,

Nashville, Tennessee, United States

2

Department of Human Development and

Family Sciences, University of Texas at

Austin, 1 University Station, A2702 108 E

Dean Keeton St, Austin, 78712, TX

3

Child and Family Research Partnership,

Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs,

University of Texas at Austin

Correspondence

Kaeley Benson, Child and Family Research

Partnership, Lyndon B. Johnson School of

Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin,

2315 Red River Street, Austin, TX 78713,

USA.

Email: kaeley.benson@vanderbilt.edu

[Correction added on 10 February 2022, after

online publication: Corresponding author

email address was changed.]

Abstract

Objective: This descriptive study broadens the scope of

father participation in home visiting and examines how

fathers’participation varies by demographic and family

characteristics.

Background: Consistent and supportive father involvement

is associated with positive outcomes for children. Although

parenting programs during early childhood provide oppor-

tunities to influence fathers’involvement with their chil-

dren, father participation in these programs is low.

Method: We developed and administered a survey to

mothers participating in home visiting programs

(N=1,386) to describe how fathers participate in home

visiting programs. A series of logistic regression analyses

were used to describe how father participation varied

across key factors.

Results: Fathers frequently engaged with home visiting in

ways that were more indirect, and therefore go unreported

by home visitors (e.g., asking mothers about a missed

home visit, doing homework or practicing lessons from the

visit with the child). Father participation varied based on

the relationship and coresidence status between the child’s

mother and father, father’s employment status, and age of

the child.

Conclusion: Findings suggest that fathers engage in home

visiting more frequently than previously measured, as they

often participate in ways that are not directly observed

and reported by home visitors.

Implications: Expanding the scope of what defines father

participation provides home visiting program staff a better

understanding of how fathers participate in the programs

and, consequently, how to target father engagement strate-

gies. Informed engagement strategies may be more effec-

tive for increasing father engagement and the impact of

father participation for families and children.

Received: 24 April 2020Revised: 30 March 2021Accepted: 9 August 2021

DOI: 10.1111/fare.12636

© 2022 National Council on Family Relations.

Family Relations. 2022;71:1159–1174. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fare 1159

KEYWORDS

early childhood, fathers, home visiting programs, parenting

Supportive and consistent father involvement is associated with positive outcomes for children

across multiple domains (Adamsons, 2018; Cano et al., 2019; Elam et al., 2016; Sarkadi

et al., 2008). Children benefit from the financial support from (Lewis & Kornrich, 2020;

Nepomnyaschy & Garfinkel, 2011; Tamis-LeMonda et al., 2009) and emotional involvement

with (Cabrera et al., 2007; Gold et al., 2020; Nepomnyaschy & Garfinkel, 2011) their fathers

over time. Additionally, emotionally supportive fathers can provide children with a sense of

security, which is associated with healthy behavioral and psychological outcomes for children,

such as emotional regulation and self-confidence (Cabrera et al., 2000; Chary, 2020).

In response to the growing body of literature that identifies the marked importance of

fathers’long-term involvement with their children, policymakers and practitioners have become

increasingly interested in finding ways to promote fathers’involvement with their children dur-

ing early childhood. Early childhood also may be the best time to engage nonresident fathers

and provide them the parenting skills and resources they need to stay involved with their chil-

dren and support their children’s healthy development (Edin & Nelson, 2013). Early childhood

programs, such as evidence-based home visiting programs, may be able to influence both the

quantity and quality of fathers’early involvement with their children. Our understanding of

how father participation in programs influences fathers’early involvement with their children is

limited; however, because father participation in home visiting is typically low, and nonresident

fathers and fathers who are not married to their child’s mother are even less likely to participate

(Duggan, Fuddy, et al., 2004a; Duggan, McFarlane, et al., 2004b; Raikes et al., 2005).

The ways in which fathers engage and participate with their children suggest that fathers’

low participation in home visiting programs may, in part, be an artifact of how father participa-

tion is measured. Theory suggests that fathers can be directly involved with their children

through one-on-one interactions with their children (“interaction”), and they also can be indi-

rectly involved through their “accessibility”or “responsibility for caregiving”(Lamb

et al., 1987). According to this multidimensional model of father involvement, responsive

fatherhood is not limited to direct engagement but rather to a more holistic direct and indirect

engagement over time (Lamb et al., 1987). If fathers show responsibility for their children’s

well-being by engaging with home visiting programs outside of the home visits, researchers will

have previously underestimated the full scope of fathers’engagement with the program and

involvement with their children altogether.

This study was designed to determine whether researchers have, indeed, underestimated the

degree to which fathers are involved in home visiting programs. First, we investigate whether

fathers engage in home visiting in ways beyond those that are directly observable and report-

able by home visitors. Second, we aim to understand whether the ways in which fathers partici-

pate in home visiting programs vary by family characteristics that, in accordance with prior

literature, may be associated with fathers’involvement in home visiting. Understanding how

fathers engage in home visiting programs and the predictors associated with father engagement

can inform broader family engagement and retention strategies among home visiting programs.

BACKGROUND

Home visiting is a service and support delivery strategy aimed at improving infant, early child-

hood, and parent health, safety, development, and relationships (Supplee & Adirim, 2012).

Because services are offered directly in the child’s home environment, formal home visiting pro-

grams provide timely opportunities to engage fathers in their children’s lives. Despite this

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