Protective and risk factors associated with involved fatherhood in a traditional culture

• Published date: 01 February 2023
• Author: Yasemin Kisbu,Berna Akçinar,G. Hilal Kuşcul,Mehmet Bozok,Gamze Turunç,Güler Fişek
• Date: 01 February 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12679

RESEARCH

Protective and risk factors associated with involved

fatherhood in a traditional culture

Yasemin Kisbu

1

|Berna Akçinar

2

|G. Hilal Kus¸cul

3

|

Mehmet Bozok

4

|Gamze Turunç

1

|Güler Fis¸ek

5

1

Department of Psychology, Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey

2

Department of Psychology, Is¸ık University, Istanbul, Turkey

3

Human Development and Family Studies, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, United States

4

Department of Sociology, Maltepe University, Istanbul, Turkey

5

Department of Psychology, Bo

gaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey

Correspondence

Asst. Prof. Yasemin Kisbu, Department of

Psychology, Koç University, Rumelifeneri

Yolu, 34450 Sariyer, Istanbul, Turkey.

Email: ykisbu@ku.edu.tr

Funding information

The study was funded by Bernard van Leer

Foundation and implemented by Mother Child

Education Foundation (AÇEV).

Abstract

Objective: Consistent with ecological systems theory and

the heuristic model of parental behavior dynamics, the

current study is focused on both individual and contextual

factors that determine fatherhood involvement in the con-

text of a traditional patriarchal culture.

Background: Father–child interaction during the early

childhood period is a salient factor in predicting later child

outcomes. However, studies on antecedents of involved

fatherhood are scarce, mostly concentrated on one aspect

of fathering behavior, and limited to few cultural contexts.

Method: Data were collected from a representative urban

sample of fathers of preschoolers in Turkey (N=1,070).

Different components of fatherhood involvement were

assessed to project three distinct paternal behavior dimen-

sions as care, affection, and control.

Results: Father role satisfaction, psychological value

attributed to the child, and perceived family support were

positively associated with involved fatherhood and higher

parental warmth. Working hours per day was negatively

associated with involved fatherhood, as expected. Higher

life satisfaction was associated with higher positive parent-

ing. Patriarchal views of masculinity were found to be the

main predictor of parental physical punishment, control-

ling for all other predictors in the model.

Conclusion: Study findings emphasized the importance of

factors other than parenting skills that contribute to

fathers’parental effectiveness.

Received: 17 October 2020Revised: 11 October 2021Accepted: 15 January 2022

DOI: 10.1111/fare.12679

© 2022 National Council on Family Relations.

294 Family Relations. 2023;72:294–324.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fare

Implications: Our study’s findings have implications for

family practices and policies. For example, besides parent-

ing skills, father support programs should also focus on

other factors such as developing awareness of traditional

masculinity norms and gender role prescriptions that can

harm democratic family environments and childcare

practices.

KEYWORDS

culture, early childhood development, fathering, masculinity, parenting

INTRODUCTION

Research on child development considered the role of mothers in child social-behavioral and

cognitive development for many decades, yet emerging studies also pointed out that fathers’

contribution to child development is independent of the mothers’(Lamb & Lewis, 2010). Based

on multiple theoretical models, father–child interaction during the early and middle childhood

period is suggested to be an essential component and a salient factor in predicting later child

outcomes (Cabrera, Fitzgerald, et al., 2007; Martin et al., 2010). Although, in general, free play

and doing fun activities were defined as the typical form of father caretaking and father–child

interaction (Lamb & Tamis-LeMonda, 2004; Pancsofar et al., 2010), the findings about

research on involved fatherhood demonstrated that children growing up with warm, sensitive,

and involved fathers showed fewer behavioral problems and better attachment security.

Children of involved fathers also had better communication skills with their peers, higher lan-

guage abilities, better mathematical abilities, higher academic achievement, and better self-

regulatory abilities (Brown et al., 2012; Cabrera, Fitzgerald, et al., 2007; Coley et al., 2011;

Keizer et al., 2014; Lamb, 1977; Pancsofar et al., 2010; Tamis-LeMonda et al., 2004).

In response to the highlighted importance of fathers in child development,there have been

several studies conducted to understand the antecedents and consequences of involved father-

hood, though the former is relatively scarce in the literature. Furthermore, existing studies on the

antecedents of involved fatherhood mostly concentrated on one aspect of fathering behavior and

a limited set of predictors within a sample. In this study, to inform policy and practice regarding

early childhood development, we explored the risk and protective factors associated with involved

fatherhood by focusing on three dimensions of fathering behavior—care, control, and affection—

using a nationally representative urban sample of fathers and a theory-driven multidimensional

approach. The current study sought to extend our understanding of the factors contributing to

involved fatherhood during the preschool period in Turkey, a traditional patriarchal culture. Such

findings are believed to have potential implications for policy and practice, as they enlighten the

risk and protective factors for positive fathering practices by taking the understanding of mean-

ings attributed to fatherhood that emerge withinthe cultural context into account. In the next sec-

tions, we first describe the dimensions of involved fatherhood and their importance with regard to

child developmentand well-being. Secondly, we provided the theoretical models and empirical lit-

erature on individual and contextual correlates of involved fatherhood. Thirdly, we briefly

describe the culture in which the current study took place.

Involved fatherhood: Its dimensions and consequences

The present study used the following different components of fatherhood involvement to project

three distinct paternal behavior dimensions: care, affection, and control (Bolak-Boratav

INVOLVED FATHERHOOD295