Fathers' Play and Touch Behavior with Their Three-Month-Old Infants

Abstract

A descriptive study was conducted on the touching behaviors of twenty-one fathers observed in semi-structured play interaction with their three-month-old children. Instrumental and affectional touching were evaluated in concert with the assessment of amount, quality and appropriateness of paternal play. Descriptive analysis suggested that as instrumental touch used for support, care taking, or safety of a child increased, the quality of play and the general impression of the fathers' interaction decreased. The simultaneous provision of instrument and affectional touch was demonstrated more by fathers of later born and fathers of healthy infants than by fathers of first born children and by fathers of infants with special needs. Male infants received more instrumental touch than female infants, and infants of higher birthweight received a greater amount of play and simultaneous touch. Fathers' educational level appeared to be positively related to the sensitivity of the fathers' physical involvement with the infant. Limitations of small sample size and interaction durations prevent generalization on these results, but suggest directions for further study.