An Observational Study of Mother/Child and Father/Child Interactions in Story Reading

Abstract

This article reports on an investigation of how mothers and fathers differ in reading aloud with children between 13 and 46 months of age. Twenty-seven mother/child dyads and 36 father/child dyads were observed on three consecutive weeks by trained observers who used a modified version of descriptors of read-aloud behaviors developed by Whitehurst, Arnold, Epstein, Angell, Smith, and Fischel in 1994. Statistically significant differences were found between mothers and fathers in the overall quality of strategies employed, in the strategies employed with girl versus boy children, and in how fathers interacted with older versus younger children. Possible reasons that might account for these differences are discussed, along with suggestions for further research and the need to address issues arising out of these differences.