Applying Pleck's model of paternal involvement to the study of preschool attachment quality: a proof of concept study

Abstract

Recent re-conceptualisation of paternal involvement (Pleck, J. H. (2010). Paternal involvement: Revised conceptualization and theoretical linkages with child outcomes. In M. Lamb (Ed.), The role of the father in child development (5th ed., pp. 67–107). London: Wiley), while proving fruitful, has yet to be applied to investigations into what extent a father's level of involvement may affect child–peer interactions in the preschool age range, over and above the effects of mother–child attachment quality and socio-economic status (SES). Patterns of associations between attachment quality, sensitivity and general caregiving behaviours have also yet to be compared in equally involved mothers and fathers. Thirty preschool children (17 males:13 females) with similar SES profiles and their immediate caregivers participated in hour-long observations, conducted in the home. Even when attachment quality was controlled for, children with low paternal involvement were found to have higher levels of child–peer aggression. Further, patterns of effects between caregiver sensitivity, child–caregiver attachment quality and general caregiver interactions were similar for equally involved mothers and fathers. These preliminary data support the concept of applying Pleck's (2010) re-conceptualisation of paternal involvement to preschool attachment, and have implications towards the wider study of child–father attachment. Limitations of the current study and directions for future research are discussed.

Keywords:

• attachment
• paternal involvement
• father–child relationship
• child–peer behaviour
• single parent

Notes on contributors

Mark Kennedy's (Southampton University) research interests focus around environmental effects in child development, particularly child–caregiver attachment. Presently, he is a team member of the English and Romanian Adoptees study.

Lucy R. Betts's (Nottingham Trent University) research interests lie within the area of social developmental psychology. Her present research examines adolescents' experiences of cyber bullying, cyber victimisation and psychosocial adjustment. Her Previous research focused on aspects of children's social relationships with regard to psychosocial and school adjustment, including predictors of centrality in best friend networks, peer liking and disliking, and trust.

Thomas Dunn holds degrees in Psychology and Sociology, and Research Methods, and a PhD in Experimental Psychology. He also holds qualifications in Mathematics and his interests lie in the application of quantitative methods to a range of psychology-related topics. These include human memory, child development, personality, and well-being.

Edmund Sonuga-Barke works at the University of Southampton, where he is a Professor of Developmental Psychopathology and the convenor of the Developmental Brain-Behaviour Laboratory (DBBL). He is visiting Professor at Ghent University and Aarhus University. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry. His research is motivated by a desire to improve the lives of children and adolescents with impulse, attention, and emotional regulation problems during childhood and adolescence through the development of a better basic understanding of the genetic and environmental causes and the psychological and neuro-biological mediators of their development. He has a broad set of national and international collaborations utilising a wide range of research techniques (including brain imaging, molecular genetics, neuro-psychology, and behavioural observation) and research designs (including longitudinal, observational, experimental, and randomised controlled treatment trials). He is especially interested in the role of the environment in shaping normal and deviant biological and behavioural systems development and is currently the principal investigator on the ESRC-funded English and Romanian Adoptees study (studying the effects of early severe deprivation on long-term neuro-behavioural development) and the NIHR-funded Programme for Early Detection and Intervention in ADHD (developing new psychologically based approaches to identify and treat preschool ADHD to reduce long-term risk).

Jean D. M. Underwood's (Nottingham Trent University) main research interests concern the cognitive development of the learner and how that learner operates in real and virtual worlds. Specifically she is concerned with the impact of new technologies on teaching and learning, and has done extensive research in computer-based cooperative learning with particular reference to gender and task variables. Two associated themes from this core work investigate young people's response to risk in both the virtual world (social networking sites) and the real world (child pedestrian safety); and the perceptual problems associated with image perception including map reading and high level processes of scene perception.

Notes

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