An exploratory cross-cultural study: fathers’ early involvement with infants

ABSTRACT

This research study recruited 107 fathers from the United States (n = 31), Taiwan (n = 36), and Thailand (n = 37) to examine fathers’ involvement in daily caregiving and engagement tasks, as well as fathers’ accessibility to their infant(s) during weekdays and the weekend. Results indicated that the most influential demographic variables on father involvement were the interaction between fathers’ education and income, number of children in the household, as well as country between the U.S. and Thailand regardless of living area, fathers’ age, education and income alone. Additionally, fathers showed different involvement during weekdays and the weekend. Father’s education level, number of children in the household, and the interaction between education and income had a combined effect on father involvement during the week and on the weekend. Fathers in the United States showed higher involvement in infant caregiving during the weekend when compared to fathers in Taiwan and Thailand.

KEYWORDS:

• Father involvement with infants
• Taiwan
• Thailand
• United States

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Chia Jung Yeh

Chia Jung Yeh, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of Human Development and Family Science at East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina. She teaches courses in infant and toddler curriculum, global perspectives in early care and education, theories of child development. Her research interests include creative teaching and learning, father involvement, inclusive education and teaching strategies of mathematics and science education.

Sharon Ballard

Sharon M. Ballard, Ph.D., is a professor and department chair of the department of Human Development and Family Science at East Carolina University (ECU) in Greenville, North Carolina. Sharon is a certified family life educator (CFLE) through the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) and has experience in educational programming. Her primary research interest is family life education programming, particularly parent education and sexuality education.

Hui Bian

Hui Bian, Ph.D., is a research and statistics consultant at the Office for Faculty Excellence, East Carolina University. She has taught over 200 workshops including statistical software, research designs, and data analyses for ECU faculty, staff, fellows, and graduate students. She also offers one on one consultations for planning research, collecting data, managing and analysing data, writing results, and etc.

Ajay Singh

Ajay Singh, Ph.D., FRSM, FRSPH, FAACPDM; is working as an assistant professor at Texas A & M International University, United States and as a visiting professor at Amity University, India. He completed his PhD in Early Intervention from University Oregon. Earlier he completed MPhil with a focus on research methodology, human rights. He is a Fellow of the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine; Fellow, Royal Society of Medicine; and Fellow, Royal Society for Public Health.

Chih-hung Chung

Chih-Hung Chung, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at Tamkang University and have several published works in human resource development and information systems topics. Expertise includes predictive analysis for improving educational programmes and information systems.

Shann Hwa Hwang

Shann Hwa Hwang, Ph.D., CFLE, is a professor of Family Studies in the Department of Family Sciences at Texas Woman’s University in Denton, Texas. He is a Certified Family Life Educator. He teaches classes on family development, diversity, parenting education, research methods, and family theories. His research focuses on father–child relationships, financial stress, couple conflict, and Asian immigrant families.

Lin Moore

Lin Moore, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Early Childhood Development & Education in the Department of Family Sciences in the College of Professional Education at Texas Woman’s University. She teaches courses in research methods, statistics, developmental theories, and assessment. Her research interests include parental engagement, assessment of curriculum models, and evaluation of professional development and mentoring programmes.

Potchanat Samermit

Potchanat Samermit, Ph.D., is a professor of Interdisciplinary Agricultural Program, Graduate School, Maejo University, Sansai, Chiang Mai, Thailand. He teaches Interdisciplinary Research, Philosophy, Computer Science, Social Development, and Linguistics. He is a Research Fellow of Japanese Society of Promotion of Science. Former Professor of English, The University of Texas at Arlington, Texas, USA.

Pimara Thongsaeng

Pimara Thongsaeng, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Science and Technology and a Head of Nursing care and Health Promotion Center at Nakhon Sawan Rajabhat University, Thailand. She teaches courses in Environmental health, Health Problem and Prevention, Skill practicum in Public Health, Professional Experience in Public Health. Her research interests include mental health, health promotion, father involvement, and adolescent sexuality.