5,386
Views
108
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
ARTICLES

Father Involvement During Early Childhood and Its Association with Children's Early Learning: A Meta-Analysis

, , &
Pages 898-922 | Published online: 25 Jul 2013

REFERENCES

  • Administration for Children and Families, Healthy Marriage Initiative . ( 2006 ). Healthy marriage initiative achievements and accomplishments, 2002–2005 . Retrieved from www.acf.hhs.gov/healthymarriage/about/mission.html
  • Alexander , K. , & Entwisle , D. R. ( 1988 ). Achievement in the first two years of school: Patterns and processes . Monographs of the Society of Research in Child Development , 53 , 1 – 157 .
  • Amato , P. R. , & Gilbreth , J. G. ( 1999 ). Nonresident fathers and children's well-being: A meta-analysis . Journal of Marriage and Family , 61 , 557 – 573 .
  • Bakermans-Kranenburg , M. , van Ijzendoorn , M. , & Juffer , F. ( 2003 ). Less is more: Meta-analyses of sensitivity and attachment interventions in early childhood . Psychological Bulletin , 129 , 195 – 215 .
  • Baumrind , D. ( 1967 ). Child care practices anteceding three patterns of preschool behavior . Genetic Psychology Monographs , 75 , 43 – 88 .
  • Blair , C. ( 2002 ). School readiness: Integrating cognition and emotion in a neurobiological conceptualization of children's functioning at school entry . American Psychologist , 57 , 111 – 127 .
  • Bogard , K. , & Takanishi , R. ( 2005 ). PK-3: An aligned and coordinated approach to education for children 3 to 8 years old . SRCD Social Policy Report , 29 , 3 – 23 .
  • Borenstein , M. , Hedges , L. V. , Higgins , J. P. T. , & Rothstein , H. R. ( 2009 ). Introduction to meta-analysis . Hoboken , NJ : Wiley .
  • Bornstein , M. H. (Ed.). ( 2002 ). Handbook of parenting . Mahwah , NJ : Erlbaum .
  • Bronfenbrenner , U. ( 1979 ). The ecology of human development: Experiments in nature and design . Cambridge , MA : Harvard University Press .
  • Bronfenbrenner , U. , & Morris , P. A. ( 2006 ). The bioecological model of human development . In W. Damon , & R. M. Lerner (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 1. Theoretical models of human development ( , 6th ed. , pp. 793 – 828 ). New York , NY : Wiley .
  • Brooks-Gunn , J. , & Markman , L. B. ( 2005 ). The contributions of parenting to ethnic and racial gaps in school readiness . The Future of Children , 15 , 139 – 168 .
  • Brown , G. L. , McBride , B. A. , Shin , N. , & Bost , K. K. ( 2007 ). Parenting predictors of father-child attachment security: Interactive effects of father involvement and fathering quality . Fathering: A Journal of Theory, Research and Practice , 5 , 197 – 219 .
  • Cabrera , N. J. ( 2010 ). Father involvement and public policies . In M. E. Lamb (Ed.), The role of the father in child development ( , 5th ed. , pp. 517 – 550 ). Hoboken , NJ : Wiley .
  • Cabrera , N. , Brooks-Gunn , J. , Moore , K. , West , J. , Boller , K. , & Tamis-LeMonda , C. S. ( 2002 ). Bridging research and policy: Including fathers of young children in national studies . In C. S. Tamis-LeMonda & N. Cabrera (Eds.), Handbook of father involvement: Multidisciplinary perspectives (pp. 489 – 524 ). Mahwah , NJ : Lawrence Erlbaum Associates .
  • Cabrera , N. , Fitzgerald , H. E. , Bradley , R. H. , & Roggman , L. ( 2007 ). Modeling the dynamics of paternal influences on children over the life course . Applied Developmental Science , 11 , 185 – 189 .
  • Cabrera , N. J. , Tamis-LeMonda , C. S. , Bradley , R. , Hofferth , S. , & Lamb , M. E. ( 2000 ). Fatherhood in the twenty-first century . Child Development , 71 , 127 – 136 .
  • Coley , R. L. ( 2001 ). (In)visible men: Emerging research on low-income, unmarried, and minority fathers . American Psychologist , 56 , 743 – 753 .
  • Cooper , H. M. ( 1998 ). Synthesizing research: A guide for literature reviews , (3rd ed.) . Newbury Park , CA .
  • Cooper , H. M. , & Hedges , L. V. (Eds.). ( 1994 ). Handbook of research synthesis . New York , NY : Russell Sage Foundation .
  • Darling , N. , & Steinberg , L. ( 1993 ). Parenting style as context: An integrative model . Psychological Bulletin , 113 , 487 – 496 .
  • Day , R. D. , & Lamb , M. E. ( 2004 ). Conceptualizing and measuring father involvement: Pathways, problems, and progress . In R. D. Day & M. E. Lamb (Eds.), Conceptualizing and measuring father involvement (pp. 1 – 15 ). Mahwah , NJ : Erlbaum .
  • Denton Flanagan , K. , & McPhee , C. ( 2009 ). The children born in 2001 at kindergarten entry: First findings from the kindergarten data collections of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) (NCES Publication No. 2010–005) . Washington , DC : National Center for Education Statistics .
  • Downer , J. T. , Campos , R. , McWayne , C. M. , & Gartner , T. ( 2008 ). Father involvement and children's early learning: A critical review of published empirical work from the past 15 years . Marriage & Family Review , 43 , 67 – 108 .
  • Downer , J. , Sabol , T. J. , & Hamre , B. ( 2010 ). Teacher-child interactions in the classroom: Toward a theory of within- and cross-domain links to children's developmental outcomes . Early Education & Development , 21 , 699 – 723 .
  • Duncan , G. J. , Dowsett , C. J. , Claesens , A. , Magnusen , K. , Huston , A. C. , Klebanov , P. , … Japel , C. (2007). School readiness and later achievement. Developmental Psychology , 43, 1428–1446.
  • Duval , S. ( 2005 ). The trim and fill method . In R. H. Rothstein , A. J. Sutton , & M. Borenstein (Eds.), Publication bias in meta-analysis: Prevention, assessment, and adjustments (pp. 127 – 144 ). Hoboken , NJ : Wiley .
  • Fabricius , W. V. , Braver , S. L. , Diaz , P. , & Velez , C. E. ( 2010 ). Custody and parenting time: Links to family relationships and well-being after divorce . In M. E. Lamb (Ed.), The role of the father in child development ( , 5th ed. , pp. 201 – 240 ). Hoboken , NJ : Wiley .
  • Fagan , J. , & Palm , G. ( 2004 ). Fathers and early childhood programs . Clifton Park , NY : Thomson Delmar Learning .
  • Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics . ( 1998 ). Nurturing fatherhood: Improving data and research on male fertility, family formation, and fatherhood. Retrieved from http://fatherhood.hhs.gov/CFSForum/front.htm
  • Gilliam , W. S. ( 2005 ). Prekindergartners left behind: Expulsion rates in state prekindergarten systems. Retrieved April, 20, 2010 from http://www.plan4preschool.org/documents/pk-expulsion.pdf
  • Gottman , J. M. , Katz , L. F. , & Hooven , C. ( 1997 ). Meta-emotion: How families communicate emotionally . Mahwah , NJ : Lawrence Erlbaum .
  • Grossmann , K. , Grossmann , K. E. , Fremmer-Bombik , E. , Kindler , H. , Scheuerer-Englisch , H. , & Zimmermann , P. ( 2002 ). The uniqueness of the child-father attachment relationship: Fathers’ sensitive and challenging play as a pivotal variable in a 16-year longitudinal study . Social Development , 11 , 307 – 331 .
  • Hawkins , A. J. , & Dollahite , D. C. ( 1997 ). Generative fathering: Beyond deficit perspectives . Thousand Oaks , CA : Sage .
  • Heckman , J. J. , & Masterov , D. V. ( 2007 ). The productivity argument for investing in young children . Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy , 29 , 446 – 493 .
  • Hedges , L. V. , & Olkin , I. ( 1985 ). Statistical methods for meta-analysis . Orlando , FL : Academic Press .
  • Hedges , L. V. , & Vevea , J. L. ( 1998 ). Fixed and random-effects models in meta-analysis . Psychological Methods , 3 , 486 – 504 .
  • Hill , N. E. , & Tyson , D. F. ( 2009 ). Parental involvement in middle school: A meta-analytic assessment of the strategies that promote achievement . Developmental Psychology , 45 , 740 – 763 .
  • Improving Data and Research on Male Fertility, Family Formation, and Fatherhood. Retrieved from http://fatherhood.hhs.gov/CFSForum/front.htm
  • Jerome , E. , Hamre , B. , & Pianta , R. ( 2009 ). Teacher-child relationships from kindergarten to sixth grade: Early childhood predictors of teacher-perceived conflict and closeness . Social Development , 18 , 915 – 945 .
  • Jeynes , W. H. ( 2003 ). A meta-analysis: The effects of parental involvement on minority children's academic achievement . Education & Urban Society , 35 , 202 – 218 .
  • Kagan , S. L. ( 1990 ). Readiness 2000: Rethinking rhetoric and responsibility . Phi Delta Kappan , 72 , 272 – 279 .
  • Ladd , G. W. , Birch , S. H. , & Buhs , E. S. ( 1999 ). Children's social and scholastic lives in kindergarten: Related spheres of influence? Child Development , 70 , 1373 – 1400 .
  • Lamb , M. E. ( 2010 ). How do fathers influence children's development? Let me count the ways . In M. E. Lamb (Ed.), The role of the father in child development ( , 5th ed. , pp. 1 – 26 ). Hoboken , NJ : Wiley .
  • Lamb , M. E. , Pleck , J. H. , Charnov , E. L. , & Levine , J. A. ( 1985 ). Paternal behavior in humans . American Zoologist , 25 , 883 – 894 .
  • Lamb , M. E. , Pleck , J. H. , Charnov , E. L. , & Levine , J. A. ( 1987 ). A biosocial perspective of paternal behavior and involvement . In J. B. Lancaster , J. Altman , & A. Rossi (Eds.), Parenting across the lifespan: Biosocial perspectives (pp. 11 – 42 ). New York , NY : Academic Press .
  • Lamb , M. E. , & Tamis-LeMonda , C. S. ( 2004 ). The role of the father: An introduction . In M. E. Lamb (Ed.), The role of the father in child development ( , 4th ed. , pp. 1 – 31 ). New York , NY : Wiley .
  • Leaper , C. , Anderson , K. J. , & Sanders , P. ( 1998 ). Moderators of gender effects on parents’ talk to their children: A meta-analysis . Developmental Psychology , 34 , 3 – 27 .
  • Lipsey , M. W. , & Wilson , D. B. ( 2001 ). Practical meta-analysis . Thousand Oaks , CA : Sage .
  • Maccoby , E. E. , & Martin , J. A. ( 1983 ). Socialization in the context of the family: Parent-child interaction . In P. H. Mussen (Series Ed.) & E. M. Hetherington (Vol. Ed.) , Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 4. Socialization, personality, and social development ( , 4th ed. , pp. 1 – 101 ). New York , NY : Wiley .
  • Marsiglio , W. , Amato , P. , Day , R. , & Lamb , M. E. ( 2000 ). Scholarship on fatherhood in the 1990s and beyond . Journal of Marriage and Family , 62 , 1173 – 1191 .
  • McWayne , C. , Campos , R. , & Owsianik , M. ( 2008 ). A multidimensional, multilevel examination of mother and father involvement among culturally diverse Head Start families . Journal of School Psychology , 46 , 551 – 573 .
  • McWayne , C. M. , Owsianik , M. , Green , L. E. , & Fantuzzo , J. W. (2008). Parenting behaviors and preschool children's social and emotional skills: A question of the consequential validity of traditional parenting constructs for low-income African Americans. Early Childhood Research Quarterly , 23, 173–192.
  • Nelson , T. J. ( 2004 ). Low-income fathers . Annual Review of Sociology , 30 , 427 – 451 .
  • O'Donnell , K. ( 2008 ). Parents’ reports of the school readiness of young children from the National Household Education Surveys Program of 2007 . Retrieved from the National Center for Education Statistics website: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2008051
  • Paquette , D. ( 2004 ). Theorizing the father-child relationships: Mechanisms and developmental outcomes . Human Development , 47 , 193 – 219 .
  • Pleck , J. H. ( 1985 ). Working wives, working husbands . Beverly Hills , CA : Sage .
  • Pleck , J. H. ( 1997 ). Paternal involvement: Levels, sources, and consequences . In M. E. Lamb (Ed.), The role of the father in child development ( , 3rd ed. , pp. 66 – 103 ). New York , NY : Wiley .
  • Pleck , J. H. ( 2010 ). Paternal involvement: Revised conceptualization and theoretical linkages with child outcomes . In M. E. Lamb (Ed.), The role of the father in child development ( , 5th ed. , pp. 58 – 93 ). Hoboken , NJ : Wiley .
  • Rimm-Kaufman , S. E. , Pianta , R. C. , & Cox , M. J. ( 2000 ). Teachers' judgments of problems in the transition to kindergarten . Early Childhood Research Quarterly , 15 ( 2 ), 147 – 166 .
  • Rosenthal , R. ( 1991 ). Meta-analytic procedures for social research , (Rev. ed.) . Newbury Park , CA : Sage .
  • Rowe , M. L. , Coker , D. , & Pan , B. A. ( 2004 ). A comparison of fathers’ and mothers’ talk to toddlers in low-income families . Social Development , 13 , 278 – 291 .
  • Sarkadi , A. , Kristiansson , R. , Oberklaid , F. , & Bremberg , S. ( 2008 ). Fathers’ involvement and children's developmental outcomes: A systematic review of longitudinal studies . Acta Paediatrica , 97 , 153 – 158 .
  • Shwalb , D. W. , Shwalb , B. J. , & Lamb , M. E. ( 2012 ). Fathers in cultural context . London , England : Routledge Academic .
  • Sirin , S. R. ( 2005 ). Socioeconomic status and academic achievement: A meta-analytic review of research . Review of Educational Research , 75 , 417 – 453 .
  • Snow , K. L. ( 2006 ). Measuring school readiness: Conceptual and practical considerations . Early Education & Development , 17 , 7 – 41 .
  • White House . ( 2012 , June ) . Promoting responsible fatherhood . Retrieved from http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/fatherhood_report_6.13.12_final.pdf
  • Yeung , W. J. , Sandberg , J. F. , Davis-Kean , P. E. , & Hofferth , S. L. ( 2001 ). Children's time with fathers in intact families . Journal of Marriage and Family , 63 , 136 – 154 .

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

  • These studies are included in this review.
  • Blandon , A. Y. , & Volling , B. L. ( 2008 ). Parental gentle guidance and children's compliance within the family: A replication study . Journal of Family Psychology , 22 , 355 – 366 .
  • Culp , R. E. , Schadle , S. , Robinson , L. , & Culp , A. M. ( 2000 ). Relationships among paternal involvement and young children's perceived self-competence and behavioral problems . Journal of Child and Family Studies , 9 , 27 – 38 .
  • DeKlyen , M. , Biernbaum , M. A. , Speltz , M. L. , & Greenberg , M. T. ( 1998 ). Fathers and preschool behavior problems . Developmental Psychology , 34 , 264 – 275 .
  • DeKlyen , M. , Speltz , M. L. , & Greenberg , M. T. ( 1998 ). Fathering and early onset conduct problems: Positive and negative parenting, father-son attachment, and the marital context . Clinical Child & Family Psychology Review , 1 , 3 – 21 .
  • Denham , S. A. , Workman , E. , Cole , P. M. , Weissbrod , C. , Kendziora , K. T. , & Zahn-Waxler , C. ( 2000 ). Prediction of externalizing behavior problems from early to middle childhood: The role of parental socialization and emotion expression . Development & Psychopathology , 12 , 23 – 45 .
  • Downer , J. T. , & Mendez , J. L. ( 2005 ). African American father involvement and preschool children's school readiness . Early Education & Development , 16 , 317 – 340 .
  • Frosch , C. A. ( 1998 ). Marriage, parenting, and preschoolers’ socio-emotional functioning . Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B. Sciences and Engineering , 58 ( 10 ), 5670 . (UMI No. AAM9812589)
  • Hastings , P. D. , Sullivan , C. , McShane , K. E. , Coplan , R. J. , Utendale , W. T. , & Vyncke , J. D. (2008). Parental socialization, vagal regulation, and preschoolers’ anxious difficulties: Direct mothers and moderated fathers. Child Development , 79, 45–64.
  • Jaffee , S. R. , Moffitt , T. E. , Caspi , A. , & Taylor , A. ( 2003 ). Life with (or without) father: The benefits of living with two biological parents depend on the father's antisocial behavior . Child Development , 74 , 109 – 126 .
  • Karreman , A. , van Tulijil , C. , van Aken , M. A. , & Dekovic , M. ( 2008 ). Parenting, coparenting, and effortful control in preschoolers . Journal of Family Psychology , 22 , 30 – 40 .
  • Keown , L. K. , & Woodward , L. J. ( 2002 ). Early parent-child relations and family functioning of preschool boys with pervasive hyperactivity . Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology , 30 , 541 – 553 .
  • Lindsey , E. W. , & Mize , J. ( 2001 ). Contextual differences in parent-child play: Implications for children's gender role development . Sex Roles , 44 , 155 – 176 .
  • Lunkenheimer , E. S. ( 2006 ). Parent-child co-regulation of affect in early childhood pathways to children's externalizing behavior problems . Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B. Sciences and Engineering , 67 ( 10 ), 1 – 154 .
  • Metindogan Wise , A. ( 2007 ). Parenting, child mastery motivation, and children's school readiness to learn in Turkey: A structural equation analysis . Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B. Sciences and Engineering , 68 ( 9 ), 1 – 201 .
  • National Institute of Child Health, & Human Development Early Child Care Research Network . ( 2004 ). Fathers’ and mothers’ parenting behavior and beliefs as predictors of children's social adjustment in the transition to school . Journal of Family Psychology , 18 , 628 – 638 .
  • Page , T. , & Bretherton , I. ( 2001 ). Mother- and father-child attachment themes in the story completions of pre-schoolers from post-divorce families: Do they predict relationships with peers and teachers? Attachment & Human Development , 3 , 1 – 29 .
  • Pettit , G. S. , Brown , E. G. , Mize , J. , & Lindsey , E. ( 1998 ). Mothers’ and fathers’ socializing behaviors in three contexts: Links with children's peer competence . Merrill-Palmer Quarterly , 44 , 173 – 193 .
  • Roopnarine , J. L. , Krishnakumar , A. , Metindogan , A. , & Evans , M. ( 2006 ). Links between parenting styles, parent-child academic interaction, parent-school interaction, and early academic skills and social behaviors in young children of English-speaking Caribbean immigrants . Early Childhood Research Quarterly , 21 , 238 – 252 .
  • Sears , R. M. ( 1999 ). The relations among family environment, peer interactions, social cognition, and social competence: Predicting aggressive behavior . Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B. Sciences and Engineering , 60 ( 3 ), 1352 . (UMI No. AAM9924041)
  • Sullivan , C. ( 2007 ). Parenting and internalizing problems: Testing models of bidirectional socialization in early childhood . Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B. Sciences and Engineering , 68 ( 9 ), 1 – 215 .
  • Tamis-LeMonda , C. S. , Shannon , J. D. , Cabrera , N. J. , & Lamb , M. E. ( 2004 ). Fathers and mothers at play with their 2- and 3-year-olds: Contributions to language and cognitive development . Child Development , 75 , 1806 – 1820 .

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.