Improving Fathers’ Engagement With Home Visiting: An Evaluation of “Tennessee Dad”

This study provides an outcome evaluation of Tennessee Dad, a cluster randomized controlled trial of an in-home parenting education program for fathers delivered alongside a primary home visiting curriculum. Data from 2,221 visits with 140 treatment and 134 control condition fathers indicated that treatment fathers were much more likely (62% versus 37%) to be present at the home visit, but there were no differences between conditions on participation minutes or level of interest. Visits to homes with married and cohabiting fathers were more likely to include a father (51% and 57%, respectively) than visits to families with non-residential fathers (26%).

Objectives

To explore whether fathers participating in a fathering education add-on curriculum were more likely to attend home visits than fathers receiving only the primary home visiting curriculum.To investigate whether, for fathers who attended the home visit, participation minutes or level of interest were higher for those receiving the fathering add-on curriculum.To explore family structure differences in fathers’ home visit participation.

Work-Family Balance, Stress, and Parenting Attitudes of Fathers of Infants

Working parents’ ability to manage both domains of work and family has significant implications for families. Thus, work-family balance (WFB) was investigated as a predictor of two parenting attitudes linked to positive outcomes for children and families: parenting self-efficacy and role satisfaction. Since stress can alter a parent’s well-being and the parent-child relationship, this study also examined whether stress mediates these relationships. Using a sample of fathers of infants, results indicated WFB significantly predict both parenting attitudes. Stress was found to partially mediate the relationship between WFB and parenting self-efficacy and fully mediate the relationship between WFB and role satisfaction.

Objectives

To investigate the relationship between work-family balance and parenting attitudes of parenting self-efficacy and role satisfaction for fathers of infantsTo investigate whether stress explains the association between work-family balance and the fathering attitudesTo contribute to the literature on fathers of infants

Stakeholder Perceptions About Father Participation in Home Visiting Programs

Objectives

Objective 1: To identify the benefits Home Visiting Program stakeholders believe fathers receive and motivations to fathers from HVP participation.
Objective 2: To identify the barriers stakeholders believe prevent father participation in HVPs.
Objective 3: To identify what actions stakeholders believe HVPs could take to better encourage father participation in home visiting.

Coconstructing Masculinities in Father-Focused Home Visitation

This study explored home visitors’ perspectives on working with client fathers enrolled in Parents as Teachers (PAT) parenting education programs in a Northeastern state. Seven group interviews were conducted with 21 home visitors who specialize in working with fathers. Audio-recordings were transcribed and analyzed using constructivist grounded theory methods. The findings showed a heavy influence of traditional masculinity in home visitors’ narratives, but also decisive movements toward constructing new masculinities that are more inclusive of emotional expression and traditionally feminine tasks, in both their personal lives and their work with client fathers. Implications for parenting education are discussed.

Objectives

To describe the role of masculinity in the context of home visitors with client fathers in a parenting education programTo demonstrate how conversations about masculinity can be used as a tool to promote emotional vulnerability in parenting education programsTo list the implications for training, supervision and policies that promote new healthy ways of performing masculinity