Role-play shows which expectant dads will thrive as new fathers
Interaction with doll predicts parenting quality, study finds

Date:
June 23, 2020
Source:
Ohio State University
Summary:
A five-minute role-play done with men before the birth of their
first child predicted the quality of their parenting after the
baby arrived, a new study showed.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A five-minute role-play done with men before the birth of their first
child predicted the quality of their parenting after the baby arrived,
a new study showed.


========================================================================== Researchers videotaped 182 expectant fathers during the third trimester
of their partners' pregnancy, observing how the men interacted with a
doll that they were told represented the baby they were about to have.

Ratings given to the fathers on their levels of "intuitive parenting"
while playing with the doll predicted how well they were rated on
parenting quality nine months after their baby was born.

"We were able to detect the capacity for positive parenting in these
men before they even became fathers," said lead study author Lauren Altenburger, who began the work as a doctoral student at The Ohio State University.

Altenburger is now an assistant professor of human development and
family studies at Pennsylvania State University-Shenango, where the
study was completed.

The intuitive parenting skills measured as the men interacted with the
doll included talking directly to the face of the "baby," using baby
talk and smiling, and showing concern for the baby's well-being.



==========================================================================
The good news is that the intuitive parenting skills measured in this
study can be taught, said Sarah Schoppe-Sullivan, co-author of the study
and professor of psychology at Ohio State.

"We can help expectant fathers learn these parenting skills," said
Schoppe- Sullivan, who is a senior research associate on the board of
the Council on Contemporary Families. "Not all parents start out knowing
how to do these things, but they can be shown how." The research was
published online June 22, 2020 in the Journal of Family Psychology.

The couples in the study were participating in the New Parents Project,
a long- term study co-led by Schoppe-Sullivan that is investigating how dual-earner couples adjust to becoming parents for the first time.

Researchers visited the couples' homes during the third trimester of
the woman's pregnancy.



==========================================================================
The procedure using dolls was developed by researchers in Switzerland,
but has rarely been used in the United States.

"It may seem silly to have adults play with dolls, but it is actually
pretty easy for them to do," Altenburger said.

"The birth is right around the corner, so they are already thinking about
what it is going to be like. They took the role playing seriously."
The doll they used was custom-made and consisted of a footed infant
sleeper sewn shut with 7-8 pounds of rice inside to make its weight
similar to a newborn. A doll's head made of green fabric was sewn onto
the footed sleeper.

In the videotaped procedure, an assistant playing the role of a nurse
presented the "baby" to the parents.

"We were looking for how natural fathers acted with the baby. Did
they hold it properly, smile at it and do things like gently pinching
the baby's foot or other positive behaviors that many people just
instinctively do with babies," Schoppe-Sullivan said.

Trained assistants viewed the videotape and rated the fathers on their
level of intuitive parenting behaviors.

Nine months after the birth of the baby, the fathers' parenting quality
was assessed by a different team of research assistants who watched the
fathers try to teach their babies to play with either a shape sorter or stacking rings.

The assistants rated how well the fathers paid attention and responded
to their child, how engaged they were, and their expression of positive feelings.

"Those dads who were rated as showing more intuitive parenting skills
with the doll a year earlier tended to have a more positive interaction
with their real child," Altenburger said.

This was true even after taking into account several other factors that
could affect how well fathers did at parenting their infant, such as
the men's personality traits, their co-parenting relationship with the
child's mother and the child's temperament.

Findings showed that dads who showed more high-quality parenting skills
when their baby was 9 months old also tended to score higher on tests
of two personality traits.

One trait was being open to new experiences, which is obviously helpful
for dads becoming parents for the first time.

The other trait was conscientiousness, which is being careful and diligent
with your responsibilities.

The researchers found that a good co-parenting relationship between the
mother and father -- how they worked together to raise their child --
also predicted better parenting quality in dads. Co-parenting relationship quality was observed between mothers, fathers, and their 3-month-old baby.

The child's temperament was not related to fathers' parenting quality
in this study. But the researchers said this should be interpreted
with caution, because temperament was reported by fathers at a single
time point.

The New Parents Project involves couples in which both partners have
jobs and are mostly white and well-educated, Schoppe-Sullivan said,
so the results may not apply in the same way to all fathers.

The researchers said the results could help health care professionals
and others who work with expectant couples to identify and help fathers
who may need extra help learning their role as a parent.

"Although it is called 'intuitive parenting,' it isn't really intuitive
for everyone. We need to work with fathers to make sure they know how
to be the best fathers they can be," Schoppe-Sullivan said.

The New Parents Project was funded by the National Science Foundation,
with additional support from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute
of Child Health and Human Development.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Ohio_State_University. Original
written by Jeff Grabmeier. Note: Content may be edited for style and
length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Lauren E. Altenburger, Sarah J. Schoppe-Sullivan. New fathers'
parenting
quality: Personal, contextual, and child precursors.. Journal of
Family Psychology, 2020; DOI: 10.1037/fam0000753 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200623145344.htm

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