Fathers' Family of Origin Relationships and Attitudes about Father Involvement from Pregnancy through First Year Postpartum

Abstract

This is a follow up to a study that showed that fathers who were either very close to their parents or very distant from their parents during childhood had more positive attitudes about father involvement prior to the birth of their first child. This current study focused on how family of origin relationships for new fathers are associated with their attitudes about father involvement at 6 and 12 months post-partum. Using a sample of 152 couples recruited during pregnancy, we examined the validity of the modeling and compensation hypotheses for understanding how family of origin experiences influence current attitudes about fathering. Findings replicated the earlier ones for the post partum period.