Overcoming Barriers to Fathers’ Participation in Clinically Relevant Research: Recommendations from the Field

Abstract

Researchers increasingly acknowledge the importance of including fathers in clinically relevant, family-based research studies. Although important gains have been made regarding the inclusion of fathers, they continue to be underrepresented in family-based research (Cassano, Adrian, Veits, & Zeman, 2006; Costigan & Cox, 2001; Mitchell et al., 2007). This is particularly true of certain subgroups such as working-class fathers, fathers with low educational attainment, fathers of youths with severe psychiatric symptoms, and fathers who are not white (for example, African American fathers) (Cassano et al., 2006; Costigan & Cox, 2001; Owens & Qualls, 1997). Several recruitment barriers may contribute to this underrepresentation. For example, compared with mothers, fathers may be perceived as difficult to recruit and less available to participate in research (Cassano et al., 2006; Macfadyen, Swallow, Santacroce, & Lambert, 2011). Moreover, mothers sometimes serve as gatekeepers; that is, they may regulate fathers’ participation by responding to requests on fathers’ behalf (Allen & Hawkins, 1999; Mitchell et al., 2007; Sherr, Davé, Lucas, Senior, & Nazareth, 2006).