Relationship between development as a father and partners' return to their parents' home around childbirth among first time fathers

Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed to compare differences in mens' development as a father based on whether their partners had returned home, and to examine the relationship between development as a father and factors related to returning home.

Method

An anonymous self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted at seven obstetric medical facilities among 345 men approximately one month after their first child was born. The question items included the Developmental Scale of Becoming a Father, the Subjective Well-Being Scale, basic attributes, the form of returning home, and the actual condition of the father's life during the returning period. Mann-Whitney U tests or Kruskal-Wallis tests examined the relationship between factors related to returning home and two scales' scores. Additionally, the scores were compared by the partner's presence or absence at home.

Result

There was no difference in the development as a father one month after the child's birth regardless of whether their partners had returned to their parents' home.

In the group whose partners returned home, there were four items significantly related to scores on the Developmental Scale of Becoming a Father: daily contact with partner via telephone; stressed about childcare and domestic household chores; and feeling psychologically distant from the child. There were significant negative associations with the last item.

Conclusion

Those who contacted their partners daily during returning period had expanded perspectives by having a child, and those who felt psychologically distant from the child showed less affection to their families, suggesting the importance of active communication.

Furthermore, it was suggested that those who were stressed about childcare and domestic household chores were developing as fathers by seeking to combine and fulfill their roles. These men may have been in the early stages of the process of developing as a father. Therefore, it is important for men whose partners are returning or planning to return home to obtain parenting knowledge and have opportunities to think about parenting behavior.