Development of the Mother-perceived Father's Sensitive and Responsive Coparenting Scale: Measuring Proactive Father Involvement

Abstract

In childrearing and household tasks, mothers want fathers to proactively recognize and engage in the necessary work. We developed a scale to assess mothers' perception of fathers' sensitivity and responsiveness regarding their involvement in childrearing and household tasks (Mother-Perceived Father's Sensitive and Responsive Coparenting Scale: MP-FSRCS). Online surveys were administered to 497 and 499 mothers with children aged＜6 years. In Survey 1, exploratory factor analysis revealed a unidimensional structure with high internal consistency (α＝.95) across 10 scale items. High MP-FSRCS scores were significantly associated with increased encouragement and less criticism of the father's involvement by the mother, increased marital satisfaction, and an increased degree of empathy shown by fathers, as perceived by mothers. In Survey 2, criterion-related validity of MP-FSRCS was examined, and the score was significantly and positively correlated with the Japanese version of the Coparenting Relationship Scale and mothers' trust in coparenting discussions about parenting concerns. These findings suggest that the MP-FSRCS has high internal consistency and validity as a measure of the constructs associated with harmonious coparenting.

【Research Impact】

This study evaluated harmonious coparenting by measuring mothers' perceptions of the sensitivity and responsiveness of fathers' coparenting based on the latter's involvement in parenting and household tasks. By focusing on the attentive relationship between the primary caregiver (the mother in this study) and the secondary caregiver (father), this scale contributes considerably to future research on coparenting.