Hispanic Immigrant Father Involvement with Young Children in the United States: A Comparison with US-Born Hispanic and W
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Hispanic Immigrant Father Involvement with Young Children in the United States: A Comparison with US-Born Hispanic and White non-Hispanic Fathers Sylvia Guendelman1 · Juliet Nussbaum1 · Ann Soliday1 · Maureen Lahiff1
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2018
Abstract Objectives Fathering is known to foster child development and health, yet evidence on Hispanic immigrant fathers’ involvement with their young children is sparse. This study assessed disparities in pregnancy intendedness and father involvement with children ages 0–4 among Hispanic immigrant co-resident fathers versus two reference groups: US-born Hispanic and US-born White fathers. We hypothesized that differentials in involvement were associated with socioeconomic and cultural factors. Methods Using 2011–2013 data from the National Survey of Family Growth (N = 598), we performed bivariate, logistic and linear regression analyses to assess disparities in pregnancy intendedness and five father involvement outcomes (physical care, warmth, outings, reading and discipline). The models controlled for socio-economic, structural, health and cultural covariates. Results Pregnancy intendedness did not differ significantly between Hispanic immigrant fathers and the two reference groups. Compared with US-born Hispanics, unadjusted models showed that immigrant fathers were less likely to engage in physical care, warmth and reading, (p ≤ 0.05) though the differences were attenuated when controlling for covariates. Hispanic immigrant fathers were less likely than US-born White fathers to engage in each of the father involvement outcomes (p ≤ 0.05), with the disparity in reading to their child persisting even after controlling for all covariates. Conclusions for Practice We found marked socio-economic and cultural differences between Hispanic immigrant and USborn Hispanic and White fathers which contribute to disparities in father involvement with their young children. Hispanic immigrant status is an important determinant of involved fathering and should be taken into account when planning public health policies and programs. Keywords Father involvement · Hispanic · Immigrant · Pregnancy intendedness
Significance Previous studies have focused on few dimensions of father involvement and often have disregarded differentials by ethnicity and immigration status. Those that have compared Hispanic fathers to fathers of other ethnicities have found inconsistent results. This study is the first quantitative study using a nationally representative sample to compare various dimensions of father involvement between Hispanic immigrant fathers and US-born Hispanic and White fathers. Findings indicate important disparities in father involvement with * Sylvia Guendelman [email protected] 1
School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, 50 University Hall #7360, Berkeley, CA 94720‑7360, USA
young children between Hispanic immigrant fathers and the two reference groups, largely accounted for by socioeconomic and cultural factors.
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