{"title":"Father-to-infant attachment and its associated factors during COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study.","authors":"Pelin Dikmen-Yildiz","doi":"10.1080/02646838.2024.2382214","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The attachment between father and infant is essential to a child's later development and well-being; yet, hardly any research has examined father-to-infant attachment during the outbreak of COVID-19. This study, therefore, aims to examine psychological, interpersonal, and health-related factors associated with father-to-infant attachment at 3-12 months postpartum during the pandemic.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>An online cross-sectional study was conducted between June and December 2021. A total of 775 fathers with at least one child aged 3-12 months were recruited. Participants completed measures of depression, COVID-19-related distress, relationship satisfaction, social support and other health-related factors including COVID-19 diagnosis and hospitalisation. Data on psycho-socio-demographic, obstetric, and COVID-19-related characteristics were also collected.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Findings demonstrated that paternal depression (<i>β</i> = -.33, <i>p</i> < .001); relationship satisfaction (<i>β</i> = .19, <i>p</i> < .001); COVID-19-related psychological distress (<i>β</i> = -.14, <i>p</i> < .001) and social support (<i>β</i> = .13, <i>p</i> < .001) had a significant effect on father-to-infant attachment. Fathers who were multiparous, had COVID-19 diagnosis, and hospitalised due to COVID-19 were more likely to report poorer father-to-infant attachment. Paternal depression was the most influential factor on father-to-infant attachment, which attenuated the strength of the relationships between marital status, prematurity, history of trauma, sleep quality, and father-to-infant attachment once included into the analyses. No significant associations between educational level, employment, socioeconomic status, delivery mode, and father-to-infant attachment were observed.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>These findings highlight the critical role of paternal psychological well-being in establishing healthy father-to-infant attachment and the relevance of having satisfied interpersonal relationships in promoting this early relationship particularly during crises such as COVID-19 pandemic.</p>","PeriodicalId":47721,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1000,"publicationDate":"2024-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02646838.2024.2382214","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: The attachment between father and infant is essential to a child's later development and well-being; yet, hardly any research has examined father-to-infant attachment during the outbreak of COVID-19. This study, therefore, aims to examine psychological, interpersonal, and health-related factors associated with father-to-infant attachment at 3-12 months postpartum during the pandemic.
Method: An online cross-sectional study was conducted between June and December 2021. A total of 775 fathers with at least one child aged 3-12 months were recruited. Participants completed measures of depression, COVID-19-related distress, relationship satisfaction, social support and other health-related factors including COVID-19 diagnosis and hospitalisation. Data on psycho-socio-demographic, obstetric, and COVID-19-related characteristics were also collected.
Results: Findings demonstrated that paternal depression (β = -.33, p < .001); relationship satisfaction (β = .19, p < .001); COVID-19-related psychological distress (β = -.14, p < .001) and social support (β = .13, p < .001) had a significant effect on father-to-infant attachment. Fathers who were multiparous, had COVID-19 diagnosis, and hospitalised due to COVID-19 were more likely to report poorer father-to-infant attachment. Paternal depression was the most influential factor on father-to-infant attachment, which attenuated the strength of the relationships between marital status, prematurity, history of trauma, sleep quality, and father-to-infant attachment once included into the analyses. No significant associations between educational level, employment, socioeconomic status, delivery mode, and father-to-infant attachment were observed.
Conclusion: These findings highlight the critical role of paternal psychological well-being in establishing healthy father-to-infant attachment and the relevance of having satisfied interpersonal relationships in promoting this early relationship particularly during crises such as COVID-19 pandemic.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology reports and reviews outstanding research on psychological, behavioural, medical and social aspects of human reproduction, pregnancy and infancy. Medical topics focus on obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics and psychiatry. The growing work in relevant aspects of medical communication and medical sociology are also covered. Relevant psychological work includes developmental psychology, clinical psychology, social psychology, behavioural medicine, psychology of women and health psychology. Research into psychological aspects of midwifery, health visiting and nursing is central to the interests of the Journal. The Journal is of special value to those concerned with interdisciplinary issues. As a result, the Journal is of particular interest to those concerned with fundamental processes in behaviour and to issues of health promotion and service organization.