The relationship between fathers' involvement in infant care and infant attachment levels.

BACKGROUND

Increasing recognition of the father's role in early childhood development has led to growing interest in how father involvement in infant care influences the quality of paternal-infant attachment.

AIMS: This study aimed to determine the association between fathers' involvement in infant care and paternal-infant attachment levels.

METHODS

This descriptive study involved 255 fathers, utilizing the "Descriptive Information Form," the "Paternal-Infant Attachment Scale," and the "Fathers' Involvement in Infant Care Questionnaire" for data collection. Data analysis included the use of number and percentage distributions, mean and standard deviation calculations, t-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and post hoc analysis. Additionally, Pearson correlation and linear regression analyses were conducted for a comprehensive examination of the obtained data. Institutional permission and ethics committee approval were obtained to conduct the study.

RESULTS

In this study, elevated levels of father and mother education, a consistent income, shorter marital duration, excellent spousal relationship status, fewer children, and increased time spent with infants were associated with heightened father involvement in infant care and higher paternal-infant attachment scores. A positive correlation was observed between fathers' involvement in infant care and paternal-infant attachment. Furthermore, regression analysis results show that as fathers' involvement in infant care increases, their attachment with their infant also strengthens.

CONCLUSIONS

This study identified a positive correlation between fathers' engagement in infant care and the level of attachment between fathers and infants. To strengthen the paternal-infant attachment, fathers should be encouraged to involvement in infant care.