An Ecological Approach to Father Involvement in Biological and Stepfather Families.

Using an ecological perspective and data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care, correlates of father involvement were examined for 68 stepfathers and 68 biological fathers of first-grade children to determine whether contextual factors associated with involvement differed between the two groups. Stepfathers and biological fathers did not differ in their relative amount of involvement in childrearing activities or in the quality of their engagement with their children, but family processes were different in stepfamilies compared with biological families. For stepfathers, but not biological fathers, marital satisfaction was positively related to the relative amount of involvement in childrearing activities, and for biological fathers, but not stepfathers, higher hours of maternal work were associated with a lower quality of father engagement. (Author abstract)