ERIC Number: ED174656
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1975-Apr
Pages: 308
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Observed Paternal Behavior with Preschool Children: Final Report, April, 1975.
Radin, Norma; Epstein, Ann
This study demonstrated the effectiveness of a reliable, inexpensive method for observing fathers interacting with their preschool children in the home. Fathers in 180 white families were interviewed about their child rearing attitudes and practices, and observed while playing games with their four-year old children. When a factor analysis of the 25 categories of father behavior was performed for boys and girls separately, a different factorial structure emerged for father interactions with sons and daughters. Four father factors with boys were found; two were nurturant in quality and two were restrictive. Six factors emerged for father behavior with girls; the first three were ambivalent in nature (they contained both a restrictive and nurturant component), two were nurturant, and one was restrictive. Striking sex differences were found in the relationships of these factors to children's motivation ratings and to their scores on both the Stanford Binet Intelligence Scale and Piagetian tasks. Father nurturance appeared to enhance boys' motivation to achieve, which in turn increased cognitive scores. There were no significant relationships between father factors and girls' cognitive scores; social class was the best predictor of their cognitive development. (Data collection forms and procedures for administering and scoring are appended). (Author/CP)
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Tests/Questionnaires
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Inst. of Child Health and Human Development (NIH), Bethesda, MD.
Authoring Institution: Michigan Univ., Ann Arbor. School of Social Work.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Note: Appendix O and Appendix P were removed from the original document prior to submission to the ERIC Document Reproduction Service