Fatherhood Research in the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project

Study Strands | Reports

The Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project has launched research relating to the role low-income fathers play in the lives of their infants and toddlers, in their families, and in the Early Head Start programs in which they participate. The father research is being conducted within an overall study of Early Head Start impacts and program implementation. The Early Head Start Father Studies are among the first to investigate involvement of low-income fathers in children’s lives, together with mother involvement, in the context of both an intervention program for infants and toddlers and a longitudinal study. The Early Head Start Father Studies focus on biological fathers as well as father figures (sometimes referred to as "social fathers").

These studies come at a time of major changes in the nation’s welfare system, with accompanying societal changes in such areas as child care and health care. The role of fathers is being shaped in many ways, some of which are just beginning to be understood. The extensive data available about the Early Head Start programs, their communities, and the children and families participating in the national evaluation provide critical contextual information for enhancing our understanding of what we learn from the father studies. In addition, the father studies intersect with a number of other ongoing studies within Early Head Start, including studies of welfare reform.

Fatherhood studies within Early Head Start represent a coordinated effort by a number of governmental and nongovernmental groups, working together in the spirit of the Fatherhood Initiative, begun by the Office of the President in 1995.

Click here for background information on the Early Head Start Program, the national study, and the research consortium.

Why the Father Studies?

The father studies fill a significant gap in knowledge by increasing our understanding of how fathers and mothers, in the context of the family, influence infant and toddler development. The ongoing Early Head Start national evaluation is assessing how programs work with low-income families to enhance children’s development and well-being, but data collection originally centered on mothers as the primary source of information. The father research enables us to learn more about how programs support fathers’ relationships with their babies and with the babies’ mothers. Quantitative and qualitative studies of fathers are being carried out within Early Head Start research sites over a period of five years for a better understanding of:

• The characteristics of the social and biological fathers of children in Early Head Start communities
• How father involvement affects children’s developmental trajectories
• How Early Head Start programs effectively involve fathers and mothers in program activities and as the primary educators of their children

Four Study Strands

The Father Studies were added to the research design in response to efforts within Early Head Start to involve fathers and in response to the federal Fatherhood Initiative. Father studies within Early Head Start are coordinated by the Early Head Start Consortium’s Father Studies Workgroup. The workgroup is conducting four father study strands.

1. Interviews with Fathers of 24- and 36-Month-Old Children. The interview study of approximately 750 fathers is supported by National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD). These contacts coincide with children’s 24- and 36-month birthdays and examine how fathers influence child and family outcomes in Early Head Start; the personal and contextual factors in the lives of fathers that contribute to their involvement in and enjoyment of fathering; whether services for fathers affect their involvement in their children’s lives; which program and individual characteristics are associated with program participation; and the cultural, demographic, and regional variations in father involvement in programs and in children’s development. The interview protocol parallels many of the questions asked of mothers in their 24- and 36-month interviews. Because of the Early Head Start evaluation’s experimental design, this research strand may be able to measure program impacts on father involvement and provide needed information about which program approaches to father involvement are most effective. In addition, we have included a core set of qualitative questions in the father interviews that will generate new hypotheses about fathers and their involvement. This study also collects data on father-toddler interactions in a subsample of families, using videotaping procedures comparable to those used to assess mother-toddler interactions at 24 and 36 months as part of the Early Head Start national evaluation. Interaction data provide information on the quality of the father-child relationship that is difficult to glean from self-report or maternal interviews. The Early Head Start father-toddler videotaping procedures add greatly to the methods used in previous research on father-toddler interactions in low-income families.
   
   
2. Study of Mothers and Fathers of Newborns. The study of newborns, supported by the Ford Foundation, follows 200 fathers and mothers of newborns. Fathers and mothers are interviewed when their children are 1, 3, 6, 14, and 24 months of age to provide an in-depth look at the evolving nature of fatherhood and father involvement in children’s lives. This study also includes interviews that contain qualitative questions and videotaped observations. The research with fathers of newborns will allow us to learn about the early experiences of fatherhood.
   
   
3. Practitioner Study. Components of the practitioner study are funded by ACYF, the Ford Foundation, and NICHD. This study focuses on understanding:
   
   
   1. The strategies that Early Head Start programs use to engage fathers and father figures in the program
   2. The fit between these strategies and the perceived needs and preferences of fathers
   3. The successes programs achieve and the barriers they encounter
   4. How programs change over time in response to their experiences with low-income fathers and their children and families
   5. How Early Head Start programs influence fathers and their relationships with their children and families
   6. The roles of fathers and fathers’ influences on their children and families
   
   The practitioner study uses survey and qualitative methods to study father involvement in program activities as part of an iterative process that builds on the depth and complexity of research questions from one phase to the next. Specific practitioners study components include (1) focus groups with fathers, mothers, and Early Head Start staff members (1997); (2) an in-depth study of father involvement in one program (1998-1999); (3) a survey of father involvement in the 17 Early Head Start research sites (1997); (4) in-depth interviews with directors and father involvement coordinators in the 17 research sites (1999-2000); (5) qualitative questions about support needs as part of interviews with about 750 fathers (1998-2001); (6) focus groups with fathers and mothers in Head Start and Early Head Start (1999); (7) a survey of father involvement in Wave I-Wave 5 programs (1999-2000); and (8) focus groups with Early Head Start staff members (2000).

1. Local Research Studies. The university researchers engaged in the Early Head Start father studies are conducting a variety of special studies focused on fatherhood issues of particular significance to their program partners and the populations served in their communities. Examples include studies with a special focus on father-child interaction in the context of play, a study of father-child teaching with biological fathers, and intensive case studies with small numbers of fathers and families.

Reports

Reports from the Early Head Start Father Studies include a qualitative report from the pilot studies, a report of practitioner study findings, a report of 24-month assessments, a report of 36-month assessments, a report of newborn studies, and a Report on Fathers of Newborns. Public use data sets will be available from the studies. An issue brief summarizes lessons on engaging fathers in their children's lives through programs such as Early Head Start.

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