Abstract
The purpose of this study was to explore the variables related to paternal involvement in the caregiving of 6- to 8-year-old extremely low-birthweight (ELBW) children, specifically, sociodemographic factors related to the family or individual biological factors related to ELBW. Thirty-three children with a mean birthweight of 845.5 grams and a mean gestational age of 27.4 weeks participated in this research. Approximately 29% of their fathers were classified by the mothers as nonco-operative in overall child care. The paternal involvement in caregiving was related to the sociodemographic variables of the family; the co-operative fathers were proportionally more often from families where the child had no older female sibling(s) and/or grandparent(s), whereas the nonco-operative fathers were proportionally more often from families where the child had older female sibling(s) and/or grandparent(s). The individual perinatal risk variables and IQ, and the paternal variables (age, socioeconomic status) were not related to the paternal co-operativeness. Our sample mothers seemed to have raised their children in more difficult parenting and economic situations, and to have received proportionally more support from grandparent(s) than did typical Japanese mothers. The children's relationships with peers differed between the paternal co-operative and nonco-operative groups; there were proportionally more children from the nonco-operative group who preferred to play alone than to play with peer(s) at the ages of 3-5 years. Thus, scarce paternal involvement in the process of caregiving appeared to influence the children's sociability.
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