TEEN FATHER PARTICIPATION IN CHILD-REARING - FAMILY PERSPECTIVES

Objectives: To explore adolescent fatherhood from the perspectives of teen fathers, teen mothers, paternal grandmothers (PGMs), and maternal grandmothers (MGMs). To identify perceived barriers to and recommenda tions for the enhancement of teen father participation in child rearin g. Methods: A total of 61 teen parents participated in the design of a structured interview. A community-based sample of 173 teen fathers, 1 67 teen mothers, 76 PGMs, and 79 MGMs were interviewed by teenage assi stants. Multiple logistic regression analysis using maximum likelihood estimation and the best subset algorithm identified barriers most pre dictive of paternal uninvolvement in child rearing. Results: Fifty-fou r percent of teen fathers and 70% of partners of teen mothers' met the definition of involvement in child rearing. Disinterest in child rear ing most consistently predicted uninvolvement. Fathers were less likel y than mothers to report paternal disinterest as a barrier and more li kely to attribute their lack of involvement to resistance from mothers and MGMs (p < 0.05). The best model predicting paternal involvement f rom the fathers' perspective included paternal disinterest [odds ratio (OR) = 0.42, confidence interval (CI) = 0.19-0.92] and age (OR = 0.74 , CI = 0.56-0.97). The best model from the mothers' perspective includ ed paternal disinterest (OR = 0.16, CI = 0.07-0.36) and lack of time ( OR = 0.37, CI = 0.15-0.91). Of those fathers who cited disinterest, th ere was an association with lack of money (p = 0.002) and lack of know ledge of child care (p = 0.069). While fathers and mothers disagreed o n several interventions, they agreed (82% and 95%, respectively) that availability of jobs would promote paternal involvement. Conclusions: Most teen fathers in this study were involved and interested in child rearing. A young father's financial insecurity or confusion about chil d care was most likely to lead to a stated disinterest, and that disin terest predicted uninvolvement. (C) Society for Adolescent Medicine, 1 997.