{"id":806,"date":"2021-04-05T18:30:02","date_gmt":"2021-04-05T18:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raceequalityfoundation.org.uk\/parentalconflict\/?page_id=806"},"modified":"2021-07-08T12:58:26","modified_gmt":"2021-07-08T12:58:26","slug":"engaging-with-dads","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/raceequalityfoundation.org.uk\/parentalconflict\/engaging-with-dads","title":{"rendered":"Engaging with dads"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-light-green-cyan-background-color has-background has-medium-font-size\">When parents are together, dads are well placed to recognise and support mothers who are experiencing depression in pregnancy. A father\u2019s functioning as a support person is key, since depressed new mothers are more likely to turn to and receive support from their partner than from any other individual, including medical staff (Holopainen, 2002). 70 percent of new mothers turn to their partners for emotional support, compared with only 47 percent in the 1960s (GMTV survey, 2009).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-default\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"256\" src=\"https:\/\/raceequalityfoundation.org.uk\/parentalconflict\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/cornered-image-strip-27-1024x256.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-968\" srcset=\"https:\/\/raceequalityfoundation.org.uk\/parentalconflict\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/cornered-image-strip-27-1024x256.png 1024w, https:\/\/raceequalityfoundation.org.uk\/parentalconflict\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/cornered-image-strip-27-300x75.png 300w, https:\/\/raceequalityfoundation.org.uk\/parentalconflict\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/cornered-image-strip-27-768x192.png 768w, https:\/\/raceequalityfoundation.org.uk\/parentalconflict\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/cornered-image-strip-27-1536x384.png 1536w, https:\/\/raceequalityfoundation.org.uk\/parentalconflict\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/cornered-image-strip-27-450x113.png 450w, https:\/\/raceequalityfoundation.org.uk\/parentalconflict\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/cornered-image-strip-27.png 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">In relation to conflict, dads are present in children\u2019s lives. They are part of the conflict and must therefore be included in the solution. As we have seen, fathers\u2019 parenting can be more severely affected by conflict: another reason to offer support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color\" style=\"color:#4ba584;font-size:24px\"><strong>Why dads?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"590\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/raceequalityfoundation.org.uk\/parentalconflict\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dads-590x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1028\" srcset=\"https:\/\/raceequalityfoundation.org.uk\/parentalconflict\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dads-590x1024.png 590w, https:\/\/raceequalityfoundation.org.uk\/parentalconflict\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dads-173x300.png 173w, https:\/\/raceequalityfoundation.org.uk\/parentalconflict\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dads-130x225.png 130w, https:\/\/raceequalityfoundation.org.uk\/parentalconflict\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dads.png 682w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 590px) 100vw, 590px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><em>(For reviews see Sarkadi et al, 2007; Flouri 2005; Pleck and Masciadrelli, 2004)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color\" style=\"color:#4ba584;font-size:24px\"><strong>The importance of engaging with fathers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-list\"><li>More than 90 percent of fathers attend the birth (Dragonas et al., 1992) and the ultrasound scans <em>(Alderdice et al., 2016)<\/em><\/li><li>77 percent of &#8216;lone&#8217; mothers report that their children are having contact with their dad, with 25 percent having daily contact<em> (Ecce, 2013)<\/em><\/li><li>Fathers\u2019 and mothers\u2019 \u2018stroking\u2019 touch is equally effective in calming babies <em>(Van Puyvelde et al., 2019)<\/em><\/li><li>There are no biologically-based differences between the sexes in sensitivity to infants <em>(Lamb et al, 1987)<\/em><\/li><li>When similarly supported, both sexes develop childcare skills at the same rate (Myers, 1982)<\/li><li>Fathers\u2019 responsiveness varies depending on degree of responsibility for care <em>(Lamb and Lewis, 2010)<\/em><\/li><li>No sex difference in everyday multitasking <em>(Himstein et al., 2019)<\/em><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:1px\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color\" style=\"color:#4ba584;font-size:24px\"><strong>The neurobiology of active fatherhoo<\/strong>d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-list\"><li>Reduced testosterone<\/li><li>Increases in hormones that facilitate responsiveness to infants (vasopressin), closeness and care (prolactin), affection and social bonds (oxytocin)<\/li><li>Anatomical changes in fathers\u2019 brains (neuroplasticity)<\/li><li>Neurobiological reactions are more rapid in experienced fathers<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><em>(Abraham et al., 2019; Kim et al., 2014: Atzil et al, 2012; Gray &amp; Anderson, 2010)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color\" style=\"color:#4ba584;font-size:24px\"><strong>Gender equality; sharing the load<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">In the UK, when a father works flexibly and shares childcare, the child\u2019s mother is almost twice as likely to progress in her career as when he works inflexibly and does little childcare <em>(Frith, 2016)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button has-custom-width wp-block-button__width-100\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-cyan-bluish-gray-background-color has-background\" href=\"https:\/\/raceequalityfoundation.org.uk\/parentalconflict\/9-engaging-with-dads\">Return to previous page<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-button has-custom-width wp-block-button__width-100\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-vivid-cyan-blue-background-color has-background\" href=\"https:\/\/raceequalityfoundation.org.uk\/parentalconflict\/10-further-support\">Go to next topic<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When parents are together, dads are well placed to recognise and support mothers who are experiencing depression in pregnancy. A father\u2019s functioning as a support person is key, since depressed new mothers are more likely to turn to and receive support from their partner than from any other individual, including medical staff (Holopainen, 2002). 70 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-806","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/raceequalityfoundation.org.uk\/parentalconflict\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/raceequalityfoundation.org.uk\/parentalconflict\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/raceequalityfoundation.org.uk\/parentalconflict\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raceequalityfoundation.org.uk\/parentalconflict\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raceequalityfoundation.org.uk\/parentalconflict\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=806"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/raceequalityfoundation.org.uk\/parentalconflict\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/806\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1310,"href":"https:\/\/raceequalityfoundation.org.uk\/parentalconflict\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/806\/revisions\/1310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/raceequalityfoundation.org.uk\/parentalconflict\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}