Scores on the Nursing Child Assessment Teaching Scale for Father–Toddler Dyads

Abstract

Fathers of 49 Canadian children (ages 13 to 24 months) were observed interacting with their child at home using the Nursing Child Assessment Teaching Scale (NCATS). Consensus ratings from two observers were used in the analysis. Compared with the NCATS reference data for 164 mothers of similar ethnicity and marital status with similar-aged children, mothers were more responsive than fathers in the interactions. Mothers had significantly higher scores on the overall Total NCATS score, on the Total Parent score, and on the Parent Contingency score than the fathers. In contrast, children were more responsive to fathers than mothers. Children interacting with their fathers had significantly higher Total Child scores and higher Child Contingency scores than those interacting with their mothers. Maternal and paternal age and education were not correlated to scores on the NCATS. Implications for practitioners are discussed and the results are compared to a study of mothers and fathers interacting with children ages 2 to 12 months old in which the observations were measured by the NCATS. Results suggest that NCATS cutoff scores used to identify mothers in need of intervention should be used with caution for father--toddler interactions.

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