Testing Gender Applicability of Father Involvement Instruments

Abstract

This study examines whether three existing instruments assessing fathering behavior can consistently and adequately measure father involvement when administered separately to fathers and mothers. Using a snowball sample method, the researchers surveyed mother and father respondents (N = 133) from 36 social services agencies across the United States about their perceptions of father behavior and factors pertaining to perception of the father role. Respondents answered questions related to expectations of fathering, satisfaction with performance, partner support for parenting, and perception of paternal self-efficacy. Results revealed high reliability of these instruments, with no gender differences on the three main scales, except three items in the subscales of one scale. Although sample size may limit generalizability, this study provides preliminary evidence for the use of the Inventory of Father Involvement, the Partner Support for Father Involvement Scale, and the Self-Efficacy Subscale of the Parenting Sense of Competence Scale when both parent genders report on father behavior.

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