title: Parental division of infant care: contextual influences and infant characteristics.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship of maternal employment to division of parental infant caregiving and whether infant characteristics predicted maternal and paternal caregiving during the first year. Subjects were 351 families with healthy infants from normal pregnancies. Measures included a newborn and 1-month Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment, Child Care Activities Scale at 1, 6, and 12 months, Bates Infant Characteristics Questionnaire at 6 and 12 months, and selected demographics. Mothers provided the majority of infant care though fathers' proportion increased with employment of mothers. Controlling for demographics, infant characteristics were infrequent predictors of maternal caregiving and predicted a small amount of paternal caregiving variance.
authors.affiliation: College of Nursing, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha.
authors.forename: L C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Heermann
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007224:Infant Care / Q000592:standards*; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D010551:Personality; D010988:Play and Playthings; D002666:Psychology, Child; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013694:Temperament; D013997:Time Factors; D014931:Women, Working / Q000523:psychology*