Fathers' scores on the Nursing Child Assessment Teaching Scale: are they different from those of mothers?
Fathers of 103 Canadian infants (ages 2 to 12 months) were observed interacting with their child using the Nursing Child Assessment Teaching Scale (NCATS). Compared with the NCATS reference data for 387 mothers of similar-aged infants with similar marital status and ethnic background, there was no significant difference on the overall total score. However, fathers had significantly lower scores than mothers on the total parent score. Infants interacting with the fathers had significantly higher total child scores than those interacting with the mothers. Although mothers and fathers were equally sensitive to their infant's cues, fathers were less contingent in interaction with their infants. Implications for practitioners are discussed.
Harrison
M J
MJ
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
Magill-Evans
J
J
Benzies
K
K
D000328:Adult; D000416:Alberta; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005220:Fathers / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009730:Nursing Assessment; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors