COLUMBUS – An OSU study indicates mothers-to-be watch their baby-daddies pretty closely for signs they may not be ready for parenthood and, if they don’t pass the audition, the dads may find themselves playing a smaller role in child-rearing.
The study, published in an issue of the journal “Parenting: Science and Practice,” found that mothers limit the father’s involvement in child-rearing when they perceived their relationship with the mother to be less stable or were less confident in their ability to raise children.
“New mothers are looking at their partner and thinking, ‘Is he going to be here for the long haul? Does he know what he is doing with children?’” said Sarah Schoppe-Sullivan, co-author of the study and professor of human sciences at OSU.
The assessment is critical in the mother’s “gatekeeping” decisions, Schoppe-Sullivan said.
“Maternal gatekeeping” is the term researchers use to describe the behaviors and attitudes of mothers that may support or limit father involvement in child-rearing.
If the mother finds their partners’ suitability to be a parent lacking, she may engage in “gate-closing,” which includes criticizing the father’s parenting, redoing tasks the father has already completed and taking over parental decision-making, Schoppe-Sullivan said.
“Gate-opening behavior” includes asking the father’s opinion on a parenting issue and arranging activities for the father to do with the child, she said.
She says the researchers are trying to determine what makes mothers more or less likely to act as gatekeepers and limiting the fathers’ participation in child-rearing.
The researchers used data from the New Parents Project, a long-term study co-led by Schoppe-Sullivan that is studying how dual-earner couples adjust to becoming parents for the first time.
She suggests mothers should have more realistic expectations of fathers and differentiate between parenting decisions that are dangerous and those that are simply a matter of choice.
She thinks society can do more to help new fathers by offering them information and training about parenting and by boosting their self-confidence.