Turning points in the transition to parenthood: Variability of father involvement over time

Autor(en)
Eva-Maria Schmidt, Irene Rieder, Ulrike Zartler, Cornelia Schadler, Rudolf Richter
Abstrakt

Although fathers' involvement in care work has increased, the transition to parenthood still implies a gendered division of labour. In order to gain more knowledge of this ambivalence, we focus on the variability of father involvement at this transition. Based on an Austrian qualitative longitudinal study with couples experiencing the transition to first-time parenthood, we examined how fathers' affective, cognitive and behavioural involvement varies across the transition process. Changes in fathers' involvement culminated at particular points in time, conceptualised as turning points. Results show that the transition to fatherhood is characterised by a variety of pre-pregnancy, prenatal and postnatal turning points at which father involvement undergoes crucial transformations. Father involvement varies not only between fathers, but also within individual transitions. The study indicates that turning points contribute to the dynamics and fluidity of the transition process.

Organisation(en)
Institut für Soziologie, Institut für Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie
Journal
Zeitschrift für Familienforschung (ZfF)
Band
29
Seiten
139-155
Anzahl der Seiten
17
ISSN
1437-2940
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3224/zff.v29i2.01
Publikationsdatum
09-2017
Peer-reviewed
Ja
ÖFOS 2012
504014 Gender Studies, 504011 Familienforschung
Schlagwörter
ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete
Social Psychology, Sociology and Political Science, Social Sciences (miscellaneous)
Link zum Portal
https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/de/publications/turning-points-in-the-transition-to-parenthood-variability-of-father-involvement-over-time(be460581-2ba8-4cb6-83e8-8410ef5cbc39).html