Paternal Work Stress and Latent Profiles of Father-Infant Parenting Quality

J Marriage Fam. 2011 Jun;73(3):588-604. doi: 10.1111/j.1741-3737.2011.00826.x.

Abstract

The current study used latent profile analysis (LPA) to examine the implications of fathers' experiences of work stress for paternal behaviors with infants across multiple dimensions of parenting in a sample of fathers living in nonmetropolitan communities (N = 492). LPA revealed five classes of fathers based on levels of social-affective behaviors and linguistic stimulation measured during two father-infant interactions. Multinomial logistic regression analyses suggested that a less-supportive work environment was associated with fathers' membership in multiple lower-quality parenting classes. Greater work pressure and a nonstandard work schedule also predicted fathers' membership in the latent parenting classes, although these associations differed depending on the number of hours fathers spent in the workplace.