Attitudes of 74 first-time fathers were studied as they varied vi by childbirth preparation and participation. A 50-variable questionnaire was used to tap fathers' attitudes towards their marital relationship and partner, their infants, themselves as fathers, and the pregnancy/childbirth experience . Fathers agreed on being elated with fatherhood, wanting tactile, verbal, and extended home contact with their infants, planning on a partnership in parenting, and seeing their marriage at a high point. They saw pregnancy as a time of stress and adjustment and felt father participation was important. Their attitudes varied most on wife's performance and their own helpfulness through labor and delivery. The variance and the numerous relationships of the 50 variables were consolidated through factor analysis. 2 x 2 ANOVA on eight factors revealed the effects of preparation and participation. It was found that participation increases the father's respect for his wife, gives him more purpose in the childbirth, and increases his elation at becoming a father. The prepared and participating father realized the importance and responsibili ty of his ~articipation and perceived his infant as being perfect. A trend was seen between preparation and concerns with the infant time involvement, the pleasure with the news of pregnancy. and a desire to go through the childbirth experience again. Herit was also given to a lack of preparation and participation through the results of analysis on Factor II--The triad. The nonprepared nonparticipating fathers saw the marriage a t a high point, showed tactile and visual engrossment, and planned on a parenting partnership more than any other group of fathers in the sample.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UTAHS/oai:digitalcommons.usu.edu:etd-3338 |
| Date | 01 May 1981 |
| Creators | Ryser, Janice |
| Publisher | DigitalCommons@USU |
| Source Sets | Utah State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | All Graduate Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | Copyright for this work is held by the author. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user. For more information contact Andrew Wesolek (andrew.wesolek@usu.edu). |
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