Childrearing fathers in intact families with preschoolers: U.S.A. and Israel

Parallel studies of middle-class intact families with a preschool child and varying degrees of paternal involvement in childcare, ranging from high to low, were conducted in Israel and the United States. In the Israeli sample of 60 (30 boys and 30 girls) it was found that the amount and quality of father involvement, assessed through six indices, were closely associated with the six measures of children's characteristics employed because of their theoretical linkage to paternal childrearing. In addition, all of the indices correlated significantly with the father's perceptions of his own father's behaviors. In the USA sample of 59 (31 boys and 27 girls) only two of the same father indices were associated with three of the child measures and almost none were linked with scores reflecting father perceptions of his own father. In both countries, however, the child's internality was positively correlated with paternal involvement in childcare. The different patterns of association obtained in Israel and the USA are discussed in terms of characteristics of the two societies and both social learning and reciprocal role theory.