1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«The first objective of this study was to investigate the contribution of fathers’ resources (levels of education and income), number of hours devoted to paid work, and gender role to parental involvement among adoptive families headed by two gay fathers. […] The second objective was to examine the contribution of parental involvement, task sharing (perception of equity, level of specialization, dissatisfaction), and fathers’ gender role to child socioemotional adjustment.» (p. 3)

Questions/Hypothèses :
According to the first objective, author «hypothesized that higher education and income levels will be linked to less involvement in childcare. [They] also hypothesized that fathers whose gender role deviates from the traditional male role, especially those having higher femininity scores, will be more involved with their child, especially in providing physical care and emotional support.» (p. 3) Concerning the second objective, they «hypothesized that high levels of involvement and more egalitarian sharing of tasks will be associated with lower scores of internalizing and externalizing symptoms in children.» (p. 3)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
«A sample of 92 gay fathers and their 46 children were recruited from across the province of Québec. Fathers ranged in age from 30 to 60 years (M 40.23 years).» (p. 3)

Instruments :
Questionnaires

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

Results show that «[f]athers’ income and scores of femininity were significant predictors of involvement whereas dissatisfaction with the sharing of parenting tasks was the only predictor of child adjustment. […] In the present study, high levels of involvement were found for physical play and emotional support, whereas disciplining the child yielded the lowest score. Engaging in physical play with their child is quite typical of fathers in most industrialized societies but providing emotional support is not […]. As hypothesized, gay fathers whose gender role deviates from the traditional male role, more specifically androgynous fathers, reported higher levels of overall involvement with their child than masculine fathers. However, involvement in emotional support, physical play, physical care, and evocation did not differ as a function of gender role. Fathers with high scores of femininity and low scores of masculinity did not provide more emotional support than other fathers and they were as engaged in physical play with their child. The relationships between gender role and fathers’ involvement seem to be more complex than predicted and should be further explored.» (p. 7) Moreover, overall «involvement was not correlated with children’s externalizing and internalizing symptoms as expected. Fathers’ high level of involvement could nevertheless account for the low percentages of children with behavior problems.» (p. 7)