Abstract
In refugee contexts, relatively little is known about men’s child- and family-directed behaviours and even less about the impacts of father involvement. We examine father and mother reports of levels of father involvement, and their associations with family functioning and child development during forced displacement. In 2021–22, we prospectively collected data from Syrian refugee families with 4–8 year old children in Jordan, at two time points (father-mother-child triads, n = 160 at T1, n = 105 at T2). Syrian fathers viewed themselves as highly involved with their children, but mothers disagreed: fathers rated themselves as 13% more involved with their children than mothers reported them to be. Levels of father involvement were largely unrelated to child outcomes. However, spousal disagreement about father involvement was negatively associated with relationship quality, mother mental health, and child social emotional learning (SEL). In the most discordant families, child SEL was more than a standard deviation (43%) below levels observed in the most concordant families. This study builds the evidence base for the impacts of father involvement in refugee families and deepens understanding of father-mother reporting discordance. In terms of impacts, there is an important distinction between levels of father involvement and levels of father-mother agreement about father involvement. Helping parents negotiate caregiving interactions and responsive parenting may benefit child mental health and social emotional learning.
Highlights
-
Syrian refugee fathers viewed themselves as highly involved with their 4–8 year-old children; their wives did not.
-
Levels of father involvement were largely unrelated to child outcomes.
-
Discordance about father involvement was negatively associated with family relationships, mother mental health, and child SEL.
-
In the most discordant families, child SEL was 43% below levels observed in the most concordant families.
-
Helping parents negotiate fathering-related expectations may benefit children’s mental health and SEL.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
The data are in a data depository at: https://osf.io/8bm6y.
Abbreviations
- SEL:
-
social emotional learning
References
Almakhamreh, S., Asfour, H. Z., & Hutchinson, A. (2022). Negotiating patriarchal relationships to become economically active: an insight into the agency of Syrian refugee women in Jordan using frameworks of womanism and intersectionality. British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 49(4), 595–613.
Amodia-Bidakowska, A., Laverty, C., & Ramchandani, P. G. (2020). Father-child play: A systematic review of its frequency, characteristics and potential impact on children’s development. Developmental Review, 57, 100924.
Arakelyan, S., & Ager, A. (2021). Annual Research Review: A multilevel bioecological analysis of factors influencing the mental health and psychosocial well‐being of refugee children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 62(5), 484–509.
Barker, B., Iles, J. E., & Ramchandani, P. G. (2017). Fathers, fathering and child psychopathology. Current Opinion in Psychology, 15, 87–92.
Belsky, J. (1984). The determinants of parenting: A process model. Child Development, 83-96.
Beni Yonis, O., Khader, Y., Al-Mistarehi, A. H., Khudair, S. A., & Dawoud, M. (2021). Behavioural and emotional symptoms among schoolchildren: a comparison between Jordanians and Syrian refugees. Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal, 27(12), 1162–1172. https://doi.org/10.26719/emhj.21.072.
Boterhoven de Haan, et al. (2015). Reliability and validity of a short version of the General Functioning Subscale of the McMaster Family Assessment Device. Family Process, 54, 116–123.
Bryant, R. A., Edwards, B., Creamer, M., O’Donnell, M., Forbes, D., Felmingham, K. L., & Hadzi-Pavlovic, D. (2018). The effect of post-traumatic stress disorder on refugees’ parenting and their children’s mental health: a cohort study. The Lancet Public Health, 3(5), e249–e258.
Cabrera, N. J., Fitzgerald, H. E., Bradley, R. H., & Roggman, L. (2014). The ecology of father‐child relationships: An expanded model. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 6(4), 336–354.
Charles, P., Spielfogel, J., Gorman-Smith, D., Schoeny, M., Henry, D., & Tolan, P. (2018). Disagreement in parental reports of father involvement. Journal of Family Issues, 39(2), 328–351.
Christophersen, M. (2015). Securing education for Syrian refugees in Jordan. https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep09545.8.
Coley, R. L., & Morris, J. E. (2002). Comparing father and mother reports of father involvement among low‐income minority families. Journal of Marriage and Family, 64(4), 982–997.
Conger, R. D., Conger, K. J., & Martin, M. J. (2010). Socioeconomic status, family processes, and individual development. Journal of Marriage and Family, 72(3), 685–704.
Cummings, E. M., Goeke-Morey, M. C., & Papp, L. M. (2004). Everyday marital conflict and child aggression. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 32, 191–202.
D’Sa, N., Krupar, A., & Westrope, C. (2019). Feasible measurement of learning in emergencies: lessons from Uganda. Forced Migration Review, (60), 74-75.
Dajani, R. (2017). Promising practices in refugee education: We love reading: Promoting literacy and education through reading aloud in community settings, Pearson, Save the Children International, UNHCR, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. https://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/document/promising-practices-in-refugee-education-4/.
Dakin, J., & Wampler, R. (2008). Money doesn’t buy happiness, but it helps: Marital satisfaction, psychological distress, and demographic differences between low-and middle-income clinic couples. The American Journal of Family Therapy, 36(4), 300–311.
Dingus, D., Eckert, M., Ridge, N., & Jeon, S. (2022). The influence of father involvement on their children’s self-esteem in the Arab world. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 53(1), 104–130.
Diniz, E., Brandao, T., Monteiro, L., & Verissimo, M. (2021). Father involvement during early childhood: A systematic review of the literature. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 13(1), 77–99.
Dumka, L. E., Stoerzinger, H. D., Jackson, K. M., & Roosa, M. W. (1996). Examination of the cross-cultural and cross-language equivalence of the parenting self-agency measure. Family Relations, 216-222.
El Kharouf, A., Abualbasal, A., Abbadi, H. S., & Weir, D. (2021). The entrepreneurship ecosytem for enhacing women’s entrepreneurship in Jordan. In: Women, Entrepreneurship and Development in the Middle East, edited by B. D. Metcalfe, B. L. Bastian, H. Al-Dajani. New York: Routledge, pp.133-151.
Elanbari, G. (2015). Translation and validation of the Arabic-Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale (A-RDAS). Texas: St. Mary’s University.
Elgar, F. J., Waschbusch, D. A., Dadds, M. R., & Sigvaldason, N. (2007). Development and validation of a short form of the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 16(2), 243–259.
Eltanamly, H., Leijten, P., Jak, S., & Overbeek, G. (2021). Parenting in times of war: A meta-analysis and qualitative synthesis of war exposure, parenting, and child adjustment. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 22(1), 147–160.
Fazel, M., Reed, R. V., Panter-Brick, C., & Stein, A. (2011). Mental health of refugee and internally displaced children resettled in high-income countries: risk and protective factors. The Lancet, 379(9812), 266–282.
Feldman, R. (2023). Father contribution to human resilience. Development and Psychopathology, 1-18.
Flanagan, N., Travers, A., Vallières, F., Hansen, M., Halpin, R., Sheaf, G., & Johnsen, A. T. (2020). Crossing borders: A systematic review identifying potential mechanisms of intergenerational trauma transmission in asylum-seeking and refugee families. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 11(1), 1790283.
Frounfelker, R. L., Miconi, D., Farrar, J., Brooks, M. A., Rousseau, C., & Betancourt, T. S. (2020). Mental health of refugee children and youth: epidemiology, interventions, and future directions. Annual Review of Public Health, 41, 159–176.
Garcia, I. L., L. C. H. Fernald, F. E. Aboud, R. Otieno, E. Alu, J. E. Luoto (2022). Father involvement and early child development in a low-resource setting. Social Science & Medicine, 302. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.114933.
Gardner, W., Murphy, M., Childs, G., Kelleher, K., Pagano, M., Jellinek, M., ... & Sturner, R. (1999). The PSC-17: A brief pediatric symptom checklist with psychosocial problem subscales. A report from PROS and ASPN. Ambulatory Child Health, 5(3), 225–236..
Hadfield, K., Al-Hamad, M., Bakhti, R., Dajani, R., El Kharouf, A., Michalek, J., … & Mareschal, I. (2022). Predictors of literacy and attitudes toward reading among Syrian refugee children in Jordan. International Journal of Early Childhood, 1-21.
Hadfield, K., Al-Hamad, M., Dajani, R., El Kharouf, A., Michalek, J., Qtaishat, L., von Stumm, S., & Mareschal, I. (2024). Effectiveness of a community-led shared book reading intervention in Syrian refugee children: A randomised controlled trial. PsyArxiv, https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/5u2tj.
Hein, S., Bick, J., Issa, G., Aoude, L., Maalouf, C., Awar, A., & Ponguta, L. A. (2020). Maternal perceptions of father involvement among refugee and disadvantaged families in Beirut, Lebanon. PLoS ONE, 15(3), e0229670 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0229670.
Henry, J. D., & Crawford, J. R. (2005). The short‐form version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS‐21): Construct validity and normative data in a large non‐clinical sample. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 44(2), 227–239.
Hernandez, D. C., & Coley, R. L. (2007). Measuring father involvement within low-income families: Who is a reliable and valid reporter? Parenting: Science and Practice, 7(1), 69–97.
Hodes, M., & Vostanis, P. (2019). Practitioner Review: Mental health problems of refugee children and adolescents and their management. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 60(7), 716–731.
Jeong, J., Siyal, S., Fink, G., McCoy, D. C., & Yousafzai, A. K. (2018). “His mind will work better with both of us”: A qualitative study on fathers’ roles and coparenting of young children in rural Pakistan. BMC Public Health, 18, 1274 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-6143-9.
Khraisha, Q., Sawalha, L., Hadfield, K., Al-Soleiti, M., Dajani, R., & Panter-Brick, C. (2024). Coparenting, mental health, and the pursuit of dignity: A systems-level analysis of refugee father-mother narratives. Conflict and Health.
Lamb, M. E. (2000). The history of research on father involvement: An overview. Marriage & Family Review, 29(2-3), 23–42.
Lamb, M. E. (2010). The role of the father in child development.
Lamb, M. E., Pleck, J. H., Charnov, E. L., & Levine, J. A. (1985). Paternal behavior in humans. American Zoologist, 883-894.
Lari, N., & Al-Emadi, N. (2021). Measuring Parental Involvement in Dual-Earner Qatari Families. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 1-12.
Leckman, J. F., Ponguta, L. A., Pavarini, G., Hein, S. D., McCarthy, M. F., Staiti, H., & Panter-Brick, C. (2021). Love and peace across generations: Biobehavioral systems and global partnerships. Comprehensive Psychoneuroendocrinology, 8, 100092 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666497621000667.
Lee, F. (2019). Cultivating a culture of peace and empathy in young children while empowering refugee communities. Childhood Education, 95(1), 16–23.
MacDermid Wadsworth, S. M. (2010). Family risk and resilience in the context of war and terrorism. Journal of Marriage and Family, 72(3), 537–556.
Mareschal, I., El Kharouf, A., Bakhti, R., Dajani, R., Khraisha, Q., Michalek, J., Popham, C., Qtaishat, L., von Stumm, S., & Hadfield, K. (2022, October 13). FIERCE. Retrieved from: https://osf.io/gcv5z/.
Martin, A. F., Maughan, B., Jaquiery, M., & Barker, E. D. (2022). The protective role of father behaviour in the relationship between maternal postnatal depression and child mental health. JCPP Advances, e12075.
Matte-Gagné, C., Turgeon, N. R., Bernier, A., & Cyr, C. (2021). Toward a Better Understanding of the Associations Among Different Measures of Father Involvement and Parenting Alliance. Journal of Family Issues, 0192513X211044735.
McLean K. E. & Panter-Brick C. (2022). Fathers Matter for Peace, Equity, and Social Inclusion. Policy Brief. Conflict Resilience and Health Program, Yale & International Studies Program, College of Charleston. https://ecdpeace.org/policy-brief-fathers-matter-peace-equity-and-social-inclusion.
Michalek, J., Lisi, M., Dajani, R., Hadfield, K., & Mareschal, I. (2023). Facial emotion recognition in refugee children with a history of war trauma. Emotion.
Mikelson, K. S. (2008). He said, she said: Comparing mother and father reports of father involvement. Journal of Marriage and Family, 70(3), 613–624.
Miller, K. E., & Rasmussen, A. (2017). The mental health of civilians displaced by armed conflict: an ecological model of refugee distress. Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences, 26(2), 129–138.
Miller, K. E., Chen, A., Koppenol‐Gonzalez, G. V., Bakolis, I., Arnous, M., Tossyeh, F., … & Jordans, M. J. (2023). Supporting parenting among Syrian refugees in Lebanon: a randomized controlled trial of the caregiver support intervention. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.
Ministry of Education. (2018). Education Strategic Plan. Retrieved from: https://moe.gov.jo/sites/default/files/esp_english_final.pdf.
Ndijuye, L. G., & Basil Tandika, P. (2022). Fathers’ involvement on children’s school performance among camped-refugees and local majorities’ communities in Tanzania. International Journal of Early Years Education, 30(2), 199–215.
O’Connor, T. G., Dunn, J., Jenkins, J. M., & Rasbash, J. (2006). Predictors of between‐family and within‐family variation in parent–child relationships. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 47(5), 498–510.
Panter-Brick, C., Eggerman, M., Ager, A., Hadfield, K., & Dajani, R. (2020). Measuring the psychosocial, biological, and cognitive signatures of profound stress in humanitarian settings: impacts, challenges, and strategies in the field. Conflict and Health, 14(1), 1–7.
Panter-Brick, C., Dajani, R., Eggerman, M., Hermosilla, S., Sancilio, A., & Ager, A. (2018a). Insecurity, distress, and mental health: Experimental and randomized controlled trials of a psychosocial intervention for youth affected by the Syrian crisis. The Journal of Child Psychiatry and Psychology, 59(5), 523–541. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jcpp.12832/full.
Panter‐Brick, C., Hadfield, K., Dajani, R., Eggerman, M., Ager, A., & Ungar, M. (2018b). Resilience in context: A brief and culturally-grounded measure for Syrian refugee and Jordanian host‐community adolescents. Child Development, 89(5), 1803–1820.
Pianta, R. C. (1992). Child-parent relationship scale. Unpublished measure, University of Virginia, 427.
Piskernik, B., & Ahnert, L. (2019). What does it mean when fathers are involved in parenting. Advancing research and measurement on fathering and children’s development. Monographs of the Society of Research in Child Development, 84(1), 64–78.
Pleck, J. H. (2012). Integrating father involvement in parenting research. Parenting, 12(2-3), 243–253.
Popham, C. M., McEwen, F. S., Karam, E., Fayyad, J., Karam, G., Saab, D., … & Pluess, M. (2022). Predictors of psychological risk and resilience among Syrian refugee children. Journal of child psychology and psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13670.
Radloff, L. S. (1977). The CES-D scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1(3), 385–401.
Reed, R. V., Fazel, M., Jones, L., Panter-Brick, C., & Stein, A. (2011). Mental health of displaced and refugee children resettled in low and middle-income countries: risk and protective factors. The Lancet, 379(9812), 250–265.
Schoppe‐Sullivan, S. J., & Fagan, J. (2020). The evolution of fathering research in the 21st century: Persistent challenges, new directions. Journal of Marriage and Family, 82(1), 175–197.
Seward, R. R., & Stanley-Stevens, L. (2014). Fathers, fathering, and fatherhood across cultures. Parenting Across Cultures, 459-474.
Shafer, K., & Easton, S. D. (2021). Adverse childhood experiences, psychological distress, and fathering behaviors. Journal of Marriage and Family, 83(4), 1076–1098.
Spanier, G. B. (1989). Dyadic adjustment scale. Toronto: Multi-Health Systems.
Stark, L., Robinson, M. V., & Gillespie, A., et al. (2021). Supporting mental health and psychosocial wellbeing through social and emotional learning: A participatory study of conflict-affected youth resettled to the U.S. BMC Public Health, 21, 1620 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-11674-z.
Sullivan, A. L., & Simonson, G. R. (2016). A systematic review of school-based social-emotional interventions for refugee and war-traumatized youth. Review of Educational Research, 86(2), 503–530.
Terui, T., Yoshida, K., Sasaki, M., Murakami, M., & Goto, A. (2021). The association between fathers’ self-assessment of their own parenting and mothers’ recognition of paternal support: a municipal-based cross-sectional study. Journal of Epidemiology, JE20200108.
UNHCR. (2022a). Jordan issues record number of work permits to Syrian refugees. https://www.unhcr.org/news/news-releases/jordan-issues-record-number-work-permits-syrian-refugees.
UNHCR. (2022b). Health Access and Utilization Survey: Access to Healthcare Services Among Syrian Refugees living in urban setting in Jordan. https://data2.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/90316.
UNHCR. (2023). Jordan: Statistics for Registered People of Concern. https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/93288.
UNICEF Jordan. (2019). Jordan National Social Protection Strategy 2019–2025. Ministry of Social Development. Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation. UNICEF. https://www.unicef.org/jordan/reports/jordan-national-social-protection-strategy-2019-2025.
Valdez, D., Montenegro, M. S., Crawford, B. L., Turner, R. C., Lo, W. J., & Jozkowski, K. N. (2021). Translation frameworks and questionnaire design approaches as a component of health research and practice: A discussion and taxonomy of popular translation frameworks and questionnaire design approaches. Social Science & Medicine, 278, 113931.
van Ee, E., Sleijpen, M., Kleber, R. J., & Jongmans, M. J. (2013). Father-involvement in a refugee sample: relations between posttraumatic stress and caregiving. Family Process, 52(4), 723–735.
Volling, B. L., & Cabrera, N. J. (2019). Advancing research and measurement on fathering and child development: Introducing the issues and a conceptual framework. Advancing research and measurement on fathering and children’s development. Monographs of the Society of Research in Child Development, 84(1), 7–17.
Wängqvist, M., Carlsson, J., Syed, M., Frisén, A., Lamb, M. E., & Hwang, C. P. (2022). Within family patterns of relative parental involvement across two generations of Swedish parents. Journal of Family Psychology, 36(7), 1240–1248.
Yeh, C. J., Ballard, S., Bian, H., Singh, A., Chung, C. H., Hwang, S. H., & Thongsaeng, P. (2021). An exploratory cross-cultural study: fathers’ early involvement with infants. Early Child Development and Care, 191(3), 373–388.
Yoon, S., Kim, M., Yang, J., Lee, J. Y., Latelle, A., Wang, J., & Schoppe-Sullivan, S. (2021). Patterns of father involvement and child development among families with low income. Children, 8(12), 1164.
Funding
The father data collection was funded by the Program for Refugees, Forced Displacement, and Humanitarian Responses (PRFDHR), MacMillan Centre for International and Area Studies, Yale University. The mother-child data collection was funded by an Education and Learning in Crises award from the British Academy (ERICC\190091).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare no competing interests.
Consent
The fieldworkers provided participants with a consent form in Arabic, read it aloud to ensure full comprehension regardless of literacy, allowed time for reflection and addressed any questions or concerns, before obtaining informed consent. Mothers provided written consent for children to take part, after which children provided oral consent. They confirmed their willingness to have the father interviewed and provided his contact information. Fathers gave verbal consent, as they were interviewed by phone.
Ethics Approval
The study was approved by the ethics committees of Yale University and Trinity College Dublin and by the Prime Minister’s Office in Jordan. The fieldworkers provided participants with a consent form in Arabic, read it aloud to ensure full comprehension regardless of literacy, allowed time for reflection, and addressed any questions or concerns, before obtaining informed consent. Mothers provided written consent for children to take part, after which children provided oral consent. They were asked if they were willing to have the father interviewed and, if so, provided his contact information. Fathers gave verbal consent, as they were interviewed by phone.
Additional information
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary information
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Hadfield, K., Al-Soleiti, M., Dajani, R. et al. Father Involvement and Child Development: A Prospective Study of Syrian Refugee Families. J Child Fam Stud 33, 1029–1042 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-024-02809-y
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-024-02809-y