Father's Stress on the Adaptation to Fatherhood and its Predictors

Iwata Hiroko, Mori Emi, Maehara Sumiko

doi:10.5630/jans1981.18.3_21

The purpose of this study was to determine the degree of stress encountered by fathers during the adaptation to fatherhood process, and to examine the relationships between a father's level of stress and twelve conditions, which included: perception of the role of father, social support, coping mechanisms, marital relationship, wife employ-ment status, family's income, working hours outside of home, educational background, desire/or not to have a child, level of satisfaction with labor experience, attendance at prenatal classes, and prior experience with infants. Data was collected using survey methodology. One hundred and eighty-three fathers who had infants between the ages of two and five months completed the questionnaire. Findings included the following: 1) Two to five months after birth, the degree of father's stress of father's role was not nec-essarily high. This may be because the fathers had found gratification in their role of fatherhood. 2) The level of the father's stress was related to the father's perception of his role, social support, and coping mechanisms. Fathers who had a positive perception of their role and a higher level of satisfaction with their social support systems showed lower levels of stress. In addition, fathers who had positive attitudes toward their father role showed lower levels of stress, while fathers who's attitudes were passive showed higher levels of stress. 3) Inexperienced fathers, those who had better marital relation-ships and higher satisfaction with labor experiences, showed lower levels of stress. In addition, inexperienced fathers, who's wives did not have a job outside of the home and attended prenatal classes, showed lower levels of stress. Experienced fathers, those who had better marital relationships and actual supporter for infant's care, showed lower lev-els of stress.<BR>These findings suggest that it is important to assess new fathers to determine how they perceive their father's role, whether they have the necessary social support, and how they cope with the change in their daily lives and their additional roles. Finally, nursing interventions could help fathers adapt to their new roles of fatherhood.

Father's Stress on the Adaptation to Fatherhood and its Predictors

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