A Study To Assess The Knowledge And Attitude On Child Rearing Practices Among Fathers Of & Children Of 1-6 Years Of Age, In Kasturba Hospital, Manipal

Introduction

The most important factor in a child's healthy development is to have at least one strong relationship (attachment) with a caring adult who values the well-being of the child. A father is an involved father if his relationship with his child can be described as being sensitive, warm, close, friendly, supportive, intimate, nurturing, affectionate, encouraging, comforting, and accepting. In addition, fathers are classified as being involved if their child has developed a strong, secure attachment to them. The role of the father in child rearing is limited, whereas mothers assume primary responsibility for childcare duties However, recent social and demographic changes as well as increasing full time employment of wives increase pressure for fathers to become more actively involved in child rearing.¹

Palkovitz (1997) broadened the conceptualization of childrearing with reference to 15 categories of paternal involvement that included: Communication (listening, talking, showing love); Teaching (role modeling, encouraging activities and interests); Monitoring (friends, homework); Cognitive processes (worrying, planning, praying); Errands; Caregiving, (feeding, bathing); Shared interests (reading together); Availability; Planning (activities, birthdays); Shared activities (shopping, playing together); Providing (food, clothing); Affection; Protection; and Supporting emotionality (encouraging the child).²

A Korean based study by Jung (2000) explored the possible antecedents of paternal child rearing in middle-class, two-parent, Korean families by addressing the intergenerational similarities and differences in child rearing practices and attitudes . The study concluded with the finding that paternal job satisfaction (p< 0.01), and relationship with their own mother         (p< 0.001), as

well as paternal educational attainment (p< 0.05)

predicted fathering behaviors with respect to child sexuality and parental rules (p < 0.001).³

A comparative study was conducted by Rodolfo in 2005 about parenting knowledge in a sample 70 married Brazilian couples in Rio De Janeiro. Snowball sampling technique was used to select the participants. Knowledge on infant development inventory was collected and a sociodemographic questionnaire was distributed and hierarchial regression analysis was used to know whether gender, education status predicted the knowledge scores. The study found out that the average knowledge scores in mothers was found to be significantly higher than that of father's knowledge scores and that in mothers, the education [F(1,69) - 15.13] and child's age[F(2,69)-3.92] predicted knowledge score, that is older mothers with more education and older children had higher knowledge scores but for fathers only education predicted knowledge 4 score.

Although fathers became a topic of interest and research, few Indian studies have specifically examined fathers knowledge and attitude in child rearing. Understanding the parent-child relationship is fundamental to nursing of children and families. Fathers have a key role in the development of a child and their attitude and involvement in child rearing brings about sociopsychological changes in the child's growing periods .

The investigator's clinical and personal experience provided rich insight into the problem. Studies regarding paternal attitude in childrearing are studied less in Indian population. This study is undertaken since studies on paternal knowledge, attitude and perceived paternal involvement in childrearing are few in number.

The purpose of the study was to assess the knowledge and attitude of fathers    in childrearing practices. The findings of the study would help to identify the ways to improve the role of the father in childrearing. Child rearing practices mainly include practices related to nutrition, health, milestone development, immunization, accidents, toilet training and the strategies to meet the physical, socio-economical and cognitive needs of children as they develop. The information gained will help the health care personnel in planning educational activities for the father in the future.

Materials and method

A descriptive correlational survey was done among conveniently selected 150 fathers of hospitalised children of 1-6 years of age from the Paediatric out patient department and Paediatric medicine wards of Kasturba Hospital, Manipal

A demographic proforma was used which had ten items that were divided into two sections namely; data related to the father such as age, religion, type of family ,number of children, monthly income of family, education and occupation and data related to the child such as age , gender and birth order.

The knowledge questionnaire had thirty items under different areas of child rearing practices namely nutrition, health, milestone development, immunization, accidents and toilet training with four response options for each question and the correct response was assigned a score of one and the incorrect item was assigned a score of zero. According to the scores obtained, the fathers were categorized into having poor knowledge with scores between (1-10), satisfactory knowledge with scores between (11-20) and good knowledge with scores between (21-30).

The attitude rating scale had thirteen items with four responses to each item ranging from always, sometimes, rarely and never. According to the scores obtained, the fathers were categorized into having unfavourable attitude with scores between (13-25), moderately favourable attitude with scores between (26-38) and favourable attitude with scores between (39-52).

The tools were validated by seven experts. Reliability of Knowledge questionnaire was done by spilt half method and r value was 0.87, Attitude scale was done by cronbach's alpha method and r value was 0.7. Hence the tools were found reliable.

After obtaining the ethical approval from the institutional ethical committee Kasturba Hospital,Manipal data was collected. The subject information sheet about the study and informed consent were given to the fathers. After obtaining informed consent, the four tools were administered. The fathers were asked to read the instructions of each tool and complete each item accordingly.

Results

Discussion

The present study shows that a majority 100 (66.1%) of the fathers had satisfactory knowledge in child rearing practices with a mean knowledge score on childrearing practices of 19.34 +/- 2.471. Similar to the present findings, a comparative study conducted by Rodolfo in 2005 about parenting knowledge in a sample 70 married brazilian couples in Rio De Janeiro found out that the average knowledge scores in mothers (M= 0.69, SD= 0.09) was found to be significantly higher than that of father's knowledge scores(M= 0.64, SD= 0.09).⁴

The present study findings showed that there is no association between attitude and demographic variables on childrearing practices. The present study findings are supported by a comparative study conducted by Lewis in 2000 to examine the sociodemographic characteristics and attitudes of primary care giving fathers and non-primary care giving fathers and the quality of their interaction with their infants. It was observed that the primary care giving fathers had lower occupational status and earned a smaller proportion of the family income but did not differ in educational level or attitudes compared with non primary care giving fathers.⁵

The present study shows that there is no association between attitude and educational level of the father ,this finding is contraindicated in a Korean based survey by Jung explored the possible antecedents of paternal child rearing in middle-class, two-parent, Korean families by addressing the intergenerational similarities and differences in child rearing practices and attitudes . The study concluded with the finding that paternal job satisfaction (p< 0.01), and relationship with their own mother (p< .001), as well as paternal educational attainment        (p< 0.05) predicted fathering behaviors with respect to child sexuality and parental rules       (p < 0.001).

Conclusion

The present study shows that majority of the fathers had satisfactory knowledge in childrearing practices and had favourable attitude in childrearing practices.. From this study it can be inferred that there is no relationship between knowledge and attitude of fathers on child rearing. The study also shows that there is significant association between knowledge and type of family, thus it can be interpreted that knowledge is dependent on type of family and independent of other variables.

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Figure 1

Pie diagram showing father's knowledge on of child

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Figure 2

Pie diagram showing father's attitude on child rearing N=150

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