Paternal Reflective Functioning & Its Impact on Joint Play

In Western societies, fathers are more involved in child-care responsibilities (Schoppe-Sullivan et al., 2021), and their relationships with their children play a significant role in children’s development (Benbassat & Priel, 2015). Father-son relationships and their manifestation of views such as masculinity can specifically lead to a child’s aggressiveness and impact the son’s identity and social-emotional development (Casselman & Rosenbaum, 2014). Father-son relationships can be impacted by the father’s Reflective Functioning (RF), how the father understands his own feelings and his reasoning for different interactions, which shape a child’s social skills development (Borelli et al., 2016).

AIM: Explore the correlations between the father’s RF, supportive behavior during joint play, and masculine views.

METHOD: University’s institutional review board approved this observational study. The study included heterosexual fathers over 18 and their typically developing sons between 4-8 years. Fathers completing a set of self-report questionnaires: Male Role Norms Inventory-Revised (MRNI-R, Levant et al., 2007), and the Rumination-Reflection Questionnaire (Trapnell & Campbell, 1999); and father-child’s play at the home environment was video-recorded via zoom then assessed using the Parent Support of Child Playfulness (PC-SCP; Waldman-Levi & Bundy, 2016). Spearman’s r was used and p was set to <0.05.

RESULTS: We recruited 20 typically developing children and their fathers. There was no significant correlation between the father’s RF and the support provided to the child during joint play, however, we did find the higher the father’s RF, the lower his view was of traditional masculine ideology and vice versa.

CONCLUSIONS: Identifying paternal behaviors and views can help occupational therapists develop interventions that will foster the child’s development, social skills, and future relationships.  

References

Borelli, J. L., St. John, H. K., Cho, E., & Suchman, N. E. (2016). Reflective functioning in parents of school-aged children. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 86(1), 24–36. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000141

Schoppe-Sullivan, S. J., Shafer, K., Olofson, E. L., & Kamp Dush, C. M. (2021). Fathers’ parenting and coparenting behavior in dual-earner families: Contributions of traditional masculinity, father nurturing role beliefs, and maternal gate closing. Psychology of Men & Masculinities, 22(3), 538–550. https://doi.org/10.1037/men0000336

Trapnell, P.D., & Campbell, J.D. (1999). Rumination-Reflection Questionnaire [Database record]. Retrieved from PsycTESTS. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/t07094-000

Waldman-Levi, A. & Bundy, A. (2016). A glimpse into co-occupations: Parent/Caregiver’s Support of Young Children’s Playfulness Scale. Occupational Therapy in Mental Health, 32(3), 217–227. https://doi.org/10.1080/0164212X.2015.1116420