Rural Environments, Social Networks, and Paternal Contributions to Infant Development

项目摘要 这项拟议中的研究旨在调查在美国长大的黑人儿童的健康发展情况。 资源贫乏的农村环境。长期目标是提供有关家庭关系的信息， 重点关注父亲的行为，这将为制定有效的计划和政策提供信息，以阻止健康 在美国南部的农村黑人儿童中观察到的教育差异。在第一 2岁时，神经认知和情感系统的关键发展通过社会互动发生 和看护人一起产妇对发展的贡献是众所周知的;新的研究还表明， 父亲与婴儿的关系是重要的因素。然而，这项研究主要集中在夫妇身上。 已婚或处于类似婚姻关系中的人。农村社区的大多数黑人过渡到 婚姻之外的父亲身份或稳定的同居关系。暴露于经济和其他背景 压力源会损害家庭关系，破坏父亲与婴儿的关系。尽管 这些挑战，最近的研究表明，大多数未婚的黑人父亲找到办法保持 参与孩子的生活与他们成功克服障碍， 父亲没有被调查。我们的方法是基于这样一个前提： 高度贫困的农村环境不能脱离社交网络来理解， 贫困的挑战。因此，本研究的第一个目的是考察保护性社会的影响， 父亲与婴儿关系的网络。第二个目的是调查父亲的行为， 最有可能促进婴儿的发育。关于黑人父亲所谓脱离接触的假设 他们的孩子发起了一项关注黑人父亲与孩子在一起的时间的活动。 新的研究表明，增加父亲与孩子在一起的时间， 促进婴儿发育。相反，近距离父婴互动的质量尤为突出。 据我们所知，没有研究人员收集了（a）关于父亲的详细的前瞻性数据， 婴儿行为或（B）与该人群的父-婴互动的观察数据。我们建议 从格鲁吉亚农村社区招募250对未婚并期待第一次婚姻的年轻黑人夫妇 孩子准妈妈和准爸爸将在妊娠晚期（基线）入组。 当婴儿3岁时，父亲、母亲和共同照顾者将参加3次随访数据收集访视 月龄、12个月龄和24个月龄。我们将实现多线人、多方法数据 从父母和共同照顾者的自我报告中收集策略，观察父母-婴儿互动 和婴儿发展，以及来自母亲和父亲的社交网络数据。

Project Summary The proposed study is designed to investigate the healthy development of young Black children growing up in resource-poor rural environments. The long-term goal is to provide information on family relationships, with a focus on fathering behaviors that will inform the development of effective programs and policies to deter health and educational disparities observed among rural Black children in the Southern United States. During the first 2 years of life, crucial development in neurocognitive and affective systems occurs through social interactions with caregivers. Maternal contributions to development are well known; emerging research also indicates that father-infant relationships are important contributors. This research, however, focuses primarily on couples who are married or are in marriage-like relationships. Most Black men in rural communities transition to fatherhood outside of marriage or stable cohabitating relationships. Exposure to economic and other contextual stressors can take a toll on family relationships, undermining fathers’ relationships with their infants. Despite these challenges, recent research indicates that the majority of unmarried Black fathers find ways to remain involved in their children’s lives. The processes associated with their success in surmounting barriers to fathering have not been investigated. Our approach is informed by the premise that research on fathering in high-poverty, rural environments cannot be understood outside the social networks that emerge in response to the challenges of poverty. Therefore, the first aim of this study is to examine the influence of protective social networks on fathers’ relationships with their infants. A second aim is to investigate the fathering behaviors that are most likely to facilitate infant development. Assumptions regarding Black fathers’ purported disengagement from their children has sponsored a focus on the amount of time Black fathers spend with their children. Emerging research suggests that increasing the quantity of fathers’ time with children is of limited value in facilitating infant development. Rather, the quality of proximal father-infant interactions is particularly salient. We are aware of no studies in which researchers have collected (a) detailed, prospective data on fathers’ caregiving behavior or (b) observational data on father-infant interactions with this population. We propose to recruit 250 young Black couples from rural Georgia communities who are unmarried and expecting their first child. Expectant mothers and fathers will be enrolled during the third trimester of pregnancy (Baseline). Fathers, mothers, and co-caregivers will participate in 3 follow up data collection visits when infants are 3 months, 12 months, and 24 months of age. We will implement a multi-informant and multi-method data collection strategy with self-reports from parents and co-caregivers, observations of parent-infant interactions and infant development, and social network data from mothers and fathers.