MEASUREMENT PROPERTIES OF FATHER INVOLVEMENT CONSTRUCTS

描述（由申请人提供）：父性研究中忽略了不同人群中父性结构的测量特性。 这个项目的目标是检查的心理测量学特性的父亲参与结构的父亲和孩子的三个调查的一部分，一个非凡的正在进行的项目，发展中的爸爸调查（DADS）。 措施是基于兰姆等人，(1985，1987）和Palkovitz（1997）的概念框架，涵盖了参与，可访问性和责任的结构。 拟议的研究将评估内部和跨每个调查：（1）缺失数据和无响应的措施的水平;（2）父亲参与量表的可靠性;（3）父亲参与结构的有效性;（4）提供基准估计的父亲参与结构与其他调查估计。 弱测量将是那些大量缺失信息，低可靠性（量表），那些不合理和非实质性的差异，从可比样本的测量，以及那些不相关的社会和经济因素的基础上，现有的文献和理论。 对三次调查可比计量的审查可能表明，有些概念主要适用于一个或另一个群体，例如已婚或未婚父亲，因此有必要制定针对这些群体的计量，或扩大现有计量，以更好地反映分组差异。 这项研究将提供一套父亲参与的措施，已在不同的人群中进行了测试，是可靠的，有效的，已知与儿童的结果，并可以被研究人员广泛使用，以了解父亲参与儿童的福祉和发展的重要性。 将使用三个数据来源，每个来源都提供了关于父亲参与的独特视角：早期儿童纵向研究出生队列（ECLS-B），早期开端评估研究（EHS）和脆弱家庭和儿童福祉研究（脆弱家庭）。 有可靠的，内部一致的，有效的措施，父亲参与将是有用的研究人员谁将分析这些数据库，谁设计新的措施，谁正在开发新的调查，如全国儿童研究（NCS）。 这项研究将有利于更广泛的研究界确定高质量的父亲的措施，并增加了科学的理解父亲如何影响儿童的发展。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The measurement properties of fatherhood constructs across varied populations have been neglected in fatherhood research. The goal of this project is to examine the psychometric properties of father involvement constructs in three surveys of fathers and children as part of an extraordinary ongoing project, the Developing a Daddy Survey (DADS). Measures are based on the Lamb et al., (1985, 1987) and Palkovitz (1997) conceptual frameworks that cover the constructs of engagement, accessibility, and responsibility. The proposed study will assess within and across each survey: (1) The levels of missing data and non-response on measures; (2) the reliability of father involvement scales; (3) the validity of father involvement constructs; and (4) provide benchmark estimates of father involvement constructs with other survey estimates. Weak measures will be those with substantial missing information, low reliability (for scales), those that differ unreasonably and unsubstantially from measures in comparable samples, and those that do not correlate with social and economic factors on the basis of available literature and theory. An examination of comparable measures across the three surveys may indicate that some constructs are primarily useful in one or another group, e.g. married or unmarried fathers, and could warrant the development of measures specific to these groups or the broadening of current measures to better reflect sub-group differences. The study will provide a set of father involvement measures that have been tested among varied populations, and that are reliable, valid, known to be associated with child outcomes, and which can be widely used by researchers to understand the importance of father involvement to child well-being and development. Three sources of data will be used, each of which provides a unique perspective on father involvement: The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Birth Cohort (ECLS-B), the Early Head Start Evaluation Study (EHS), and the Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study (Fragile Families). Having reliable, internally consistent, valid measures of father involvement will be useful to researchers who will analyze these databases, who design new measures, and who are developing new surveys such as the National Child Study (NCS). This research will benefit the wider research community by identifying high quality fatherhood measures and adding to the scientific understanding of how fathers influence the development of children.