The influence of early intervention, informal support and the family environment on trajectories of competence for fathers raising children with developmental disabilities

Abstract

Background: Scant research disentangles the relationship between parenting competence, early intervention (EI) services, the family environment and informal support among fathers of children with developmental disabilities. Aims: (1) To determine the trajectory of parental competence for fathers of children with DD from age 3 to age 15. (2) Controlling for child and family characteristics, determine the main effects of the family environment, informal support, and EI services on paternal competence when their child with a developmental disability was age 3. (3) To determine whether there were lasting effects of the family environment, informal support, and the EI service system on differences in paternal competence over time. Methods: This study used multilevel modeling to analyze longitudinal data from 93 American fathers from the Early Intervention Collaborative Study. Results: There was no significant change over time in paternal competence after controlling for various covariates. Fathers who initially reported low levels of competence when their child was three reported continuously lower competence over time. Family relationships, positive supports, and perceived helpfulness of home visits were significant predictors of paternal competence at age three. Conclusion: Implications for programs and policy include developing and adopting rigorous ways to measure and carefully monitor service provision, including assessments of paternal competence, family relationships and informal supports at the start of early intervention, and fostering continuous collaborations between providers, researchers and clinicians to address challenges in data collection.