Extra-Biblical Confirmation of the Importance of Fathers in Early Years of A Child

Purpose: Today we will continue to see how extra-biblical studies confirm that obedience to God’s Principles of the importance of fathers in the lives of children.

• The importance of father for new born health
• The importance of father for infant development

Our Study’s Biblical Principle: “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), 3 so that it may turn out well for you, and that you may live long on the earth..” (Ephesians 6:1-3)

From this passage we see the importance of honoring our father. One of the reasons we honor our fathers is because fathers are so important for a child’s life even in the early years of a child.

Some methodological precaution:

•            Keep in mind Correlation does not always mean causation; yet correlation and patterns are important.
•            Don’t confuse primary motivation for obedience versus getting good side effects

1. The problem of newborn health
   1. The issue: Lack of fathers is a problem even right at the start of a child’s life in ways that some people don’t expect: survival rate in the womb.
   1. The Finding in Studies:
      1. There is a study reported in Maternal and Child Health Journal2010 / 09 Vol. 14; Iss. 5 titled “The Impact of Paternal Involvement on Feto-Infant Morbidity Among Whites, Blacks and Hispanics”[1]
         1. From the abstract the stated goal of the study: “Few studies have examined paternal involvement in relation to feto-infant health; therefore we aim to assess the impact of absence of the father on birth outcomes among racial-ethnic subgroups.”[2]
         1. From the abstract how the studies was done: “Florida vital statistics records for singleton births occurring between 1998 and 2005 were used for this study. Births to women less than 20 years of age and births outside the gestational age range of 20-44 weeks were excluded. Adjusted and unadjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were generated to examine the impact of paternal involvement, as defined by presence of paternal information on the birth certificate, on feto-infant morbidity across racial-ethnic sub-populations.”[3]
         1. Finding: “There were higher rates of low birth weight, very low birth weight, preterm birth, very preterm birth, and small for gestational age (SGA) among father-absent births. Within each racial-ethnic subgroup, women with absent fathers had higher risks of poor birth outcomes than their counterparts with involved fathers. Black women with absent fathers had the highest risk of low birth weight, very low birth weight, preterm birth, very preterm birth, and SGA”[4]
            1. Note physical outcomes are detrimental among father-absent births.
            1. No matter what the ethnicity one who is in father-absent births
      1. There is a study reported in Journal of Community Health2011 / 02 Vol. 36; Iss. 1 titled “Assessing the impact of paternal involvement on racial/ethnic disparities in infant mortality rates”[5]
         1. From the abstract the stated goal of the study: “Few studies have examined paternal involvement in relation to feto-infant health; therefore we aim to assess the impact of absence of the father on birth outcomes among racial-ethnic subgroups.”[6]
         1. From the abstract how the studies was done: “Using vital records data from singleton births in Florida between 1998 and 2005, we generated odds ratios (OR), 95% confidence intervals (CI), and preventative fractions to assess the association between paternal involvement and infant mortality. Paternal involvement status was based on presence/absence of paternal first and/or last name on the birth certificate. Disparities in infant mortality were observed between and within racial/ethnic subpopulations.” [7]
         1. The amount of infants in this research was not miniscule; there were a total of 1,397,801 infants for this study.[8]
         1. Finding: “When compared to Hispanic (NH)-white women with involved fathers, NH-black women with involved fathers had a two-fold increased risk of infant mortality whereas infants born to black women with absent fathers had a seven-fold increased risk of infant mortality. Elevated risks of infant mortality were also observed for Hispanic infants with absent fathers (OR = 3.33. 95%CI = 2.66-4.17). About 65-75% of excess mortality could be prevented with increased paternal involvement. Paternal absence widens the black-white gap in infant mortality almost four-fold.” [9]
            1. Infant morality is higher with absent fathers.
            1. What really stood out to me: “About 65-75% of excess mortality could be prevented with increased paternal involvement.”

1. The problem of infant development
   1. The issue: Lack of fathers is a problem even with young children out of the womb.
   1. The Finding in Studies:
      1. There is a study reported in The Journal of Genetic Psychology1979 / 09 Vol. 135; Iss. 1 titled “Infant development in father-absent families”[10]
         1. From the abstract what the studies involved: “In a sample of 55 black infants (age 5-6 months) living in the inner city in lower socioeconomic circumstances, 27 infants were being reared by their mothers in single-parent families” [11]
         1. Finding: “Male infants who had experienced minimal interaction with their fathers were significantly lower on the Bayley Mental Developmental Index and in measures of social responsiveness, secondary circular reactions, and preferences for novel stimuli. Female infants in this sample appeared unaffected by the father’s presence or absence. After weighing alternative interpretations of the findings, we conclude that the father is a significant component in the early environment and that both observational studies and conceptual development of the role of the father in infancy are needed.” [12]
            1. Fascinating: females are not affected by father’s presence or absence.
            1. But not true with boys.
      1. There is a study reported in Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry1995 / 1 Vol. 34; Iss. 1 titled “Father involvement and cognitive/behavioral outcomes of preterm infants”[13]
         1. What follows is from their abstract[14]:
            1. Objective: To assess the independent effect of father involvement on intellectual and behavioral outcome of 985 low birth weight preterm infants followed longitudinally from birth to age 3 years as part of the Infant Health and Development Program.
            2. Method: The sample for this study is drawn from eight urban sites, composed largely of ethnically diverse and relatively disadvantaged families. On the basis of a combined score for father’s stable presence in the home and amount of play with the infant, we defined extreme groups of high-involvement fathers (33%, n = 305) and low-involvement fathers (16%, n = 148), with the remainder as a middle group (51%).
            3. Results: Most fathers played a meaningful role as play partner with their high-risk infants. Approximately 75% of fathers were reported to play with the baby every day at 12 (peak), 24, and 36 months. Fathers who were black, younger, had teenage mothers as companions, or were from low-income families were less involved with their infants. For black fathers, low family income was significantly associated with low father involvement. Within the black ethnic subgroup only, higher father involvement was associated with improved cognitive outcome. Mean IQ for the high-involvement subgroup was 6.00 points higher than for the low-involvement group even after adjusting for family income, neonatal health, treatment group status, and paternal age.
            4. Conclusion: Father involvement enhances cognitive outcome in black families and may have implications for intervention.

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[1] Studies can be downloaded at https://booksc.org/book/8067316/d8061f

[2]  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19526333/

[3]  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19526333/

[4]  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19526333/

[5] Studies can be downloaded at https://booksc.org/book/8027550/ef14f1

[6] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20512407/

[7] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20512407/

[8] Mentioned in https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19526333/  

[9] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20512407/

[10] Studies can be downloaded at https://booksc.org/book/37084611/02f10c  

[11] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/512643/

[12] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/512643/

[13] Studies can be downloaded at https://booksc.org/book/23898842/28d078

[14] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7860458/