Integrating results from multiple countries to develop an empirically-based model of father involvement

To integrate information that researchers in different countries have discovered about the effects of father involvement on children’s, mothers’, and fathers’ lives, it would be useful to develop an empirically-based model, based on published findings. To meet this objective, a systematic literature review was conducted, using texts retrieved from: APA PsycNET, Bireme, PEPSIC, Web of Science, and IndexPsi Periódicos. The descriptors used were “involvement” and “father”, crossed with “measure”, “scale”, “tool” or “instrument”, in both the English and Portuguese languages. In total, 39 complete texts with empirical data on father involvement were found, involving studies conducted in 16 countries, concentrated in two continents (the Americas: North – 38.4%, South – 23.0%; and Europe – 30.7%; and one study, each, from Africa, Asia and Australasia). To structure an initial version of the model, statistically significant results reported in these texts were organized into three blocks: (a) antecedents – 12 psychosocial factors that affect father involvement, related to the father, the mother, and the child, (b) behaviours – nine dimensions of father involvement, and (c) consequences – 12 indicators of impacts of this involvement on the lives of the children and their parents. Using this model as a starting point, in future work, intervening cultural factors that account for significant differences in father involvement can be included. This model may also be helpful in identifying ways to strengthen intervention programs, as it specifies a wider range of variables than most researchers mention, increasing the visibility of the many ways of supporting the father-child relationship.