Paternal Well-Being and Caregiving Involvement: Findings from the TI-GENERO Study in Italy

Introduction: Fatherhood plays a crucial role in child development and family dynamics. However, paternal involvement in early childcare and its association with well-being remains underexplored. The TI-GENERO study aimed to investigate paternal participation in childcare and its association with well-being. Moreover, we explored the association between parental well-being, individual resources (i.e. mentalization skills), father-child relational issues (i.e. parental mentalization, parental self-efficacy, quality of the relationship, parenting stress) and external influences (partner and societal expectations). Methods: A total of 62 fathers with at least one child under the age of three were recruited online with a snowball procedure. Participants completed the Italian version of the Psychological General Well-Being Index (PGWBI), the Parental Stress Scale (PSS), the Parenting Sense of Competence (PSOC), the Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (RFQ), the Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (PRFQ) and a scale assessing the quality of the father- child relationship. Moreover, the influence of society and partner on their desire of paternity was investigated with two ad hoc questions. Correlational analyses were conducted to explore the relationships between these factors and paternal caregiving involvement. Results: Fathers were involved in childcare for only 26% of daytime hours (compared to 46% for mothers) and 33% of nighttime hours (22:00-07:00), with mothers handling the remaining 66%. The percentage of involvement of care during night-time hours was significantly positively associated with the PGWBI total score (r=.298). In turn, PGWBI was significantly positively associated with RFQ certainty for mental states (r=.321), PSOC (r=.317), and the Quality of Father-Child relationship (r=.537). Moreover, PGWBI was significantly negatively associated with PRFQ Prementalization (r=-,396), influence of both society (r=-.272) and partner (r=-.308) expectations on their desire of fatherhood, and parental stress (r=-549). Discussion: Findings highlight a strong link between paternal well-being and involvement in childcare. Fathers experiencing greater well-being reported enhanced self-efficacy and lower parenting stress, which may contribute to a more engaged and positive parenting role. The study underscores the need for supporting paternal mental health and promoting father- child bonding, particularly in the early years of development. Future research should explore longitudinal patterns and potential cultural influences on paternal caregiving behaviours.