The relationship between expressions of spiritual faith and parental involvement in three groups of fathers.

Bollinger, Brooke ; Palkovitz, Rob

The interplay between involved fathering and spiritual faith has only recently come under investigation in the scholarly literature. Few researchers have attempted to explore the connection between fatherhood and faith (Dollahite, Marks, & Olson, 1998; Hawkins, Dollahite, & Rhoades, 1993; Palkovitz, 1996, 1999; Palkovitz & Palm, 1998). However, this issue is gaining more attention, evidenced by the recent publication of an entire journal issue, "Fathering, Faith, and Spirituality" (see The Journal of Men's Studies, Volume 7:1). The current study is designed to investigate the correlation between a father's faith, expressed as his participation in religious activities (e.g., church attendance and scripture reading), and involvement in the raising of his children. It measures levels of involvement of fathers from different spiritual backgrounds (evangelical Christian, Latter-day Saint, also known as Mormon or LDS, and Fathers for whom Faith is Not Central, whom we will refer to as FFNCs).

FATHER INVOLVEMENT

The role of fathers in child rearing has been approached from the perspectives of father uninvolvement (Hawkins, Christiansen, Sargent, & Hill, 1995); factors that predict father involvement (e.g., Latshaw, 1998; Palkovitz, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1997), and how to help fathers become more involved (e.g., Palm & Palkovitz, 1988). Many articles focus on what fathers are not doing for their children instead of what they are doing and are sometimes referred to as role-inadequacy perspectives (Hawkins & Dollahite, 1998). Such models emphasize fathers' inadequacies rather than strengths by, among other things, ignoring developmental changes in fathers over time and limiting the definition of involvement to specific observable activities (Hawkins & Palkovitz, 1999).

In a comprehensive review of the father involvement literature, Pleck (1997) reported that fathers' levels of involvement are lower than mothers'. That is, men are only 66% as accessible to their children (i.e., being physical available) as mothers and 44% as involved in terms of engagement (i.e., direction of interaction). When fathers are actively involved with their children, they are likely to be engaged in play rather than in care-taking activities. While mothers spend approximately 25 percent of their time in play activities with their children, fathers spend approximately 40 percent of their time in play activities (Parke, 1996). However, father involvement has increased on the whole over the past several decades by as much as 33% in the United States (Pleck, 1997). Although recent research suggests that women are still primarily responsible for the caregiving of children (Pleck, 1997; Snarey, 1993), there is increased attention to fathering, including movements within and outside of churches that encourage men to be more involved with and committed to their children and families.

Many fathers, particularly among White, middle-class groups, are currently expected to be more involved with their children than those in past generations (Lamb, Pleck, & Levine, 1987; Pleck, 1997). Research has concluded that factors such as age and sex of children, father's gender role orientation, and father's confidence, skills, and belief orientation mediate father involvement levels (Palkovitz, 1984). Pleck (1997) reports that, in general, fathers tend to be more involved with younger than with older children, more involved with sons than with daughters, more involved if their own fathers were actively involved, more involved if they are androgynous (i.e., high in feminine and masculine qualities rather than masculine qualities only), and more involved when they have self-perceived competence and confidence (see also Palkovitz, 1984).

SPIRITUAL FAITH

In addition, how fathers frame their very existence affects how they raise, care for, and respect their children. On the whole, spiritual faith has been ignored as a potential correlate of father involvement (Lamb, 1986; Palm & Palkovitz, 1988; Snarey, 1993). However, researchers have recently argued that faith may promote active involvement with children (Dollahite, 1998; Palkovitz, 1996, 1999). Bartkowski and Xu (1998) reported that evangelical fathers scored higher in supervision/monitoring behaviors and in emotional involvement with their children than their non-evangelical counterparts.

Different denominations, or groups of faith communities, have specific instructions and guidelines for being a good parent. In the current study, evangelical Christians and Mormons are compared. The term "evangelical" is used to refer to those who "understand the Bible to be the inerrant Word of God" (Bartkowski & Xu, 1998, p. 26), and who "believe that only people who believe that Christ is their personal `savior' will have eternal life after death" (Diamond, 1989, p. 237). This group includes fathers from both Catholic and Protestant backgrounds who believe that salvation is a free gift and results from God's grace and a personal faith in Jesus Christ. Evangelicals, who extract their training from the Bible, expect fathers to be morally responsible to their children, to raise them in fairness, with tenderness and firmness, and to teach them to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ (Farrar, 1995; Palkovitz, 1996). Men are to be responsible to ensure that children know the word of God and obey it: "Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger; but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord" (Holy Bible, Ephesians 6:4; see also Ephesians 5:6).

The term "Mormon" refers to those who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose belief regarding salvation is "that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do" (Book of Mormon, p. 100). In addition to the above Biblical teachings, Mormons base their instructions on the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price, which are holy books consisting of teachings believed to have been divinely revealed to the prophet Joseph Smith in the 19th century. Mormons believe that their families will remain intact after death and are commanded to take care to preserve and protect their families. There is a strong emphasis on fathers and husbands as lay priests of their homes, who are expected, among other things, to lead their families in regularly prescribed spiritual activities such as weekly religious family gatherings ("home evenings") and to give their children "priesthood blessings" (Dollahite, Marks, & Olson, 1998; Marks & Dollahite, 2001). Because of the differences in doctrine and instruction between evangelical Christians and Mormons, these two groups of fathers will be discussed as distinct in the context of this project.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

This report addresses several research questions. First, what is the correlation between being a believer in God (whether evangelical Christian, Mormon, or a father for whom faith is not central [FFNC]) and being an involved father, if any? Second, what difference is there between evangelical Christians and Mormons in terms of involved fathering, if any? Finally, is there a difference in levels of involvement between those who are regularly engaged in faith-centered activities and beliefs and those who are not?

METHODS

PARTICIPANTS AND RECRUITMENT

Sixty-five fathers, recruited from both religious and secular organizations, participated in the current study. Fathers ranged in age from 29 to 68 years (mean age = 44) and had an average of three children (range = 1 to 9). Fifty-one fathers (78%) were once-married and never separated, divorced, or widowed; 14 fathers (22%) were either cohabiting with a partner or were separated, divorced, widowed, or remarried. Eighty-three percent of fathers (N = 54) were White; the remaining 17% were African American (N = 3), Asian American (N = 2), or "other" (N = 6). The fathers were highly educated: Most (N = 55; 85%) had at least a college education, and 20 (31%) had a graduate degree.

Questionnaires were distributed to a convenience sample of fathers through churches, a day-care center, and a large East Coast university. Participants completed the questionnaires at their leisure and mailed them back to the primary researcher. In all, 440 questionnaires were distributed and 65 fathers returned completed questionnaires, yielding a return rate of approximately 15%.

THE MEASURES

A packet of materials was distributed to each potential participant in the study. These materials consisted of a cover letter explaining the purpose of the investigation and outlining instructions for participation, demographic questions, a self-report measure of father involvement, and a self-report measure of spiritual faith activity.

Paternal involvement. An adaptation of the Generative Involvement in Fatherwork Scales (Dollahite & Hawkins, 1998) was used to assess paternal involvement. This scale measures fathers' involvement in seven areas: ethical work (being responsible for children); stewardship work (providing resources); development work (being flexible and developing as a father in response to children's needs); recreation work (playing); spiritual work (encouraging child to be confident and providing counseling); relational work (communicating emotions); and mentoring work (teaching).

Faith. An adaptation of the Religious Behavior Survey (RBS; Anderson, 1991) was used to measure spiritual faith. This tool is a 19-item scale designed to measure the extent to which one engages in religious behavior. Subjects are asked to respond to each item by indicating how often they engage in each of the 19 behaviors, including reading scripture, attending worship services, and praying to determine God's will. Anderson (1991) reported a Cronbach's Alpha Reliability score of .83 for this scale. Although the RBS does not measure a person's faith per se, it measures the extent to which one enacts Christian teachings. Participants in the study were also asked to indicate to which church or denomination they belonged, if any.

Scale adaptations. Both scales initially consisted of multiple-choice questions. Because we planned to compare mean scores on the questionnaires between groups, it was necessary to convert the scales in order to collect ratio data. A horizontal line was drawn below each item, and respondents were asked to indicate to what extent they agreed with each statement (or participated in each behavior) by marking an X across the horizontal line (see Figure 1 for an example). To score responses to the questionnaires, the distance between the left end-point of the line and the "X" made by each subject was measured, divided by the total length of the line (15.5cm), and then multiplied by 100. Scores on each item were calculated individually and ranged from 0 to 99; higher scores indicated a greater level of agreement or participation.

1. I read the Bible in an attempt to determine God's will:

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

ASSIGNING FATHERS TO FAITH GROUPS

Some participants who indicated church membership did not consistently report being active in their faith as measured by the adapted RBS; on the other hand, some who did not report church membership indicated high levels of faith involvement. To reconcile this issue, Bollinger assigned faith group membership based on averaged scores of the RBS items. In order to be assigned to either faith group, fathers had to have an average score of at least 50 (out of 99) on the RBS. To be assigned to the Mormon group, fathers had to indicate that they belonged to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Other fathers who indicated high faith involvement, with or without specific church membership, were assigned to the evangelical Christian group. Finally, those who did not have an average score of at least 50 on the RBS were arbitrarily assigned to the FFNC group. In summary, fathers who reported high personal involvement in faith activities were assigned to faith groups while fathers inactive in their spiritual faith, or who identified themselves as atheists, were assigned to the FFNC group. Twenty evangelical Christians, 20 Mormons, and 25 FFNCs were included in the statistical analyses.

RESULTS

PLANNED ANALYSES

Correlations between scores on the GIFS and the RBS were used to determine whether being spiritually active was related to being highly involved with one's children. For evangelical Christians, spiritual faith and father involvement were not related (r = .29, p > .05). For Mormons, there was a marginally significant relationship between faith and involvement (r = .41, p < .10). Finally, for FFNCs, there was a negative but non-significant relationship between faith and involvement (r = -.12, p > .05).

To explore differences in levels of involvement and faith among members of faith communities, a multivariate analysis of variance was conducted with averaged scores on the GIFS and RBS as dependent variables. Results revealed a significant global effect (Hotellings t [4,120] = 3.14, p < .05). This significant multivariate effect justified the exploration of the univariate tests. As indicated in Table 1, evangelical Christians scored higher in involvement than did Mormons and FFNCs; however, the univariate test revealed that there was not a significant group difference for levels of involvement, F (2,62) = 1.45, p > .05. Evangelical Christians and Mormons, according to the results using the first orthogonal contrast, are not significantly different in terms of fathers' levels of involvement with their children. In addition, being active in a faith community was not related with higher levels of involvement than not being active in a faith community (i.e., evangelical Christians and Mormons compared to FFNCs; the second orthogonal contrast). The second univariate analysis, for levels of faith, indicated a significant group difference (F [2,62] = 96.37, p < .05). Further analyses using orthogonal contrasts revealed that FFNCs scored significantly lower on the RBS compared to evangelical Christians and Mormons (together), as would be expected (see Table 1 for group means).

OTHER FACTORS THAT MAY INFLUENCE PATERNAL INVOLVEMENT

Because the father involvement literature indicates that multiple factors may impact paternal involvement, additional exploratory analyses of variances were conducted for marital status, educational level, and church membership (see Table 2). A multivariate analysis of variance with the same two dependent variables (scores on the GIFS and RBS) was conducted for each variable. For marital status, the analysis revealed a significant global effect, Hotellings t (2, 62) = 4.24, p < .05. Univariate tests revealed that there was a significant group difference for levels of involvement, F (1,63) = 4.20, p < .05, and faith, F (1,63) = 5.14, p < .05. As indicated in Table 2, fathers who were currently married for the first time were both more involved with their children and more active in their faith as compared to fathers who were separated, divorced, widowed, or cohabiting, etc.

For educational level, the multivariate analysis of variance revealed a marginally significant global effect, Hotellings t (4, 120) = .15, p < .10. Univariate analyses of variance revealed a significant group difference for faith (F [2, 62] = 4.31, p < .05) but not for father involvement (F [2, 62] = .49, p > .05). Specifically, fathers with higher levels of education were significantly more active in their faith than those with lower levels of education. However, fathers with differing levels of education were not significantly different in terms of how involved they were with their children.

Finally, a multivariate analysis of variance for church membership revealed a significant global effect, Hotellings t(2, 62) = .93, p < .05. Univariate analyses of variance revealed a significant group difference for both levels of involvement and faith (F [1,63] = 4.42, p < .05 and F [1,63] = 52.71, p < .05, respectively). Interestingly, church members were significantly more involved with their children than non-church members. In addition, as would be expected, church members are more active in their faith than non-church members (see Table 2 for group means).

DISCUSSION

INTERPRETATION OF THE FINDINGS

Results indicate that there is not a significant relationship between faith and father involvement as measured in this project. However, there is a marginally significant correlation between being Mormon and being an involved father. As discussed above, Mormons strongly emphasize family involvement, perhaps to a greater extent than other faith groups. Evangelical Christians, according to scores on the adapted GIFS, are more involved with their children than any other group. Analyses revealed, however, that the difference in scores between evangelical Christians (mean score = 87.93) and Mormons (mean score = 82.99) was not significant. Furthermore, FFNCs' scores (mean score = 82.44) are not significantly different from the other two groups. As Table 1 illustrates, the mean involvement score for the entire sample was 84.30 (out of 99): all three groups of fathers are highly involved with their children.

Given recent increased focus on father involvement, both in popular and academic culture, it is not surprising that fathers in this study reported high involvement with their children. This cultural emphasis on father involvement may override any effects that spiritual faith may have. That is, a pervasive value in contemporary society indicates that involved fathering is important for families, regardless of faith (Lamb, Pleck, & Levine, 1987; Palkovitz, 1996; Palkovitz & Marks, 2000; Pleck, 1997; Pleck & Pleck, 1997). Future research may explore whether Biblical or other religious teachings in fact encourage men to be involved fathers and whether such teachings are more or less effective than those offered by popular culture.

In addition, fathers' scores on father involvement are, in all groups, higher than scores on the RBS. Although it may seem that children are more important than spiritual faith to fathers, we should caution ourselves about coming to this conclusion. Whereas the RBS asks fathers to report how often they engage in specific activities related to spiritual faith, the GIFS does not ask fathers to report how often they are engaged in specific activities with their children. Thus, these scales are not directly comparable. Moreover, it is possible that fathers practice their spirituality through relationships with their children: Although GIFS scores may be lower than RBS scores, the GIFS scores in these cases would exemplify the practice of the fathers' faith.

Although scores on the RBS were not highly correlated with involved fathering, further analyses revealed significant results. First, fathers who were married and reported never having been separated, divorced, remarried, or widowed were significantly more involved with their children than those who had experienced marital dissolution (and/or remarriage) and those who reported non-marital cohabitation. This finding is consistent with previous research indicating that fathers who are separated, divorced, or remarried are less involved with their children than their counterparts (Cooksey & Craig, 1998; Doherty, Kouneski, & Erickson, 1998; Furstenberg, Morgan, & Allison, 1987; Hetherington, Cox, & Cox, 1976; Pasley & Minton, 1997; Seltzer, 1991). Several factors contribute to this phenomenon, including a great geographical distance between nonresidential fathers and children, which often occurs after a divorce (Arditti & Keith, 1993; Cooksey & Craig, 1998; Seltzer, 1991); a difficult relationship between the biological parents (Arditti & Keith, 1993; Doherty, Kouneski, & Erickson, 1998; Pasley & Minton, 1997); and a lack of commitment on the part of non-marital cohabiting fathers (Cooksey & Craig, 1998; Seltzer, 1991).

Further analysis revealed that fathers who reported church membership were significantly more involved with their children than those who did not report church membership. Participants who reported church membership were not limited to evangelical Christians and Mormons groups; in fact, some members of the FFNC group reported church membership. That church members, regardless of a personal commitment to spiritual faith, were more involved than non-church members suggests that mere affiliation with a church is related to father involvement. It is plausible, though, that fathers are church members not for their own benefit but for the benefit of their children and that high levels of paternal involvement come before church membership, rather than the opposite. Several researchers suggest that some adults become active in church only after becoming parents. Mueller and Cooper (1986) report that parents, compared to non-parents, were more likely to attend and participate in worship services. In addition, Nash (1968) suggests that, "it was the presence of children which wholly or partly occasioned ... [church attendance] by their parents" (p. 238). Furthermore, Palkovitz (1999) suggests that fathers who want their children to learn about their faith may feel unprepared to instruct children themselves and thus leave spiritual training to religious institutions.

LIMITATIONS

A limitation of the current study involves the complexity in defining faith; inherently, it is something that is neither observable nor measurable. Because faith is intensely personal and difficult to quantify, the behaviors that are often associated with spiritual faith, rather than the faith itself, are quantified in the context of the current project. The assumption is made, thus, that religious faith and participation in religious activities are highly correlated. The results in this study may not demonstrate a relationship between faith and father involvement because the RBS does not adequately capture fathers' spiritual faith. Measured in a different way, personal spiritual faith may be a significant predictor of father involvement.

Another limitation is that factors that may influence father involvement are explored individually rather than in conjunction with one another. Lamb (2000) notes that multiple factors, including demographic, family structure, and individual differences, influence how involved fathers are with their children. These factors not only affect father involvement but also impact one another: personalities, for example, may affect family structures, which in turn affect paternal involvement. Indeed, such factors are involved in a complex web of interactions that are difficult to tease out and fully understand. In the current study, faith was measured in isolation from other factors that may also influence father involvement, spiritual faith, or both. Future research in this area should incorporate faith and other factors in the same statistical analyses to gauge which factors are more important than others and to explore the interactions between individual factors.

In addition, although demographic information on the ethnic backgrounds of fathers was collected, it could not be analyzed because of the general lack of diversity in the sample. The sample is not likely to be representative of the population of fathers at large: Fathers included in the study are overwhelmingly White and are highly educated. Spiritual faith may be more or less important in different American subcultures. This line of research has yet to be fully explored, and it calls for increased attention in the scholarly realm.

CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

In summary, spiritual faith--as measured by church membership if not by religious behaviors--is significantly related to paternal involvement. Church membership should not be equated to a personal commitment to spiritual faith, however; even though a father may be a church member, he may not personally believe the church's teachings or have a strong personal commitment to God. On the other hand, it is possible that some non-church members do believe in church teachings and/or have a personal commitment to God. Beyond these fluctuations in forms and levels of personal spiritual faith, it is clear that spiritual faith mediates paternal involvement, although it probably does not act in isolation. In everyday life, the difference in levels of paternal involvement between various spiritual groups of fathers may not be plainly visible. For example, as noted above, church members report more involvement than non-church members; although the difference in levels of involvement is statistically significant, both groups reported high levels of involvement.

The present study confirms that faith communities, such as churches, Bible study groups, and prayer groups, may be an important resource for practitioners working with fathers. Specifically, we can utilize these communities to reach fathers who are not actively involved with their children or who are struggling with the demands of fatherhood. Through such programs, fathers may find emotional support, learn skills that help them tackle the obstacles to being an involved father, and learn why being spiritually active may make them better fathers.

The current findings encourage the continued exploration of the complexities of spiritual faith as a factor that affects how men father their children. Future research in this area should utilize different methodologies for understanding the relationship between spiritual faith and father involvement. Quantitative research that includes spiritual faith in a broader ecological context is necessary for understanding how it affects and is affected by other factors that mediate paternal involvement. In addition, qualitative methodologies may contribute to our understanding of the relationship between spiritual faith and father involvement. In their own words, fathers can help us to comprehend what spiritual faith means to them, whether it is important or not, and how this worldview may impact their relationships and involvement with their children. These methods will aid in helping us to understand that spiritual faith is something that should be respected as an integral part of many fathers' lives, as something that affects how they live as men, spouses, and fathers.

Table 1

Group Mean Scores on Father Involvement and Faith Measures by Group
(Possible Range, 0 to 99)

 Father Faith
Group Involvement Involvement

Evangelical Christians (N = 20) 87.93 73.14
Mormons (N = 20) 82.99 76.26
FFNCs (N = 25) 82.44 28.13
Entire sample (N = 65) 84.30 56.79

Table 2

Group Mean Scores on Father Involvement by Marital Status, Educational
Level, and Church Membership (Possible Range, 0 to 99)

 Father Faith
Marital Status Involvement Involvement

 Currently married and never separated,
 divorced, widowed, or cohabiting
 (N = 51) 85.80 60.54
 Currently separated, divorced,
 remarried, widowed, or cohabiting
 (N = 14) 78.81 43.12
Educational Level

 High school (N = 10) 81.57 47.73
 College (N = 35) 84.10 51.66
 Graduate work (N = 20) 86.00 70.31
Church Membership

 Church member (N = 53) 85.69 65.17
 Non-church member (N = 12) 78.11 19.79

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This research was partially supported by a research grant from the Department of Individual and Family Studies at the University of Delaware. We wish to thank Tamara Hareven and Loren Marks for their valuable comments on an earlier draft of this paper and Dale Trusheim for his assistance in identifying potential study participants.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Brooke Bollinger at brookeb@bluehen. udel.edu.