1. Men's Knowledge of Anticipatory Guidance Topics: Results From a Nationally Representative Survey
- Author
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Tova B. Walsh, Rita C. Seabrook, Joyce Y. Lee, Vijay Singh, Richard M. Tolman, Shawna J. Lee, and Craig F. Garfield
- Subjects
Gerontology ,Adult ,Male ,Adolescent ,Pediatric health ,Population ,Infant health ,Probability sampling ,03 medical and health sciences ,Fathers ,0302 clinical medicine ,030225 pediatrics ,Surveys and Questionnaires ,Humans ,030212 general & internal medicine ,education ,Child ,Father-Child Relations ,education.field_of_study ,Parenting ,Parent education ,Infant ,Cross-Sectional Studies ,Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health ,Infant development ,Psychology - Abstract
1) To describe young men's knowledge of infant routines, discipline, development, safety, sleep, and nutrition, using items assessing the American Academy of Pediatrics Bright Futures: Guidelines for Health Supervision of Infants, Children, and Adolescents. 2) To report differences in knowledge between fathers and non-fathers. 3) To examine factors associated with men's greater knowledge.Participants were men (N = 1303) aged 18 to 35 years responding to a cross-sectional survey that was administered to a national panel established through probability sampling of the civilian, non-institutionalized US population. Survey weights allow reporting of nationally representative analyses.Participants (mean age = 27; 58% white, 36% fathers) correctly answered 52% of the infant knowledge questions. Fathers and non-fathers answered 64% and 46% of the items correctly, respectively. The difference in knowledge between fathers and non-fathers was statistically significant (B = 0.16, P.001). The subscale with the highest number of correct responses was routines (80% accuracy), followed by discipline (59% accuracy), safety (52% accuracy), sleep (51% accuracy), development (50% accuracy), and nutrition (40% accuracy). Multivariate analyses showed that depressive symptoms (B = -0.07, P.05) were associated with lower infant knowledge, while higher education (B = 0.06, P.05) and current employment (B = 0.06, P.01) were associated with higher infant knowledge.Significant gaps exist in men's knowledge of infant development. Pediatric health care providers can address gaps in parenting knowledge by providing anticipatory guidance to fathers.
- Published
- 2020