Fathers' and mothers' reports of involvement in caring for infants in Kadazan families in Sabah, Malaysia.

To further examine culture-specific patterns of paternal involvement in childcare, assessments were made of fathers' and mothers' perceptions of their involvement in caring for and stimulating infants in 41 urban Kadazan families in Sabah, Malaysia. Mothers exceeded fathers in the amount of time they spent in cleaning, feeding, and playing with infants and in their levels of engagement in direct care of infants. With the exception of feeding and singing, fathers and mothers reported engaging in similar amounts of care and stimulation of infant boys and girls. The results are discussed in the context of cultural beliefs about gender role differentiation in early childcare in Kadazan families in a rapidly changing Malaysian society.

Keywords: Kadazan fathering, childcare, Malaysian culture, traditional beliefs

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There is a small but growing body of work on fathers in different cultural communities in the technologically developing societies of the world. Not unlike the research focus on fathers in North America and Europe (see Lamb, 2004), the studies conducted in the developing societies of Asia, Africa, and Latin America have also attempted to establish what men do in families when they are present and the meaning of such involvement (e.g., Benetti & Roopnarine, 2006; Brown, Newland, Anderson, & Chevannes, 1997; Hewlett, 1987; Jankowiak, 1992; Munroe & Munroe, 1992; Tulananda & Roopnarine, 2001). Following suggestions made by cultural and indigenous psychologists to examine childrearing and socialization practices within cultural contexts (for a review see Greenfield, 2000), the present study examined early patterns of paternal involvement among the Kadazan of Malaysia, an indigenous group that has experienced tremendous economic and social changes over the last two decades.

Paternal Involvement in Early Childcare Across Cultures

It is well documented that fathers lag behind mothers in their levels of involvement in caring for children across most societies studied to date (for reviews see Lamb, 2005; Pleck & Masciadrelli, 2004; Roopnarine, 2004; Shwalb, Nakawaza, Yamamoto, & Hyun, 2004). Furthermore, there is a good deal of variability in men's levels of time involvement and in their care interactions directed toward young children across cultural and ethnic groups. For example, in the developing world, Black Carib men in Belize spent little or no time in interactions with young children (Munroe & Munroe, 1992), Trinidadian men provided care interactions to children 10.3 percent of the time observed (Flinn, 1992), and Aka fathers in the Central African Republic held their infants for an hour during daylight hours and up to 25 percent of the time observed (Hewlett, 1987). Such variability has also been discovered with respect to fathers' levels of involvement in the care of children relative to those of mothers across cultural and ethnic groups in the developed and developing societies around the world (for reviews see Lamb; Pleck & Masciadrelli; Roopnarine).

Few studies have been conducted on Malaysian fathers per se. Focusing on Chinese Malaysian families in Sarawak (Malaysian Borneo), Roopnarine, Lu, and Ahmeduzzaman (1989) reported that mothers were significantly more involved in feeding, changing, and putting the infant to bed than fathers were. Likewise, analyzing data from a combined sample of Malay and Chinese families residing in peninsular Malaysia, Noor (1999) found that mothers spent more time in childcare tasks than fathers did. In a more recent study (Hossain, Roopnarine, Masud, Muhamed, Baharudin, Abdullah, & Juhari, 2005), it was found that Malay fathers in peninsular rural Malaysia spent on average about 32 percent as much time as mothers did in basic childcare tasks. By contrast, based on data from an older ethnographic study (fieldwork conducted in 1975-1976), Endicott (1992) argued that Batek fathers and mothers living in the Lebir River watershed in Kelantan were more egalitarian in their involvement in caregiving. Because of the lack of research on families in transition in Malaysia and taking into consideration that prior studies did not clearly specify the types of childcare tasks fathers participated in with children, it is difficult to determine whether these patterns of parent-child interactions are prevalent among contemporary, urban Kadazans.

Cultural Context of Kadazan Family Life

Constituting one-third of the indigenous population (19% of overall population), Kazadans are among the prominent indigenous groups in the state of Sabah, Malaysia (Malaysian Census Report, 2001). It is believed that the Kadazans are a collective of ethnic groups with similar languages and dialects, cultural norms, and traditional beliefs (Tunggolou, 1999). Historically, the indigenous philosophy of Kadazan life is related to land, village/community life, and traditional customs. In fact, land not only provides the livelihood for the Kadazans, it also constructs their spirituality, cultural traditions, and other life events (Laismbang, 1993). Kadazans are prosperous agricultural people and are the principal rice producers in Sabah. They reside in the fertile plains of the west coast and the interior and practice a rotational agricultural system. Income usually results from selling surplus food, cash crops, and forest produce (Lasimbang).

The aforementioned subsistence agricultural practices and festivals bring family members, relatives, neighbors, and other community members together regularly. Descriptive accounts indicate that the Kadazans enjoy close marital ties and familial relationships (Sather, 1978). Family members and other relatives organize and celebrate important familial practices and customs (e.g., weddings) and preserve close parent-child interaction by exhibiting love and warmth toward family members. As head and protector of the family, the father bears chief economic and social responsibility for individual family members. Because they work outside of the home for extended periods, fathers find limited time to be involved with their children. Thus, mothers play a greater role in the day-to-day care and socialization of young children and in nurturing strong familial bonds than fathers do (Sather). Fathers' roles within the family are steeped in the beliefs of Adat--affirmation of patriarchy, control of women's sexuality, submission of wife to husband, and children's loyalty to parents (for reviews see Bowen, 2003; Kling, 1995; Sanday, 2002).

Exposure to Christianity, western/English education, and the Malaysian government's effort to modernize the entire nation of Malaysia have all contributed to making the Kadazans the most urbanized among all of the indigenous groups in Sabah (see Asgard, 2002; Case, 2002; Reid, 1997). Today, many rural Kadazans are migrating to city centers (e.g., Kota Kinabalu) and learning Malay--the official language in Malaysia. Focusing on rural to urban transformation, Lasimbang (1993) asserted that changes in traditional means of production and the shedding of the practice of Mogitatabang (exchanged labor) have led to the reorganization of family and community life among the Kadazans. For instance, family life is now an integral part of the cash economy, traditional community wedding celebrations have been modified, and institutional child development and daycare centers have become an acceptable childcare option for almost all (two-income) ethnic families in the urban centers of Sabah (for reviews see Loh, 1992; Rosnah, 1999). Unfortunately, there is little psychological research to uncover possible changes in parent-child involvement and interaction patterns within the changing ecological contexts of Kadazan family life.

The Present Study

This study provides a descriptive account of differences in fathers and mothers' time and levels of investment in early childcare in urban Kadazan families of Malaysia with the hope of increasing our understanding of paternal involvement in a global context. Accordingly, the developmental niche model was used to guide the present work (Super & Harkness, 1997; Weisner, 1998). This model focuses on the cultural structuring of childhood: the everyday physical and social setting within which children are raised, community customs of childcare and childrearing, and the psychology or internal working models of the caregivers. Drawing on previous work on paternal and maternal engagement in childcare in diverse ethnic and cultural groups (e.g., Hossain et al., 2005; Lamb, Pleck, Charnov, & Levine, 1987; Nugent, 1987; Roopnarine et al., 1995), we analyzed parents' reports of time investment and levels of involvement with children in specific tasks. Time estimates have provided useful information on investment in core aspects of family childcare practices (see Pleck & Masciadrelli, 2004), and have been useful in determining whether fathers in different cultural groups are increasing their investment in the daily care and stimulation of very young children. Further, high levels of prompt care and sensitivity during infancy have been linked to parent-child attachment and to childhood competence later on (Lamb, 2002).

In the current study, we sought answers to the following questions: Do Kadazan fathers and mothers differ in their estimates of time spent in feeding, cleaning, and playing with infants, and are potential differences affected by sociodemographic factors? Do Kadazan fathers and mothers differ in their estimates of levels of involvement in bedtime routines, physical care, feeding, soothing, singing, and playing with infants, and are potential differences influenced by sociodemographic factors? And finally, Do Kadazan fathers and mothers differ in their estimates of time spent and levels of involvement in different activities with boys versus girls? In view of the fully entrenched traditional belief systems about male-female roles and gender of parent differences in childcare involvement across different ethnic groups in Malaysia (Hossain et al., 2005; Noor, 1999; Roopnarine et al., 1989), it was predicted that despite societal modernization, mothers would be more involved in the overall care, emotional regulation, and stimulation activities with infants than fathers in Kadazan families. But, given the importance attributed to fathers in stimulating infants through play across cultures (see Lamb, 2002), it was predicted that fathers would be more involved in playing with infants than mothers. Noting the inconsistent relationships between parental involvement in childcare and sample sociodemographic characteristics (see Hofferth, 2003; Ishii-Kuntz, 1994; Marsiglio, 1991) and considering previous findings on the gendered patterns of care investment in Malaysia, it was predicted that common SES variables would not influence paternal and maternal involvement in basic care, emotional regulation, and stimulation activities with infants. Finally, due to the mixed findings on gender-of-infant differences in parental involvement across cultures (see Hofferth; Endicott, 1992; Marsiglio; Sather, 1978; Sun & Roopnarine, 1996), it was predicted that Kadazan mothers and fathers would be similarly involved with infant boys and girls.

Method

Participants

Mothers and fathers from 41 two-parent Kadazan families residing in the city of Kota Kinabalu and its surrounding neighborhoods in the state of Sabah (historically known as Malaysian Borneo) participated in this study. Families were identified through community organizations, personal contacts, and by word of mouth. Potential participants were contacted in person. About 90 percent of those contacted agreed to participate. Families were included in the study if they had an infant below 24 months of age, the infant and family were physically healthy, there were no complications during pregnancy and delivery, and the infant did not have any disabilities.

All respondents were biological parents of the infants, all couples were married, and the mean length of couples' marriage was 8.39 years (SD = 6.68). The mean age of mothers was 32.70 years (SD = 5.52) and of fathers was 36.70 years (SD = 6.47) years. On average, mothers had completed 13.84 years (SD = 3.99) and fathers 14.59 years (SD = 3.28) of formal education. About two-thirds of the employed mothers and all fathers worked full-time (about 40 hours per week) and on average each parent worked about eight hours per day. Mothers' and fathers' annual median individual income was RM 24,681.00 (USD $6,495) and RM 33,405 (USD $8,790), respectively (RM 3.80 = USD $1). All families owned a home that had modern amenities and appliances. The income and education levels would place these families in the middle-class in Malaysia.

The mean age of infants was 14.15 months (SD = 5.70; Range in ages--1 to 24 months). Only one infant was below 6 months of age. There were 20 male and 20 female infants and the gender of one infant was not reported. All infants were healthy at the time of the interviews. The birth order of infants was as follows: 15 first-born, ten second-born, and 16 third and/or last-born. The average number of children per family was 2.28 (SD = 1.32), and the average family size was 4.88 (SD = 1.81).

Procedures and Measures

A female resident of Kota Kinabalu was responsible for all data collection. She was a university lecturer who was born in Malaysia and spoke both English and Malay. Having a good deal of familiarity with various community organizations, parent groups, and Kadazan family customs and practices, she personally contacted all families, explained the family's role in the study, and answered any questions family members had at the time. Another female university lecturer assisted with the recruitment of families. The hospitable nature of the Kadazans facilitated the identification of families and the interview process. Using a prepared set of questionnaires, each mother and father was interviewed separately in or around their homes during evening hours on weekdays. All interviews were conducted in Malay.

Two instruments were used to interview mothers and fathers: A Sociodemographic Questionnaire (SES) and a Parental Involvement in Childcare Questionnaire (PICQ; Hossain & Roopnarine, 1994). The instruments were translated from English to Malay and back-translated to ensure there was no drift in meaning (Brislin, 1980; Hambleton, 1993). Another native Malay checked the instruments for face validity, and care was taken to gauge the level of language used relative to the educational attainment of the participants, and to ascertain where the interviews should be conducted (see Van De Vijver & Leung, 1997). Because of the gender-segregated nature of Malaysian society (see Hossain et al., 2005), it was determined that a female interviewer would be more culturally appropriate than a male interviewer to conduct the interviews and that interviews should be conducted in the context of the home environment.

Sociodemographic Questionnaire. The Sociodemographic Questionnaire contains 15 items concerning age, education, occupation, working hours, income, length of time couples were married, living and housing conditions, the child's age, gender, birth order, and the total number of children in the family.

Parental Involvement in Childcare Questionnaire (PICQ). Because good standardized instruments for studying paternal involvement across cultures are sparse (see Day & Lamb, 2004; Roggman, Fitzgerald, Bradley, & Raikes, 2002), and the assessment of parental involvement in childcare tasks is not done uniformly across studies or cultures, we used an instrument that was developed earlier to assess paternal involvement among African American and Latino families in the United States. The PICQ was used to assess the degree to which mothers and fathers were directly involved in several areas of basic childcare tasks, emotional regulation in the form of soothing the infant, and in stimulation activities through playing and singing to the infant. The first segment of the questionnaire asks mothers and fathers to provide estimates of the actual number of hours each spends per day in cleaning, feeding, and playing with the infant.

The second part of the PICQ is comprised of 14 Likert-type items designed to assess the degree to which mothers and fathers participate in different activities. Each item is rated from 1 (never) to 5 (always). Mothers and fathers reported on the levels of their involvement in six categories of care: bedtime routines (i.e., getting the baby up in the morning, putting the baby to bed), physical care (i.e., changing the baby's diaper, washing the baby, dressing the baby), feeding, soothing (soothing the baby if it cries at night or during the day, talking with the baby), singing, and playing with the infant. Three items (e.g., holding the baby affectionately, holding for discipline/control, and taking the baby to or picking up from day care) were excluded from the current analysis because it became apparent that each respondent held the child mostly to feed and considered the child too young to discipline, and because institutional care facilities were generally lacking especially in outskirts of urban areas of Malaysia.

The PICQ has been used with other cultural groups within developed and developing societies and has been shown to have good internal consistency (for African Americans r = .96, Hossain & Roopnarine, 1994; for Malaysians r = .89, Hossain et al., 2005). In this study, the internal consistency for the first part of the questionnaire (i.e., 14 items in the first section) was .87 (Spearman-Brown).

Results

Data were analyzed in two steps. First, both maternal and paternal time and levels of involvement were correlated with select sociodemographic variables (age of parent, age of infant, years of education, length of marriage, income, and family size) that have been shown to influence paternal and maternal involvement with children in other studies (see Hofferth, 2003; Ishii-Kuntz, 1994; Marsiglio, 1991). Next, a series of repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) procedures were conducted on the time and levels of involvement data using Gender of Parent as a within-subjects factor and Gender of Infant as a between-subjects factor. Covariates were introduced based on the relationships discerned in the correlation analyses. Due to the large number of mothers who worked outside the home, it was not possible to compare paternal and maternal time and levels of involvement data as a function of maternal employment.

Time Investment in Caregiving

As stated earlier, fathers' levels of time involvement in childcare have received considerable research attention because this construct offers one basis for articulating potential changes in men's childcare investment over specified periods. Table 1 presents the distributions of fathers' and mothers' time investment in feeding, cleaning, and playing with infants. As can be seen in this table, with the exception of play, fathers' time investment was concentrated on the lower end of the distribution. Most fathers invested less than two hours per day in feeding and cleaning infants whereas a majority of mothers spent two hours or more per day in these activities with infants. Both mothers and fathers invested more time in playing than in cleaning and feeding infants per day.

Pearson correlations revealed that only one significant relationship emerged between maternal and paternal reports of time involvement in feeding, cleaning, and playing with infants and the five sociodemographic variables. Thus, no covariates were introduced into the repeated measures analysis of variance performed on the three time measures. These analyses showed that mothers reported spending more time in feeding (Mother M = 3.48, SD = 1.28, Father M = 1.45, SD = 1.40), F (1,30) = 45.11 ,p <.01, [[eta].sup.2] = .60, cleaning (Mother M = 3.23, SD = 1.75, Father M = 1.75, SD = 1.85), F (1, 30) = 29.36, p <.01, [[eta].sup.2] = .50, and playing with infants (Mother M = 4.59, SD = 2.22, Father M = 3.03, SD = 2.16), F (1, 29) = 29.24, p <.01 [[eta].sup.2] = .50 than fathers did (see Table 1).

There were no significant main effects for gender of infant and no significant gender of parent x gender of infant interaction effects (ps >.05).

Levels of Involvement in Childcare

Pearson correlations performed on mothers' and fathers' reports of their levels of involvement in the six different areas of childcare assessed and the five sociodemographic measures showed that family size was the only variable that was consistently and significantly associated with the dependent measures. The coefficients for these associations are presented in Table 2. Noting the pattern of associations, we entered family size as a covariate.

Again a gender-differentiated pattern emerged for levels of involvement with infants. More specifically, mothers reported that they were more likely to engage in bedtime routines F (1, 37) = 4.26, p < .05, [[eta].sup.2] = .10, feeding F (1, 37) = 8.007, p < .01, [[eta].sup.2] = .18, physical care F (1,37) = 8.007, p < .01, [[eta].sup.2] = .15, and singing to infants F (1, 37) = 8.007, p <.01, [[eta].sup.2] = .14 than fathers were. There were no significant differences between mothers and fathers in levels of play with and soothing infants when they were distressed (see Table 3). Entering family size as a covariate did not significantly affect the outcome variables.

There were no significant Gender of Infant main effects. However, there were marginally significant Gender of Parent x Gender of Infant effects for feeding F (1, 37) = 3.23, p = .08, [[eta].sup.2] = .08 and stimulating infants through singing to them F (1, 37) = 3.82, p = .058, [[eta].sup.2] = .09. Post hoc comparisons suggest that mothers of female infants were more likely to feed them than fathers with sons and fathers with daughters were to feed their offspring, and that mothers with male infants were more likely to sing to them than fathers with sons and fathers with daughters were to sing to their child.

Discussion

Researchers from diverse disciplines have continued to focus greater attention on paternal involvement outside of Europe and North America over the last decade (see Hewlett, 1992, 2004). In an attempt to add to our understanding of cultural variations in paternal involvement, we used the developmental niche model, which focuses on customs and practices of childrearing and parental belief systems about gender roles, as a guide in recording Kadazan fathers' and mothers' perceptions of their involvement in basic care, emotional regulation, and stimulation activities with their infants. In the face of significant socio-economic changes, we thus speculate as to whether the division of childcare involvement among Kadazan families from middle-class backgrounds is still heavily influenced by the principles of adat that are rooted in traditional beliefs about gender roles throughout Malaysia (Asgard, 2002; Kling, 1995).

In our sample of middle-class Kadazan families, mothers reported spending more time in caring for children than fathers did. This practice was also evident in levels of involvement with infants. Contrary to the much-touted role of father as playmate in a number of cultural communities (see Roopnarine & Krishnakumar, in press), mothers spent more time playing with infants than fathers did. Moving to levels of caregiving that involved bathing, feeding and bedtime routines, emotional regulation in the form of soothing, and social stimulation through playing and singing to infants, again Kadazan mothers were the primary caregivers to infants--though the effect sizes were generally small. These findings are not surprising, because mothers and other women in most cultural communities studied so far assume major responsibility for raising young children (see Lamb, 2004) and for engaging in soothing and displaying affection to them (see Lamb, 2002). The gendered pattern of involvement in the basic care of infants meshes well with the adat-style cultural belief systems and prevailing scripts about patriarchy and male roles embedded in Malaysian society (Kling, 1995; Roopnarine et al., 1989). On a cautionary note, we have no way of telling from the data gathered whether these value systems and cultural scripts about early patterns of caregiving may have undermined movement toward egalitarian modes of involvement with infants as Kadazan families become more planted in modern urban living. Nevertheless, some (e.g., Kling) believe that it is still not socially acceptable for Malaysian women to question or request greater involvement of men in basic childcare.

Kadazan fathers perceived they spent more time in playing than feeding or cleaning infants. Across many cultural communities (see Roopnarine & Krishnakumar, in press), fathers make themselves more available as playmates to children than as caregivers, and this was also true for the Kadazan fathers in our sample. However, mothers spent more time in playing with children than fathers did. Mothers' time investment in play may be a natural consequence of their greater involvement in early caregiving, suggesting that they recognize that play stimulation along with soothing infants are essential components of sensitive caregiving. As Pleck and Masciadrelli (2004) suggested, prior research may have dismissed the possibility that play is also a favorite activity of mothers, not only of fathers, and that the paternal/maternal dichotomy observed in play participation in prior studies may be eroding in a number of societies (see also Tamis-LeMonda, 2004). In some cultural settings (e.g., Brazil and the United States), play/companionship constitutes a major component of parent-child engagement (Benetti & Roopnarine, 2006; Yeung, Duncan, & Hill, 1999).

How do these middle-class Kadazan fathers' levels of involvement compare to those of men in other cultural and ethnic groups? When placed in the context of father involvement in other groups in Malaysia, the fathers in our sample were less involved than urbanized Malaysian Chinese and Malay fathers, who spent 71 percent as much time as mothers did in childcare (Noor, 1999), and indigenous Batek fathers in rural Malaysia, who displayed more egalitarian childrearing practices (Endicott, 1992). However, Kadazan fathers were more involved than rural Malay fathers in Malaysia, who spent 32 percent as much time as mothers on identical measures of childcare (Hossain et al., 2005). Acknowledging that it is rather difficult to directly compare findings across different cultural communities because of methodological and other constraints, Kadazan fathers in this sample appear to be just as involved with their young children as are fathers in African American and Latino families in the United States (Hossain & Roopnarine, 1994; Hossain, Field, Pickens, Malphurs, & Del Valle, 1997), Danish fathers (Smith, 2002), and Jamaican fathers (Roopnarine et al., 1995). In the absence of prior data on this cultural group, the meaning of levels of childcare involvement by Kadazan men in the context of economic and social changes must await more complex investigations that assess paternal involvement over time.

The general lack of gender of infant differences in mothers' and fathers' involvement with infants is similar to findings from previous research on North American and Asian samples, including Malaysians (see Endicott, 1992; Fagan, 1996; Hofferth, 2003; Hossain et al., 2005; Roopnarine et al., 1989; Sanderson & Thompson-Sanders, 2002). The argument has been proffered that the influence of a child's gender on parental involvement has lessened over time. Although parents in many indigenous cultures have been shown to treat boys and girls in an equitable manner (see Endicott; Thomas, 1997), it would be a mistake to suggest that in historically traditional families, such as the Kadazans, parents do not treat boys and girls differentially. Two marginally significant gender of parent by gender of infant interaction effects indicate that mothers of female infants were more likely to feed them than fathers with sons and fathers with daughters were to feed their offspring, and mothers with male infants were more likely to sing to them than fathers with sons and fathers with daughters were to sing to their child. It is difficult to say whether the overall similarity in mothers' and fathers' involvement with infant boys and girls predate the press in Malaysia toward modernization of its economic and social institutions or that this is a more recent phenomenon. On the other hand, it could be that middle-class Kadazan parents recognize the need to treat sons and daughters similarly in order to prepare them for life in a more modern Malaysia.

There is consensus among researchers that fathers across cultural and ethnic groups are becoming increasingly more involved in childcare, and that sensitive and engaging fathers have positive influences on their children's development (Lamb, 2004; Parke, 1996). The Kadazan fathers in our sample reported levels of involvement with very young children that are comparable to those displayed by men in other cultural communities around the world and provided levels of care in social activities that are deemed sensitively attuned. Unlike previous studies (see Lamb), play was a predominant activity of both mothers and fathers and children, and for the most part mothers and fathers engaged in similar levels of care with boys and girls.

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ZIARAT HOSSAIN

University of New Mexico 

JAIPAUL L. ROOPNARINE

Syracuse University

ROSNAH ISMAIL, SHAZIA I. HASHMI, AND AGNES SOMBULING

University Malaysia Sabah

Ziarat Hossain, Department of Individual, Family and Community Education, University of New Mexico; Jaipaul L. Roopnarine, Department of Child and Family Studies, Syracuse University; Rosnah Ismail, Shazia I. Hashmi, and Agnes Sombuling, School of Psychology and Social Work, University Malaysia Sabah.

We extend our sincere gratitude to the participants in this study. The data for this study were collected during the first author's Fulbright tenure in Malaysia.

Correspondence concerning this article should be sent to Ziarat Hossain, Department of Individual, Family and Community Education, College of Education, Simpson Hall, MSC05 3040, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131. Electronic mail: [e-mail]

Table 1

Distribution of Mothers and Fathers Level of Time Involvement

Measures           Mothers (%)     Fathers (%)
Feeding the baby

  0.0 hours            --              2.5
  0.5                  --             14.6
  1.0                  4.9            56.0
  1.5                  7.3             2.4
  2.0                 14.6             9.8
  3.0                 17.1             4.9
  4.0                 36.6             4.9
  5.0 and over        19.5             4.9

Cleaning the baby

  0.0 hours           --               4.9
  0.5                  4.9            14.6
  1.0                  4.9            44.0
  1.5                  4.9             4.9
  2.0                 14.6            14.6
  3.0                 24.4             2.4
  4.0                 26.8             7.3
  5.0 and over        19.5             7.3

Playing with the baby

  0.0 hours           --               --
  0.5                 --               --
  1.0                  2.5            29.5
  1.5                 --               --
  2.0                  9.8            17.0
  3.0                 12.2            17.0
  4.0                 34.0            19.5
  5.0 and over        41.5            17.0

Table 2

Coefficients for the Relationships Between Sociodemographic
Factors and Caregiving Measures

Measures          Family Size       Age-of-Infant   Age-of-Parent

Bedtime routine   -.35 */.26        .22/.-.23       -.14/-.04
Physical care     -.35 */-.33 *     .26/-.30        .01/-.02
Feeding           -.38 **/-.24      -.27/.02        .26/-.06
Playing           -.43 **/-.37 **   .11/-.14        -.07/-.17
Soothing          -.14/-.21         .33 */-.03       -.31 */-.37 **
Singing           -.48 **/.33 *     .24/-.21        -.16/-.31 *

Measures          Marriage Length   Education

Bedtime routine   .21/-.07          .21/.27
Physical care     -.06/-.11         .05/.01
Feeding           -.35 */-.08       .18/.27
Playing           -.04/-.14         .07/.16
Soothing          -.40 **/-.40 **   .27/.29
Singing           .27/-.26          .30/.14

* p <05,   ** p <.01

Note: Coefficients above slash are for mothers.

Table 3

Mean Ratings (I to S) for Mothers' and Fathers' Involvement
in Childcare Activities

Measures                  Mothers                     Fathers
                     Boys         Girls         Boys         Girls

Bedtime routine   4.28 (.97)   4.25 (1.24)   3.38 (.94)    3.03 (1.19)
Physical care     4.18 (.89)   4.43 (1.24)   3.07 (.66)    2.87 (1.04)
Feeding           4.23 (.98)   4.50 (1.05)   2.85 (1.09)   3.30 (.73)
Playing           4.75 (.55)   4.55 (1.05)   4.20 (.89)    3.85 (1.27)
Soothing          4.51 (.69)   4.31 (1.09)   3.66 (.97)    3.38 (1.10)
Singing           4.55 (.69)   4.30 (1.22)   3.90 (.97)    2.95 (1.15)

There were no significant Gender of Infant main effects.
However, there were marginally significant Gender of Parent x
Gender of Infant effects for feeding F (1, 37) =
3.23, p = .08, yy'= .08 and stimulating infants through singing
to them F (1, 37) = 3.82, p = .058, p2= .09. Post hoc comparisons
suggest that mothers of female infants were more likely to feed
them than fathers with sons and fathers with daughters were to feed