CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Child Development

Child Development

Introduction

Over the last 30 years, there has been a steady increase in research studies that have included both mothers' and fathers' interactions with their children in understanding children's development. This greater emphasis on fathers has been rooted in the changing roles of fathers in the lives of their children, with increasing numbers of mothers into the workforce, less stereotyped roles of fathers, and increasing cultural and linguistic diversity of fathers (Cabrera et al., 2000, Gottman, 1998, Parke, 1995 and Roopnarine, 2004).

Research has largely moved away from unidimensional characterizations of fathers that focus on father presence or absence to a broader consideration of the many roles fathers play in the lives of children and families (Lamb & Tamis-LeMonda, 2004). However, the majority of these studies on fathers have been conducted with middle-class samples of preschool or school-age children (Coley, 2001). There is a need for more focused research that considers the possible contributions of both middle- and low-income resident fathers of infants and toddlers in their children's development.

These very early childhood years are a time in which fathers might exert unique influence as their children rapidly acquire important foundational social, cognitive, and language skills (Coley, 2001, Nelson, 2004 and Shonkoff and Phillips, 2000).

The first 3 years of children's lives are characterized by rapid advances in all areas of development, including the acquisition of communication and language competence (Hoff, 2009, Mowder, 1997 and Shonkoff and Phillips, 2000). Communication competence develops from early infancy, and includes children's communicative gestures and vocalizations to caregivers. Children's intentionality may underlie these early attempts at influencing the behavior and thinking of others (Hoff, 2009).

More conventional oral language generally begins to appear with children's first expressive vocabulary at around 1 year of age and has been thought to be motivated by early communicative and intentional behaviors of children (Hoff, 2006) and as a way to express their thoughts and share experiences (Bloom, 1993 and Snow, 1999). Children learn communication and language in their primary social contexts with caregivers who play an important role in the development of children's early use of language (Bruner, 1981, Snow, 1999 and Snow et al., 1998).

Environmental stimulation in the form of adult- child joint attention activities and characteristics of adult- child -directed language have been related to children's later language development (Hart and Risley, 1995, Hoff, 2003, Snow, 1977 and Tomasello, 1992). These studies have generally focused on mothers since they have been seen as the primary caregiver in most children's lives, however, research is beginning to recognize that across family SES and ethnicity, fathers play an important role in the lives of young children (Cabrera et al., 2007, Duursma et al., 2008 and Lamb and Tamis-LeMonda, 2004).

This study directly addresses this gap in the research by investigating the early contributions of biological resident fathers to their children's expressive communication and language development during infancy and toddlerhood in low-income communities.

Although father involvement and father presence in the home have been linked to better cognitive and school functioning ...