Spotlights

Paternal childcare and its positive impacts on the child’s socio-physical development
Adjusted risk ratios with 95% confidence intervals for the associations of paternal involvement in childcare.

Dr. Tsuguhiko Kato, Researcher, and Dr. Shoji Itakura, Fellow Professor and Director at the Center for Baby Science at Doshisha University, and their colleagues showed the importance of paternal involvement in infant care and its key developmental impacts among Japanese children.
The extent of paternal involvement in childcare has been historically restricted in Japan because of the ingrained gender-based division of labor. However, recent trends show a paradigm shift in paternal parenting attitudes across Japan. A recent study examines paternal care among 6-month-old Japanese infants and its impact on various developmental outcomes at the age of 3 years. The study also assessed the impact of reduction of maternal parenting stress on childcare outcomes.