The proposed fellowship's main substantive aim is to explore the potential for social interventions with fathers to enhance the emotional well-being of children. Social interventions with fathers are developing fairly rapidly in the UK and elsewhere but the evidence base is slender. (Note that the term 'fathers' is being used here in an inclusive sense, to include social fathers and step fathers as well as biological ones). The proposed fellowship's research programme has three main research questions:

1. How do the social, attitudinal and behavioural characteristics of fathers interact with the emotional well-being of children over time? (and how can this knowledge inform interventions?)

2. What kinds of social interventions are currently being used by practitioners who see themselves as successfully engaging fathers?

3. Can social interventions with fathers improve the emotional well-being of children?

There are three proposed studies which relate to these three questions. Studies 2 and 3 focus directly on social interventions with fathers, relate to research questions 2 and 3 and do not involve ALSPAC data. Study 1 involves analysis of ALSPAC. It relates to research question 1 above and will help to set the context for research on social interventions.

Study 1 uses ALSPAC data to explore associations between children's emotional well-being and the social, behavioural and attitudinal characteristics of fathers. The study will include consideration of which characteristics of fathers are associated with increased or decreased risk of emotional distress in children and any evidence about fathers' contact with helping professionals. It will include examination of whether associations differ in sons and daughters and are independent of maternal influences. There has already been some analysis of ALSPAC data on depression in fathers and absent fathers (e.g Dunn et al, 2004; Ramchandani et al 2008). The current proposal is to examine associations between children's emotional well-being and fathers' attitudes, domestic behaviour and social support (including from professionals), since these are especially relevant to social interventions. Data analysis will involve appropriate multivariable linear and logistic regression modelling to investigate the impact of confounding on observed associations; missing data techniques will be used to assess the impact of missing data as appropriate. The intention is not to replicate the now considerable evidence about father involvement, but to inform social interventions with fathers by identifying the social circumstances and attitudinal and behavioural profiles of fathers which are associated with greater risk of emotional distress in children as well as the characteristics of fathers which seem to be protective factors over time for the maintenance of children's emotional well-being. Much of the existing evidence for a positive impact of father involvement only considers fathers as an undifferentiated category.

The proposed fellowship has been adopted as a DECIPHer study. DECIPHer is the Centre for the Development and Evaluation of Complex Interventions for Public Health Improvement, which involves Cardiff, Bristol and Swansea universities and is funded by the UK Clinical Research Collaboration.

The fellowship application can include the costs of ALSPAC data preparation.

References

Dunn J, Cheng H, O'Connor TG, Bridges L. (2004) Children's perspectives on their relationships with their nonresident fathers: influences, outcomes and implications. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45:553-566.

Ramchandani PG, Stein A, O`Connor TG, Heron J, Murray L, Evans J, (2008) Depression in men in the postnatal period and later child psychopathology: a population cohort study. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 47 (4): 390-8.