Background: The premature birth of a child is often experienced as a stressful and destabilizing event for fathers. In addition to the medical fragility of the infant, the intensive care environment can challenge men's confidence in their ability to assume an active caregiving role. This situation represent a significant threat to paternal self-efficacy, a psychological resource closely linked to parental adjustment, sensitivity, and involvement. Identifying factors that foster fathers' confidence in caring for their preterm infants is therefore essential for supporting both child development and family well-being.
Aim: This longitudinal study examined whether fathers' participation in Kangaroo Care (KC), a skin-to-skin caregiving practice widely recognized for its benefits to premature infants, contributes to strengthening paternal self-efficacy across time.
Methods: A total of 42 fathers of infants born at or before 33 weeks of gestation were recruited from a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in Quebec. Paternal self-efficacy was assessed using the Parenting Sense of Competence Scale at three time points: before the first KC session, at NICU discharge, and three months after discharge. The frequency of KC performed by fathers relative to mothers during hospitalization was calculated. Path analyses were conducted to examine longitudinal associations between KC and self-efficacy trajectories.
Results: Analyses revealed that a higher father-to-mother KC frequency ratio during the NICU stay significantly predicted greater paternal self-efficacy at discharge, even after controlling for baseline levels. Moreover, this positive effect persisted three months following the infant's return home, suggesting enduring benefits of early father involvement in KC.
Conclusion: Findings underscore the importance of promoting fathers' active engagement in KC with their preterm infants. Healthcare providers and mothers can play a key role by encouraging and facilitating paternal participation in caregiving activities in the NICU. Strengthening fathers' self-efficacy during this sensitive period may enhance both paternal adjustment and family functioning over the longer term.