Que Padre! Measuring Latino Fathers' Involvement with Infants

Objective The present study was designed to examine the psychometric properties and correlates of an existing measure of father involvement with infants, The Paternal Involvement with Infants scale (PIWIS), with Latino fathers. Background Fathers' involvement with their infants is associated with positive outcomes for family members. Father involvement is known to vary by child, familial, societal, and cultural factors, emphasizing the need for further research with specific populations of fathers, including Latino fathers. Method Addressing this need, we examined the psychometric properties of a multidimensional measurement of father involvement with infants, the Paternal Involvement with Infants Scale (PIWIS), with 203 Latino fathers of infants up to 12 months of age. Results Results support a five-factor model validating the PIWIS as a measurement of father involvement with Latino fathers of infants. Findings revealed moderate to strong construct validity for the PIWIS and five subscales offering unique utility for Latino fathers. Variability between dimensions of father involvement and related constructs are discussed. Conclusion Taken together, these findings suggest that the PIWIS reflects a valid and reliable measure of Latino fathers' involvement with infants. Implications The PIWIS can be utilized to deepen our understanding of the interrelationships among well-established aspects of fathers' involvement including mental health, partner support, familial support, and cultural factors.