Mothers as Gatekeepers: A Model of Maternal Mediators of Father Involvement

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Abstract
A model of maternal characteristics posited to mediate frequency of father involvement with children in intact families was evaluated. A structured, standardized questionnaire that assessed several exogenous variables (satisfaction with marriage, employment status, and social support; personal attributes of mothers and children) as well as two maternal mediators (importance of and satisfaction with father involvement) was administered to 144 mothers. Multiple regression analyses indicate that 79% of the variation in the mothers' reports of frequency of father involvement was explained directly by the maternal mediators, marital satisfaction, and age of child. Maternal ratings of the importance of father involvement and satisfaction with father involvement reliably mediated the effects of age of child, satisfaction with social support, satisfaction with employment status, and satisfaction with marriage. The results support the value of an ecological perspective for understanding the myriad factors affecting father–child relations. Implications for future research are discussed.

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