A major task for parents during the transition to second-time parenthood is to help their firstborn adjust to their new roles as siblings. Increased father involvement has been theorized to be protective for firstborn adjustment. Fathers, however, are under increasing pressure to balance both work and family responsibilities. Here we evaluate fathers' relative involvement in two-child families as a function of family structure, gender role beliefs, and work-family conflict in 222 dual- and single-earner families from the Midwestern region of the United States after the birth of a second child. Couples reported on father involvement with firstborns and infants when the infants were 1, 4, 8, and 12 months old. On average, fathers increased their involvement with infants but decreased their involvement with firstborns. Dual-earner fathers were more involved with their children than single-earner fathers. Although mean levels of father involvement were different between dual- and single-earners, multi-group parallel process trajectory latent growth curve models revealed more similarities than differences between dual- and single-earners in processes guiding father involvement. Both dual- and single-earner fathers engaged in juggling childcare between children and both dual- and single-earner fathers' involvement with infants was constrained by work-family conflict. Gender role beliefs predicted child care involvement for dual-earner, but not single-earner fathers: more egalitarian gender roles predicted greater involvement with the firstborn immediately after the birth of the second child. Results underscore the need for greater workplace support for fathers' caregiving roles after the birth of an infant.

中文翻译：

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性别角色观念，工作家庭冲突以及第二胎生育后父亲的参与。

在向第二次父母身份过渡的过程中，父母的主要任务是帮助他们的长子适应兄弟姐妹的新角色。从理论上讲，父亲参与度的增加可以保护长子适应。然而，父亲在平衡工作和家庭责任方面承受着越来越大的压力。在这里，我们评估了父亲在两个孩子家庭中的相对参与程度，这是家庭结构，性别角色信念以及来自美国中西部地区的222个双职工和单职工家庭的工作家庭冲突的函数。第二个孩子。夫妻俩报告说，父亲在1、4、8和12个月大时参与了长子和婴儿。平均而言，父亲增加了对婴儿的参与，但减少了对长子的参与。与单身父亲相比，双薪父亲与孩子的互动更多。尽管双职工和单职工的父亲参与的平均水平有所不同，但多组平行过程轨迹的潜在增长曲线模型显示出双父亲与单职工在指导父亲参与的过程中的相似之处远胜于双职工。双亲和单亲父亲都在玩弄儿童之间的托儿服务，双亲和单亲父亲与婴儿的参与都受到工作家庭冲突的限制。性别角色信念预测双职工父亲参与育儿活动，但单身父亲则不参与：更多的平等性别角色预示第二胎婴儿出生后立即与第一胎婴儿进行更多的育儿活动。