Paternal Involvement with Special Needs Children

The focus of this study is paternal involvement of fathers with special needs children. Role salience, parental satisfaction, reflected appraisals, and contextual variables were hypothesized to mediate the relationship between empowerment and paternal involvement. It was also hypothesized that financial strain would moderate the relationship between empowerment and paternal involvement, as mediated by the identity theory variables and contextual variables. The researcher additionally hypothesized that empowerment would be more important to men facing higher levels of financial strain. These hypotheses were investigated using data from the Pathways Research Project, which evaluated Tennessee’s Early Intervention System (TEIS). TEIS provides services to families with special needs children under the age of three. The children in the sample had previously been diagnosed with cerebral palsy, autism, spina bifida, Down syndrome, developmental delays, and speech and/or hearing delays. Findings revealed that the relationship between empowerment and paternal involvement was mediated by role salience and parental satisfaction. In addition, the results showed that the mediated model was moderated by financial strain, such that empowerment was found to be extremely important for men facing high levels of financial strain.