Maternal Gatekeeping: The Associations Among Facilitation, Encouragement, and Low-Income Fathers' Engagement With Young Children

Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 3,605), the present study examined two aspects of maternal gatekeeping in relation to low-income predominantly nonresidential fathers' engagement with young children: facilitation and encouragement. The results showed that maternal encouragement when children were 3 years old was positively and longitudinally related to higher levels of paternal engagement with 5 year old children. However, maternal facilitation at age 3 was negatively associated with later levels of paternal engagement. Moreover, the coresidential status of mothers and fathers did not influence the relationship among facilitation, encouragement, and paternal engagement. Implications for future research and practice are discussed in this article.