The mediating role of spousal support in the effect of paternal role perception on father involvement

The present study was designed to explore the mediating role of spousal support in the effect of paternal role perception on father involvement. The correlational research design was adopted in the study. The research sample was made up of 659 fathers with 3 to 6-year-old children enrolled in a preschool program. The data was collected using the “Demographic Information Form”, “Paternal Role Perception Scale”, “The Spouse Support Scale”, and “Father Involvement Scale”. The mediator impact analysis was employed to assess the mediating role of spousal support. The effect of the mediating variable was evaluated with PROCESS, and the Sobel test and bootstrap confidence interval were used to measure the significance of the resulting effect quantity. The results showed that paternal role perception and spousal support significantly predicted paternal involvement. Also, paternal role perception significantly predicted spousal support and spousal support had a mediating role in the relationship between paternal role perception and father involvement.