The roles of shame and guilt in father involvement with children with special needs

Abstract

Background and objectives. Fathers in families with disabled children play a crucial role in fostering child development. Previous research addressing emotions of father involvement in rearing children with special needs has been rare. Given the culture and masculine norms Chinese fathers experience, shame and guilt are emotions that may causally affect fathers' psycho-behavioural reactions and their involvement in parenting. This study aimed to (1) study the meaning of fathers who rear children with special needs and their journey with shame and guilt emotions; (2) develop and validate scales measuring of this population's shame, guilt, involvement, and masculine norms; and (3) identify mechanisms of correlational effects of proposed variables and behavioural reactions. Methods. This study adopted a mixed-method research design. Addressing the first objective, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 31 fathers rearing 2-12-year-old children with special needs. An initial theme was generated to identify the fathers' implicit and explicit emotional expressions of shame, guilt, and behavioural reactions. A cross-sectional online questionnaire was conducted to achieve the other objectives. A sample of 437 effective questionnaires was collected to develop measuring scales and validate the proposed variables. Following path analysis, mechanisms underlying the association between different explanatory variables were investigated. Hereafter, the mediating role of emotion (shame and guilt), behaviour (avoidance and compensation) and moderating effects of masculinity were examined. Results. Qualitative results (1) indicated that, according to the model of "Flagship of roles as fathers/men in rearing children with special needs", the roles of fathers and men in views of family and societal systems are somehow unique and mutually inclusive; (2) expanded the model of "Five stages of horseshoe-shaped emotional reactions of fathers rearing children with special needs" by highlighting that emotions of fathers in different stages of rearing their children with special needs are ambivalent, mixed and fluctuating; (3) proposed a unifying thematic framework of "Moral emotions (Shame and Guilt) and behavioural reactions of fathers and their children with special needs". Quantitative results highlighted the developing shame, guilt, avoidance, and compensation scales for fathers with children with special needs, validating the shortened form of assessing father involvement (Chinese version) and the Chinese Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory. All proposed variables were significant, except the negative relationship between shame and father involvement. Path analysis results indicated that fathers of children with special needs, their Chinese masculine norms, and the dialogistic period of children had negative effects on their shame, but positive influences on guilt emotions, respectively. These effects were mediated by their avoidance and compensatory behaviour influencing father involvement. Conclusion. Previously, social science researchers and practitioners addressed the limitations of fathers' emotional expression and accessibility to social services. The results showed societal implications as showcasing the impact of shame and guilt emotions, and their reciprocal relationship influencing father involvement in rearing children with special needs. Fathers/men shared their views on expressing their emotions and underlying service accessibility issues. Stakeholders, including social workers, social science researchers, and policymakers, should echo this voice and review the research and services to address their needs.