Fathers' authoritative and authoritarian attitudes and paternal involvement in a climate of political violence

Despite the growing attention to fathers, in both research and practice, fatherhood in the context of political violence has been understudied. As a result, knowledge regarding practical intervention is also lacking. The current study examined whether fathers’ parenting styles were related to their levels of exposure to political violence and whether exposure to political violence moderated the association between the father's parenting style and his parental involvement. The study included 293 Israeli fathers who were divided into three groups according to their levels of exposure to political violence: chronic (n = 88); acute (n = 106); and non-exposed (n = 99). Participants filled out questionnaires about their authoritative and authoritarian parenting styles and their paternal involvement. The group exposed to chronic threats reported higher levels of the authoritative parenting style than did the group exposed to acute threats. The authoritative parenting style contributed positively to paternal involvement. Acute exposure moderated the association between an authoritative parenting style and paternal involvement. These findings may indicate that the ability to be authoritative is somewhat jeopardized when the father is exposed to an acute security threat. The characteristics of acute exposure contributed to a weaker relationship between an authoritative parenting style and paternal involvement. Implications for family researchers and practitioners are discussed.