Predictors of paternal role competence by risk status.

One hundred seventeen men whose partners had experienced a low-risk pregnancy (LRM) and 61 men whose partners had been hospitalized during pregnancy for an obstetrical risk (HRM) were studied to determine whether they differed in paternal role competence from the time of their partners' early postpartal hospitalization to 1, 4, and 8 months after birth. No differences were found between LRM and HRM in paternal role competence, and their trajectory of paternal competence did not differ. During the 1-month and 8-month postpartal period, paternal competence increased from 76.07 to 77.14 for HRM and from 77.21 to 78.29 for LRM. From 15% to 34% of the variance in paternal competence was explained among HRM, and from 41% to 44% was explained among LRM. Anxiety was the major predictor of paternal role competence for HRM, and sense of mastery and depression were major predictors for LRM.