It takes a village

As a child and adolescent development researcher with a social work background, University of Delaware Assistant Professor Jin Yao Kwan understands how true the familiar proverb "it takes a village to raise a child" is for parents. With Father's Day around the corner, Kwan shares findings from his research and practice that show just how valuable that village is for reducing stress.

In a study published in Families in Society with Jennifer L. Bellamy of Washington University in St. Louis and other colleagues, Kwan and the research team found that both mothers' and fathers' co-parenting directly reduced their own parenting stress. The study grew from Kwan's collaborative evaluation of the Nurturing Dads and Partners (NDAP) program in Colorado, which integrated a home visitation program called "Dads Matter-HV." The program reduces barriers to father engagement by improving the quality of the father-mother co-parenting relationship and supporting fathers in their roles as parents of young children.