The effect of early childhood problem behavior and paternal participation on the number of child in follow-up childbirth plan of mothers

Objectives This study investigated the effect of early childhood problem behavior and paternal participation on the number of child in follow-up childbirth plan of mothers. Methods To this end, the data of 642 mothers with the first child were used among the data(data from 2012) from the 5th year of the Panel Study on Korean Children. Descriptive statistics were conducted to understand the general characteristics of the study subjects, and Cronbach's alpha values were calculated to verify the reliability of the research tools. Pearson's product-moment correlation coefficient was used to examine the relationships between variables, and stepwise multiple regression analysis was conducted to analyze the effects of variables influencing the number of children planned for subsequent births. Results As a result of the study, first, early childhood problem behavior was negatively correlated with paternal participation. Early childhood problem behavior was negatively correlated with the number of child in follow-up childbirth plan of mothers, and paternal participation was positively correlated with the number of child in follow-up childbirth plan of mothers. Second, early childhood problem behavior negatively affected the number of child in follow-up childbirth plan of mothers. Next, paternal participation has a positive effect on the number of children in the follow-up birth plan. Third, among the sub-factors of early childhood problem behavior, aggressive behavior negatively affected the number of children in the follow-up birth plan. Conclusions The results of this study suggest that in order to increase the fertility rate in Korea, fathers must actively participate in raising children. In addition, it suggests that parents should be informed of desirable parenting methods for early childhood problem behavior to support confidence in raising children.