Traces of the Developmental Niche in Fatherhood

The developmental niche framework explains development through the interaction of culturally organized settings, caregiving practices, and caregivers’ psychological orientations. Although widely applied to childhood, less is known about how men's earlier developmental environments are reflected in their experiences as fathers. This study examined whether fathers’ developmental niche scores varied according to demographic and family characteristics. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 409 fathers of children aged 3–6 years attending preschools in Türkiye. Data were collected using a demographic information form and the Developmental Niche Scale. Independent-samples t tests, one-way analysis of variance, Kruskal–Wallis tests, and Bonferroni-adjusted Mann–Whitney U tests were performed. Significant differences emerged in developmental niche dimensions according to fathers’ age and education and their wives’ education, whereas total scores did not differ across these characteristics. The number of children was unrelated to subscale and total scores. Fathers who described their wives’ contribution to the father–child relationship as motivating reported more favorable developmental niche scores than those who described it as controlling. More favorable scores were also observed among fathers reporting very good relationships with their wives and children and among those whose current family resembled their ideal family. These findings suggest that fathers’ developmental niche experiences are more consistently differentiated by contemporary family relationships than by demographic characteristics. Father-inclusive interventions may benefit from considering family-of-origin experiences alongside coparenting support, marital relationships, and father–child relationship quality.