“Connection, community and convenience”: A case study of a Facebook group for fathers navigating parenthood

1.1 Shifting expectations of father involvement

Intergenerational shifts in parenting roles and responsibilities have seen fathers* having increasingly greater involvement in childrearing practices. In many countries, contemporary models of fathering are characterised by high levels of involvement and nurturing, representing a change from traditional models that emphasised a father's breadwinning capacity and minimised their caring and nurturing roles.^1-4 To exemplify, the widely cited model of paternal involvement first introduced by Lamb et al⁵ described three components (paternal engagement, availability to the child and responsibility), which was reconceptualised 25 years later to include more involved components – such as positive engagement activities, warmth and responsiveness to the child's needs.⁶ This revised conceptualisation is congruent with accumulating evidence that highlights the unique and significant mechanisms through which positive father involvement and care benefits the health and well-being of their children – both directly and indirectly.^{2, 7, 8}

Men's involvement in childrearing duties has steadily increased across generations and in many countries.⁹ For example, one international study spanning the United States, Australia, Italy, France and Denmark revealed that the amount of time that modern fathers spend caregiving for their children is, on average, 3-to-6 times greater than the amount of time that their fathers spent caring for them.¹⁰ Similarly, an intergenerational study of data from the United States found that the amount of time fathers are spending engaged in direct, developmental and physical child care has doubled between 1985 and 2012.¹¹ Thus, many fathers are caring for their children earlier and at greater frequency, introducing both new challenges and opportunities for fathers and families.

1.2 Navigating parenthood

Childrearing can be fraught with challenges for even adept, experienced and well-supported parents. The transition to parenthood (or the introduction of an additional child to the family), begets newfound parental responsibilities to support children to not only survive, but to thrive in their surrounding environment. Additional challenges navigating parenthood include an adjustment to the new parenting role, changing relationship dynamics between fathers and their partners (and other children), acquiring new parenting skills and maintaining life outside of parenthood – such as a career, social relationships and individual health and well-being.^{12, 13} The early stages of the transition to parenthood (eg, during the perinatal period) is often the most significant adjustment period, and therefore a time where vulnerability to psychological distress is heightened – for mothers and fathers alike.^{14, 15} However, parenting challenges do not dissipate as children age. Rather, these challenges evolve and change over time – making support for parents throughout all stages of their parenting journeys essential.

Despite the shift toward less traditional gendered parenting roles happening globally,¹⁶ research has continued to highlight the unique challenges that fathers encounter as parents.^17-19 For example, a recent qualitative study described men's struggles to achieve a balance between traditional and non-traditional masculine roles that influence parenting attitudes and behaviours.¹⁷ Adherence to traditional (ie, hegemonic) masculine norms that are prototypically characterised by stoicism, self-reliance and a resistance to displaying vulnerability exist in conflict with contemporary fatherhood ideals which instead emphasise a culture of caring, involved and responsible fathering behaviour.²⁰ Thus, fathers who adhere to (or feel pressured to adhere to) these traditional masculine norms (eg, being in control and downplaying problems) may also find themselves less likely to seek support for parenting which can reduce their capacity to meet their children's needs.^{21, 22}

The literature is replete with examples capturing fathers experiencing barriers to supporting the health and development of their children – spanning health, educational and socioeconomic settings.^{23, 24} These barriers – either real or perceived – have additional implications for the availability and accessibility of structured support services for fathers, and their willingness to engage in broader support as they navigate fatherhood. Traditionally gendered parenting norms have resulted in the proliferation of structured (and informal) programs for mothers, and policies to support healthy mother-child relationships, such as compulsory mental health screening for maternal psychological distress during the perinatal period seen in many jurisdictions.²⁵ Despite growth in the recognition and availability of similarly formalised strategies to support fathers, they continue to be limited, having been recently described as sporadic.²⁶ Consequently, alternative methods of support for fathers – such as peer-based models of support – may potentially address an important gap between available services and the needs of fathers, particularly those resistant to accessing professional parenting services.²¹

1.3 Peer support for fathers

Informal and unstructured peer support for parenting has proven an invaluable source of information, emotional support and social support for people navigating the challenges of parenthood.^{15, 27, 28} Connecting with peers also helps to normalise certain experiences, reduce feelings of loneliness, and, potentially, judge advice as more trustworthy.^{29, 30} This sentiment appears to be especially true for fathers, who are often underrepresented in formal parenting support initiatives (eg, parenting course and programs). For example, one meta-analysis of studies evaluating a popular parenting intervention program revealed that fathers comprised less than 20% of participating parents, with the program also found to be less effective at increasing parental competence and reducing dysfunctional parenting practices for fathers than mothers.³¹ Consequently, the established benefits of paternal engagement in parenting programs – for children, fathers, families and communities – have not been enough to promote scalable and sustainable participation by fathers.

Though difficult to identify a sole reason for the persistence of low levels of paternal engagement in professional parent-related support services in Australia, one major contributing factor is thought to be adherence to traditional masculine norms that lead to engagement with professional support being implicitly (or explicitly) perceived as a sign of weakness, vulnerability, or the inability to resolve childrearing difficulties.^{32, 33} However, peer-based models of providing support for fathers appear to be more resistant to these perceptions – potentially because a peer support models foster a sense of normalised experiences amongst peers, simultaneously provide opportunities for fathers to give and receive support and might more closely align with elements of traditional masculine norms such as mateship and common struggle.³⁴

Whilst health care professionals generally adhere to the sentiment that peer support is a unique, but supplementary source of support for parenting,²⁸ it is unwise to assume that all fathers will access professional services when required. Rather, many fathers may be more likely to turn to their fellow fathers as a key, and potentially the only, source of support – emphasising the importance of research to better understand how peer-driven methods of support are experienced by fathers. “Father-to-father” peer support has been shown to provide a unique opportunity for fathers to share experiences and offer mutual support and caring that can be difficult to access outside of these tailored opportunities.³⁵

1.4 Online peer support

The advent of social media has created opportunities for parents to connect with fellow parents at unprecedented levels of scale and accessibility. The availability of online peer support provides fathers with convenient opportunities to connect with other fathers navigating similar parenting journeys. This similarity is typically defined by context (eg, single fathers, or fathers of a child with a specific health condition), geography (eg., fathers living in the same region), or purpose (eg, wanting to connect with a community of other fathers). However, these are not necessarily a prerequisite for joining these groups. To exemplify, fathers may access widely available online forums – such as the highly popular “Daddit” page on Reddit – to see the experiences of other fathers, to pre-empt any upcoming challenges they may face and how to best overcome them, to share their own stories or even out of curiosity.^{15, 36} Though the popularity of these pages (ie, the “Daddit” page alone has more than 528 000 members) results in a variety of discussion topics, an analysis of a similar online fatherhood discussion page by Eriksson and Salzmann-Erikson³⁶ identified three primary categories of peer support exchanged by fathers online: advice, confirmation and encouragement.

A major challenge analysing large and global online fathering forums is that community-specific needs and experiences may be overlooked. For example, queries related to selecting the right school in a certain geographic region, seeking recommendations to child development services, and desires to extend online peer support into the real-world (eg, social events) are unlikely to be successful in these big-scale online forums. Thus, a complementary form of online peer support for fathers has emerged in the form of local, community-driven forums, such as the closed Facebook groups, that allow fathers with similar interests or experiences to connect informally, and without the potential stigmatisation of vulnerability or help-seeking behaviour that might be seen if they were to attend professional services.³⁷ The growing popularity of online peer support for fathers embodies their needs for connection, community and support that have not been met through other mechanisms. Whilst these community-driven efforts by fathers, to support fathers, offer a potentially sustainable solution to the delivery of parenting support, they also often require health care professionals to relinquish control over the direction of these forums. Many private parent-only (or father-only) online communities are moderated by a small number of goodwilled community members, who do not always possess the required technical training to manage the dynamic of the group or content that may be divisive or confronting (eg, discipline, divorce and mental health difficulties).³⁸ Similarly, there are no prerequisite skills to handle difficult matters including conflict between group members, disclosure of potentially illicit or risky behaviours (eg, substance abuse, domestic violence and suicidal ideation) that – if managed improperly – may have implications for group members and the moderators who may feel obligated to act within the online group setting. As it is unlikely that community-led online groups of this nature will cease to exist, an understanding of the dynamics, motivations and experiences of fathers who are members of these pages is essential.

1.5 The present study

The aim of this study was to describe the experiences of fathers who were members of a closed Facebook group designed to provide fathers with peer-based support about parenting. Specifically, these fathers were asked to reflect on what (if any) the individual and family benefits they had experienced from being a member of this page, and their perceptions about why connection between fathers was important.

2.1 Participants

All participants were recruited from the same online peer-based support group for Australian fathers hosted on Facebook. The group was originally founded by an Australian father living in remote Western Australia, who continues to moderate the page with a small team of community-based moderators. The group is apolitical, with the vision to provide Australian fathers (irrespective of location, race or religion) with a platform to connect with other fathers in a non-judgemental manner. The Facebook group was founded in 2016, and, as of November 2022, consists of approximately 2800 unique members – all of whom are self-identified as fathers.

Data for the current study was obtained via an annual survey co-designed by the researchers and the group's founder to generate a “snapshot” of the group, their needs and experiences. A subset of this broader online community (N = 145; approximately 5.1% of the total group) completed this voluntary survey between September and November 2022. All fathers were Australian residents – 76% of the participants were also born in Australia. Fathers ranged from 23 to 72 years of age (M = 41.2 years, SD = 8.81 years), with children ranging from 0 to 44 years of age (M = 9.60, SD = 8.31 years). Most participants were fathers to two children (45.5% of the sample), with approximately 75% of the sample living with their romantic partners. Most (78% of the sample) participants were employed on a part-time or full-time basis, and over 90% of the sample had at least completed minimum high-schooling education. Demographic details of the current study participants are provided in Table 1.

2.2 Measures

2.3 Procedure

The protocol for the current project was approved by the administering institution's Human Research Ethics Committee (decision no. 2022/ET000614). Permission to undertake this research was also provided by the founder of the partnering organisation who was also responsible for moderating the closed Facebook group. The anonymous online survey was advertised to members of the Facebook group via posts made by the moderator outlining the purpose of the survey. Participation in the survey was entirely voluntary, with those who completed the survey eligible to enter a raffle to win a gift voucher as an incentive to encourage participation. Recruitment took place between September and November 2022, with the questions that formed this study taking approximately 15–20 min to complete.

2.4 Analysis

Basic frequencies and descriptive statistics were calculated using version 27.0 of SPSS statistics. The qualitative responses to the open-ended question were analysed using content analysis – a widely used qualitative research methodology with the goal of providing knowledge and understanding of a phenomenon under investigation.³⁹ Content analysis can be flexibly applied to text data spanning verbal, print, and electronic forms that are obtained from narrative response, open-ended survey questions, interviews, focus groups, or pre-existing print media (eg, newspaper articles, books and manuals).⁴⁰ Open-ended survey responses by fathers recruited for the current study were analysed using content analysis.

There are three approaches to content analysis: conventional, directed or summative.⁴¹ This study enlisted the conventional content analysis, as this approach is congruent with the overarching aim to describe a phenomenon without using preconceived categories or theoretical perspectives, and instead allowing the categories to be grounded in the unique perspectives of participants and the actual data.⁴¹ Moreover, this process has also been effectively adapted for use in online open-ended survey-style responses completed independently by participants.⁴² With open-ended survey questions typically shorter than other forms of qualitative data gathering (eg, structured and semi-structured interviews), prior studies have sought to describe their findings by focusing on the frequency to which different codes are described by participants as opposed to searching for underlying themes that can often emerge through longer form interviews.⁴² The present findings also adhere to a similar procedure.

Consistent with content analysis procedures described by Tesch,⁴³ analysis began with the researchers independently reviewing all the responses several times to first obtain a sense of the whole set of responses. Next, researchers independently reviewed each response individually, deriving the initial codes by highlighting the verbatim phrases that capture unique concepts. The researchers then took notes of their first impressions, thoughts, and initial analysis. Labels for initial codes then emerged, with responses grouped based on similarity to other responses. Responses capturing multiple concepts could be allocated to multiple codes. Following the independent coding process, the researchers came together to compare responses and agree on the final set of codes and corresponding data. The content analysis was completed using Microsoft Excel.

3.1 Personal benefits to being a member of an online fathers group

There were 145 qualitative responses provided by participants when asked to describe whether they had identified any personal benefits to being a member of the peer-based online fathers group. Approximately one-quarter (24.1%) of the responses acknowledged multiple benefits, resulting in 190 responses being fitted into broader codes. There were four major codes identified that accounted for approximately 80% of all responses.

The most prominent personal benefit identified by more than one-quarter (27.4%) of participating fathers were the mental health benefits associated with connection to other fathers who are connecting, seeking advice, gaining reassurance and feeling heard by other group members. For example, one participant stated that the online community helped him by “seeing other Dads go through the same things as me, knowing I'm not alone with some of my fears and anxieties”. Alternatively, another father stated, “It's so helpful to feel understood by other dads who are going through the same stuff”.

The forum-style method of communication also provided fathers with opportunities to observe discourse between other group members that were of personal benefit to them. Consequently, the second most frequently cited personal benefit to group membership – representing 20.5% of all responses – was the opportunity to observe how other fathers shared their own experiences, and to gain alternative perspectives about how fathers navigate similar parenting issues. Hearing about the experiences of other fathers was a common benefit cited by fathers. Further insight was provided by one father who described that “Seeing a variety of different perspectives on parenting challenges, which helps me understand where my own challenges sit.”

Being able to connect and talk with other fathers was a frequently cited benefit, mentioned in 20% of the responses. Fathers felt that the opportunity for them to share (ie, “Sharing the joys of fatherhood”), vent (ie, “Having a place to vent to people who understand”) and form friendships (ie, “Friendships with guys with similar interests”) with other fathers was beneficial. Some participants also recognised the unique opportunity that fathers-only peer support presented them, one father expressed that a benefit of the group was “Being able to share my own in a place where I don't share friends with my wife”, whilst another expressed that “It gives me the opportunity to have an outlet, someone to talk to. I never had that previously.”

Learning from other fathers emerged as a separate code that represented 12.1% of all responses. These comments were differentiated from those made about simply observing other fathers' interactions, instead offering qualitative descriptions of how interactions between group members could be used to inform their own parenting behaviours. Several participants described how the open style of communication – whereby multiple fathers could respond to a single query – enabled them to access a repository of knowledge quickly and conveniently, without having to engage in the same discussion with separate individuals. For example, one person stated that “It's been great to have a diversity of opinions on how to approach certain situations. Definitely very interesting getting some of the extra knowledge from the other dads in the group”, whilst another father commented that “Seeing other guys struggle with the similar issues and how they deal with them” was beneficial. Additionally, some fathers also described how the opportunity to post a query and receive multiple responses could be described as somewhat of a democratic process, as different opinions or advice shared are subjected to scrutiny (or endorsement) from other group members. Fathers were generally appreciative of the perceived honest feedback and valuable advice provided to them from their peers.

These personal benefits and the frequency of responses to each are provided in Table 2. This table also describes the other categories that were identified composing the final 20% of responses.

3.2 Benefits to their families

There were 141 qualitative responses when participants were asked whether they had identified any family benefits to being involved with the online peer-based model of supporting fathers. Three key focus areas were identified, representing 74% of all responses.

Approximately 44% of all responses described how group interactions engendered new opportunities to learn, improve, and get advice on positive parenting behaviours. Despite some overlap with content addressed in the first question (about personal benefits), the responses to this question also focused on potential impact on families. For example, one person stated that the group “Gives me perspective on my family interactions, leading to a healthier outlook”. Another person stated that “Having the assurance of a supportive team in the background has been a good thing for my parenting, and consequently our family”, whilst another participant reported that the group allowed for him to develop “a mindfulness of how I am, and want to be, as a father/husband in my family and aiming to be better”. Responses often described how the ability to learn vicariously through other group members' experiences and suggestions from other group members allowed families to benefit. For example, one response described how “Learning new strategies to deal with being a dad” as a member of the group was beneficial to their family, whilst other responses provided specific details about how new knowledge was translated into benefits for families (ie, “Have implemented a lot of the advice and suggestions I have been given from the ADN. Also, my family would have felt the positive changes and choices that I have made from said advice.”).

An improved awareness of one's emotions, and how this enables better family interactions were identified in approximately 16% of the responses. Some fathers felt that having this network of fathers to connect with allowed them to feel calmer due to the ability to access peer support when required. Some responses also described how the discourse on the page allowed them to feel like “a more stable, grounded parent”, whilst also allowing fathers to better recognise and understand their children's emotions (ie, “Understanding kids better”). Although the specific strategies and skills developed were seldom articulated by participants, the comments instead represented a broader reflection upon the benefits of group membership that could improve the quality of family interactions. For example, one father stated that “I've found better techniques to deal with my frustrations” by connecting with and talking to other members of the group.

The capacity to become a better father emerged as a specific topic identified within 14% of all responses. Some participants provided specific examples of how being involved with the group helped to make them a better father (ie, “Being more present for family and spending more quality time”), though the majority of responses were not specific (ie, “I'm a much better dad and I feel that benefits my whole family”).

These family benefits and the frequency of responses to each are provided in Table 3. This table also describes the other categories that were identified composing the final 20% of responses.

3.3 The importance of connection with other fathers

There were 147 qualitative responses when participants were asked to share their perspectives on whether connection between fathers was important, and, if so, why. Three key focus areas were identified by participating fathers, accounting for 83% of all responses to this question.

The most frequently cited benefit of connection between fathers was the ability for fathers to have access to support for various parenting challenges provided by other fathers with shared experiences, in a manner that is convenient, and perceived as safe – accounting for nearly half (48.3%) of responses. These responses captured a breadth of perceptions about how support from other fathers was critical. These responses ranged from brief statements (ie, connection between fathers was important “For support”), to more descriptive explanations concerning how this support is important. For example, one father stated: “Because everyone has different experiences, and no-one should have to feel as though they are alone in fatherhood.” The concept of a safe, father-specific space was also noted in several responses, highlighting the potential utility of a fathers-only space as creating a unique opportunity to disclose or ask questions that fathers may feel less comfortable doing in the presence of their partners (ie, “Having and safe environment to connect to other dads creates a space where dads can realise they are not alone in their situation and can speak freely,” and “I feel there are issues best not discussed with women especially partners and is best done with another dad who can understand empathise and give sound advice”).

Approximately 18% of responses described how connection between fathers provided the opportunity to overcome stigma associated with traditional hegemonic models of masculinity that may constrain fathers' capacity to seek support for parenting through professional resources (ie, seeking intervention), or through their partners. This is exemplified by one response that characterised the prevailing perception about men's position within traditional family structures (As a community, men have been viewed as rocks, and providers. The ability to share concerns and ask questions in a non-judgemental situation is very enlightening). Further insight regarding the importance of peer connection between fathers was well summarised in one detailed response, explaining that “Dads require just as much connection as Mums if not more at times, a lot of dads due to whatever reasons are afraid to reach out or ask for help or guidance and with what it means to be a dad changing over generations it's hard to ask even our own fathers for advice. Additionally, Dads seem to cop the short end of the stick when it comes to custodial arrangements meaning Dads in separated families deal with a different form of loneliness.” This response embodies the commonly held belief that the utility of connection between fathers allows for support to be provided in a manner that circumvents barriers that may be attributable to the adherence to traditional beliefs about masculinity and fathering.

Congruent with some of the topics identified in the earlier questions, the opportunity to learn from other fathers was identified as a reason for why connection to other fathers was important in 17% of responses. Responses often touched on the notion that learning from fellow fathers felt like a more genuine and shared undertaking that allowed fathers to gain new perspectives beyond their own experiences, but from the experiences of fellow fathers (ie, “Gaining perspective outside of your own experience”). The concept of mateship was often identified as an important reason for fathers to remain connected with each other whilst they navigate their parenting journeys (ie, “For mateship, to be able to lean on other dads to maintain a healthy and positive social life.”).

The reasons for why fathers felt that connection to other fathers was important are provided in Table 4, which also provides those topics that were identified to a lesser frequency.

4.1 Study limitations and directions for future research

Whilst the current results do provide some novel insights regarding the potential benefits of online peer-support groups for fathers, these findings must also be considered considering important limitations. First, the current sample (N = 145) represents approximately 5% of the total members on this Facebook group – which may have implications for how representative participants were of the broader group. This issue of representativeness is similarly described in the broader online peer-to-peer support research, such as the identification of the 90-9-1 phenomenon (or the 1% rule). This well-established phenomenon describes how only a small proportion (≈ 1%) of users produce majority of content, a slightly larger group (≈ 9%) produce the remaining minority of content, and the remaining group members (≈ 90%) only observe the content without participating.⁵⁵ Thus, it is unlikely that researchers will be able to recruit all – or very high proportions – of online peer-to-peer support groups to participate in research.

Moreover, despite the anonymous nature of the current study – it is particularly pertinent to highlight that some fathers may be distrusting or feel uncomfortable sharing their insights to researchers about their experiences as a group member of this peer-based model of support for fathers. This may also be reflected into some fathers offering somewhat generic answers to questions, though this may also reflect the method in which responses were collected (eg, typed responses to open-ended research questions in an online survey). Though such response formats afford the opportunity to gather small qualitative insights from a larger audience than more in-depth qualitative methodologies (eg, semi-structured interviews), they are restrictive in the level of detail offered by each person. Consequently, in-depth analysis with a smaller group of participants represents an important step to advance this important area of research – with the present results highlighting important topics in which questions could be structured (eg, asking about the specific ways in which being a member of the group changed parenting behaviour or improved mental health and well-being).

It is also important to acknowledge that there are many online peer-to-support groups available for fathers, with the current study undertaking a case study of one specific group. Further research may wish to consider potential differences in group dynamics across different online communities for fathers, and to determine what proportion of fathers are interacting with their peers across communities.

Longitudinal research designs that would allow for opportunities to capture how group membership transforms fathers' attitudes and behaviours related to parenting would help to further establish the merit of these groups. Additionally, researchers could enlist both quantitative and qualitative approaches to classify the nature of interactions within these pages, such as the content of posts made by group members, and, critically, the engagement and discourse between group members.¹⁵ Data from the current study revealed that peer-based models of online support delivered in a “fathers-only” space were highly valued by participants as a convenient way to connect with other fathers – including getting suggestions about parenting. Whilst these suggestions may come from lived-experience fathers with good intentions, further research efforts should consider examining whether the suggestions that are provided are well-suited (based on broader evidence about parenting) to the situation.

4.2 Conclusions

Online peer-to-peer support provides a sustainable approach to supporting fathers as they navigate the challenges of parenthood. The proliferation of father-focussed online support groups suggests there is growing demand for father-to-father connection. Our case study of one Australian-based, “fathers-only” Facebook group revealed that these spaces serve a unique and important function for fathers spanning the full continuum of childrearing practice. Connection to other fathers, feeling less isolated in the parenting journey, and an awareness that support is conveniently available were deemed to be major benefits of community membership. As these groups are created and directed by community members, ensuring that they have access to the necessary training and development opportunities that will allow them to provide the best possible support to their community members (including strategies such as referral pathways) remains a key focus area for further research.