To be a son, to be a father: A study on paternal representations

During last decades, transition to fatherhood has been more and more investigated, by means of studies focusing mainly on the postpartum period (Magill-Evans et al., 2007). As a matter of fact paternal experience of pregnancy has recently been defined as "still a dark continent, a little known zone" (Bartlett, 2004, p.160). However, a growing number of researchers is turning interest into exploring this important phase of man's life (Ammaniti et al., 2005; Boyce et al., 2007), defined as a developmental phase and a maturational crisis (Glazer, 1989), with fathers-to-be experiencing mixed emotions about pregnancy and future role as fathers. During pregnancy a man has to face expectations coming from himself, his partner, his family of origin, about his ability to realize the transition from being a son to becoming a father. In this process, a special role is played by the man's own relational experience with the family of origin (Lamb, 1997) and, above all, with his father. Beaton and Doherty (2007) have found that fathers who have either very positive or very negative relationships with their fathers during childhood, demonstrate subsequently strong attitudes about father involvement. However, these authors collect their data through questionnaires, an instrument that explore the declarative level of a subject's knowledge. According to a psychoanalytical approach, we have used in our study clinical semistructured interviews to deeply assess mental representations. We hypothesized that the experience of a good relationship with the paternal figure during childhood can facilitate the assumption of the father role during pregnancy and it makes easier the approach to the child-to-be through fantasies and dreams. In fact identification with an internal "good enough" father can produce more attitude to fatherhood. Our longitudinal research examines the transition to parenthood for first time fathers, from pregnancy to early months of child's life. The sample includes 30 subjects recruited in childbirth classes. During the seventh month of pregnancy we used IRPAG-version Ch (Ammaniti, Candelori et al., 1995) to explore father's representations and AAI (George, Kaplan, Main, 1985) to evaluate the attachment. In order to assess fathers' mental representation four months after child's birth, we used IRPAN-version Ch (Ammaniti, Candelori et al., 1995). First results about mental representations during pregnancy show the higher frequency for integrated representations (70%), followed by disengaged (26,7%) and ambivalent ones (3,3%). Qualitative analysis of interviews shows that subjects with a good relationship with their fathers have more rich and flexible fantasies about child during pregnancy. Analysis of data about the post partum period is still in progress.