Fatherhood in St. Kitts: Patterns and Predictors of Partnership and Paternal Dynamics in a Caribbean Island

Abstract

While paternal investment is a defining feature of human behavioral biology, it is also considerably variable, with previous research on African Caribbean fatherhood pointing to a high prevalence of visiting relationships and blended families within which children are raised. The aims of the present study were to characterize key patterns of paternal behavior and to test three hypotheses concerning variation in fatherhood in the Caribbean island of St. Kitts. One hundred two fathers 21–40 years of age completed a questionnaire providing sociodemographic, partnership and paternal data. The sample consisted of working fathers expressing generally favorable paternal attitudes and investments in a relatively low-fertility context. Results revealed key ways in which relationship dynamics structure paternal outcomes, and differences in biological and stepfathering subject to both between- and within-subject analyses.