Bonding is crucial to perinatal mental health. Despite an extensive body of literature on maternal bonding, few studies have focused on paternal bonding. This scoping review aimed to clarify the current state of the concept of paternal–infant/fetus bonding. The eligibility criteria were drawn from the population concept and context elements to answer the following questions: “what is paternal bonding?” and “what are the constructs of the concept of paternal bonding?” The review comprised 39 studies. Paternal bonding was associated with both positive and negative paternal behavior and thought and may be determined based on fathers’ beliefs and rearing history. Most studies showed that father–child interaction is one of the factors promoting paternal bonding. However, fathers generally felt more distant from their babies post-delivery than mothers. Only a few studies originally defined paternal bonding; most relied on the definitions of maternal bonding. We found different descriptions lacking consensus. Few studies examined the differences between paternal and maternal bonding. No consensus exists on the concept, constructs, and assessment of paternal bonding. The causal relationship between paternal bonding and other variables is unexplored. Future studies should explore fathers’ perspectives and experiences, focusing on the unknown aspects of paternal bonding identified in this review.
The purpose of this research is to establish a model for assessing interest in international understanding among nursing and pharmacy students in Japan. The study design was a cross-sectional survey of nursing and pharmacy students in their first to fourth years at Josai International University. The International Understanding Scale (IUS2000), consisting of four domains (respect for human rights, understanding international culture, awareness of world solidarity, and understanding foreign languages) with 27 items, was used. A path analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were used to model international understanding. The model of international understanding of nursing and pharmacy students was established as the second-order four-factor mode. The international understanding of nursing and pharmacy students was mainly composed of respect for human rights and awareness of world solidarity and was less affected by understanding foreign languages. Nursing students in our study had a higher international understanding than pharmacy students. International understanding was considered relevant to students’ learning about the importance of interprofessional collaboration as well as their interests in global learning environments for healthcare professionals. The relationship between international understanding and future progress in healthcare performance needs to be studied to show the importance of international understanding education.