In recent years mothers have been finding themselves overwhelmed by the need to balance work and maternal duties. Father involvement in childcare has been related to a decrease in mother’s burden in childcare. This association is influenced by multiple aspects, such as the way parents share parenting perspectives and views about child rearing, i.e., coparenting. Nevertheless, the mediating role of coparenting on the association between father involvement and maternal stress has been overlooked. This will be addressed by the current study. A total of 254 Portuguese married/cohabiting mothers of preschool children reported on maternal stress, father involvement in caregiving, and coparenting. Data was collected in public and private schools through questionnaires and online through advertisements in social media. Results show that greater father involvement in direct care was associated with greater maternal stress, but this direction changes when mediated by cooperative coparenting. Moreover, results suggest that when mothers perceived less conflict in coparenting, greater father (in)direct care contributed to decreased maternal stress. The current study supports the notion that fathers involvement and parent’s cooperation account to mothers’ wellbeing, which will improve family dynamics.

Shared custody has become an increasingly common arrangement in post-divorce families in Portugal, raising questions about how fathers adapt to this parenting model. This qualitative study investigates how fathers navigate shared custody, particularly regarding their fathering roles and the transition to a new way of coparenting. Four semi-structured interviews were conducted with Portuguese fathers of children (4–10 years) under shared custody. Content analysis revealed that shared custody arrangements allowed fathers to develop an active role in all domains of their children’s lives. Fathers were committed to providing an environment favorable to their children’s well-being. Achieving cooperative coparenting was described as an effortful and gradual process. However, the transition to shared custody brings greater individual demands, namely in finding the balance between personal life and performing the various practical tasks necessary for childcare. These results contribute to public policies that encourage the maintenance of father-child bonds in different family configurations.

Early relational health during the first 24 months of life is a key determinant of child development and wellbeing. The parent–infant relationship plays a central role in emotional regulation, bonding, and developmental trajectories. However, existing assessment tools differ widely in their scope and characteristics, and no comprehensive review has yet mapped the instruments available to assess this relationship in early infancy. In response to this gap, a transdisciplinary working group within the COST Action CA22114 – TREASURE collaboratively developed a scoping review protocol to systematically map instruments assessing the parent–infant relationship from birth to 24 months of age. This Brief Report outlines the collaborative methodological process used to construct the protocol. Development followed an iterative, consensus-driven approach involving multidisciplinary experts from multiple COST member countries. Through structured online meetings, the group clarified core constructs and established the age range using the Population–Concept–Context (PCC) framework. The JBI methodology for scoping reviews was adopted and aligned with PRISMA-ScR standards to ensure transparency and reproducibility. Progressive drafting, internal peer review, and iterative refinement led to the final protocol, which was registered on the Open Science Framework (DOI: 10.17605/OSF.IO/HRVX9). The resulting protocol provides a replicable methodological framework for mapping instruments that assess the parent–infant relationship. This Brief Report presents a framework for collaborative protocol development in international research networks, promoting shared knowledge generation in early relational health research and offering potential applicability to other COST initiatives.

Becoming a father entails significant psychological adaptations that impact fathers’ well-being and mental health, but also that of their partners and children. As such, structured parenting programs may play an important role in supporting fathers during this transition. However, fathers remain underrepresented in these programs, and studies consistently report challenges in recruiting and engaging them. These difficulties suggest a potential misalignment between parenting programs and fathers’ needs, expectations, and sociocultural contexts, often shaped by their broader experiences with family- and health-related services. This study aims to explore how Portuguese fathers perceive and position themselves in relation to parenting programs, and to identify the social, cultural, and institutional factors that shape their engagement and non-engagement. We conducted four focus groups with 16 fathers who had at least one biological child under five years old. The focus groups were moderated by two psychologists (one male and one female) and followed a semi-structured script. Using reflexive thematic analysis, six themes were developed: fathers as secondary parents – experiences and perceptions of exclusion; generational gaps; gap between service awareness and willingness to engage; perceived legitimacy of fathers in parenting support spaces; seeking a place of belonging; design elements supporting fathers’ engagement. Overall, fathers’ engagement emerges as a contextually embedded process shaped by institutional practices, cultural expectations, and perceived legitimacy. Enhancing participation may entail fostering inclusive environments that recognize fathers as central caregivers. This calls for broader transformations of cultural and institutional frameworks that shape parenting support from the earliest stages of a father’s parenthood trajectory.

Objective: This study qualitatively explores fathers' perceptions of their parenting role, as well as the challenges and resources associated with it. Background: Societal changes in recent years have led to a transformation in the father's role, with fathers playing an integral role in shaping family dynamics and children's development. A question remains, however: How do fathers see their role in parenthood nowadays? Method: We conducted four focus groups with 16 Portuguese and immigrant fathers of young children. All participants were employed, predominantly married, and had high levels of education. Results: We used thematic analysis and identified four dominant themes: (a) the father's role, (b) barriers to father involvement, (c) facilitators of father involvement, and (d) process of becoming a father. Conclusions: Fathers predominantly viewed themselves as guides and role models for their children, often drawing comparisons with the maternal role, indicating a prevalent focus on mothers' roles in parenthood narratives. Both instrumental and emotional support were identified as pivotal facilitators to their role, whereas lack of support and coparenting conflicts were identified as primary barriers to active fatherhood. Implications: These findings underscore the importance of tailoring policies and programs to support contemporary families effectively.