Australian Psychologist, 2022, First published online, 5 October 2022

Objective: Despite parenting programs providing benefits to parents and children, fathers enrol five times less often than mothers and dropout at higher rates. To better understand how
to encourage father engagement, this study asked 55 Australian fathers about their preferences regarding six attributes of parenting programs: content; delivery method; participants; facilitator gender; program duration; and cost.
Method: Participants were asked to complete an online experiment indicating the best and worst options presented within each attribute (e.g., comparing a parenting program delivered face-to-face, through zoom, online, via an app, or SMS-based).

Results: Fathers showed a strong preference for a program that included child-focused activities rather than parenting-partner-focused activities. Delivering the program via SMS
was the least preferred delivery method, but there were no strong preferences around who participated in the program or the facilitator gender. There was a strong preference for a one-
to two-month duration and a no, or low-cost program.

Conclusions: These findings provide the first step towards developing father-focused parenting programs containing attributes that encourage father engagement. (Author's abstract). Record #7858