The present study explored the antecedents and correlates of metaparenting,defined as mental plans for parenting across five subscales: responding, pre-venting, monitoring, mentoring, and modeling. Cross sectional data on a di-verse sample of 74 fathers were drawn from a larger longitudinal project thatinterviewed men four times over the first two years of their children’s lives.A structural equation model revealed that fathers’ reports of positive parent-ing role models and intelligence were found to be related to working modelsof parenting as measured by the five components of metaparenting. Most im-portantly, higher levels of metaparenting were associated with authoritativeparenting and less abuse potential. Results provided preliminary evidence forthe importance of a mental model of parenting among fathers.