http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080212095450.htm

Science Daily
12 February 2008

Children Who Have An Active Father Figure Have Fewer Psychological And
Behavioral Problems

Active father figures have a key role to play in reducing behaviour
problems in boys and psychological problems in young women, according
to a review published in the February issue of Acta Paediatrica.

Swedish researchers also found that regular positive contact reduces
criminal behaviour among children in low-income families and enhances
cognitive skills like intelligence, reasoning and language
development.

Children who lived with both a mother and father figure also had less
behavioural problems than those who just lived with their mother.

The researchers are urging healthcare professionals to increase
fathers' involvement in their children's healthcare and calling on
policy makers to ensure that fathers have the chance to play an active
role in their upbringing.

The review looked at 24 papers published between 1987 and 2007,
covering 22,300 individual sets of data from 16 studies. 18 of the 24
papers also covered the social economic status of the families
studied.

The smallest study focused on 17 infants and the largest covered 8,441
individuals ranging from premature babies to 33 year-olds. They
included major ongoing research from the USA and UK, together with
smaller studies from Sweden and Israel.

"Our detailed 20-year review shows that overall, children reap
positive benefits if they have active and regular engagement with a
father figure" says Dr Anna Sarkadi from the Department of Women's and
Children's Health at Uppsala University, Sweden.

"For example, we found various studies that showed that children who
had positively involved father figures were less likely to smoke and
get into trouble with the police, achieved better levels of education
and developed good friendships with children of both sexes.

"Long-term benefits included women who had better relationships with
partners and a greater sense of mental and physical well-being at the
age of 33 if they had a good relationship with their father at 16."

However the authors point out that it is not possible to conclude what
type of engagement the father figure needs to provide to produce
positive effects.

"The studies show that it can range from talking and sharing
activities to playing an active role in the child's day-to-day care."

The researchers believe that more research is needed to determine
whether the outcomes are different depending on whether the child
lives with their biological father or with another father figure.

"However, our review backs up the intuitive assumption that engaged
biological fathers or father figures are good for children, especially
when the children are socially or economically disadvantaged" says Dr
Sarkadi.

"Children who lived with both a mother and father figure had less
behavioural problems than those who lived with just their mother.
However, it is not possible to tell whether this is because the father
figure is more involved or whether the mother is able to be a better
parent if she has more support at home."

The researchers feel that it is important that professionals who work
with young children and their families explore how actively fathers
are involved with their children from an early age.

"Involving them in healthcare visits and explicitly seeking their
opinions when making decisions could be a good way to promote high
levels of engagement" says Dr Sarkadi. "Stressing that fathers have an
important role in promoting their child's social and emotional
development is another good strategy."

Governments and employers also have an important role to play in
ensuring that men can spend quality time with their offspring, stress
the authors.

"Public policy has the potential to facilitate or create barriers to
fathers spending time with their children during the crucial years of
early development" says Dr Sarkadi.

"Unfortunately current institutional policies in most countries do not
support the increased involvement of fathers in child rearing. Paid
parental leave for fathers and employers sympathetic to fathers
staying at home with sick children is still a dream in most countries.

"We hope that this review will add to the body of evidence that shows
that enlightened father-friendly policies can make a major
contribution to society in the long run, by producing well-adjusted
children and reducing major problems like crime and antisocial
behaviour."

Journal reference: Fathers' involvement and children's developmental
outcomes: a systematic review of longitudinal studies. Sarkadi et al.
Acta Paediatrica. 97.2, pp 153-158. (February 2008). Adapted from
materials provided by Blackwell Publishing Ltd., via EurekAlert!, a
service of AAAS.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-02/bpl-cwh021208.php

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