Fathers’ Presence Linked to Enhanced Intellect, Well-Being Among Children
ScienceDaily (Aug. 31, 2011) — Fathers who actively engage in raising their children can help make their offspring smarter and better behaved, according to new research from Concordia University.
Published in the Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, the long-term study examined how fathers can positively influence the development of their kids through hands-on parenting.
“Fathers make important contributions in the development of their children’s behaviour and intelligence,” says Erin Pougnet, a PhD candidate in the Concordia University Department of Psychology and a member of the Centre for Research in Human Development (CRDH).
“Compared with other children with absentee dads, kids whose fathers were active parents in early and middle childhood had fewer behaviour problems and higher intellectual abilities as they grew older — even among socio-economically at-risk families.”
A patriarch’s influence
“Regardless of whether fathers lived with their children, their ability to set appropriate limits and structure their children’s behaviour positively influenced problem-solving and decreased emotional problems, such as sadness, social withdrawal and anxiety,” continues Pougnet.
A total of 138 children and their parents took part in the study and were assessed by researchers in three separate sessions.
Kids were evaluated between the ages of three- to five-years-old and again from nine to 13-years-old. They completed intelligence tests, while their mothers completed questionnaires on home environment and couple conflict. All children were recruited as part of the larger Concordia Longitudinal Risk Research Project, an intergenerational study launched in 1976.
School teachers were also recruited as observers of child behaviours outside homes. “Teachers were a somewhat more independent source of information than mothers, fathers or children themselves,” says Pougnet, “because a father’s absence can result in home conflict, maternal distress and child distress.”
Greater impact on girls
The study found girls to be most affected by absentee dads, although the researchers caution that paternal absence can foster other problems such as lack of support or discipline.
“Girls whose fathers were absent during their middle childhood had significantly higher levels of emotional problems at school than girls whose fathers were present,” says Pougnet.
Mothers, caregivers equally important
Just another one of those stubborn facts of a logical and rational argument against same-sex couples being allowed to adopt.
@Glenn E. Chatfield
Wrong again, Glenn. Where in the article does it say that children raised by same-sex couples were compared with those raised by opposite-sex couples? Oh, that’s right–it doesn’t. So again, no logical or rational reason is presented to bar same-sex couples from marriage OR parenting.
From the article:
“While our study examined the important role dads play in the development of their children, kids don’t necessarily do poorly without their fathers,” stresses co-author Lisa A. Serbin, a professor in the Concordia Department of Psychology and a CRDH member. “Mothers and other caregivers are also important. No doubt fathers have a major impact, but there are definitely many alternative ways to raise a healthy child. Some kids with no contact with fathers, or with distant dads, do well intellectually and emotionally.”
My sweet niece is thriving without a father (who is a loser drug dealer anyway and doesn’t deserve to raise a child).
I am with you Glenn as recognition of homosexual unions is an attack on fatherhood.
@Heidi What CAN be done vs what the IDEAL is doesn’t change the FACT that fathers are important – by design. Deny it all you want, but the facts are that fathers are a vital part of a normal childhood.
@Glenn E. Chatfield
“Deny it all you want, but the facts are that fathers are a vital part of a normal childhood.”
I have proof within my own household that they are not. I have proof from my own childhood that they are not. Claim it all you want, but without actual peer-reviewed proof that children raised by same-sex couples are harmed by the absence of a male or female parent, you have nothing more than your unsupported assertions.
Please, Glenn. This study is the difference between children with an active father vs. an absent father – or a household with an absent parent in general.
This study has little to do with same-gender couples raising children since, in the ideal circumstance, both parents are present.
Deny it all you want, Glenn, but you ideally wouldn’t try to prevent children from being adopted by gay couples when there are over 150 MILLION orphans in the world.
It’s no wonder that the kids in these two studies who were abandoned by a parent suffered emotional problems. Being abandoned by a parent can have that effect, whether or not the parent is male or female.
@RJ
Of those 150 million orphans only 13 million have lost both parents. Are you arguing that the 137 million orphans with one parent should be adopted by gay couples? On what basis would you take those children from their remaining parent? Many of the 13 million double orphans are living with grandparents or other close family members. On what basis would you give those children to gay couples?
The number of foundlings is, unfortunately, not zero, but it is vastly less than 150 million. Foundlings make the news because they are relatively rare.