Research Findings On Fatherhood That May Surprise You
June 20, 2020
This Sunday is Father’s Day in the U.S., the perfect time to honor every Dad who shows up for his children. It’s not an easy thing, being the best father you can be. But you’re making a huge difference in your child’s life — now, and every day of your child’s future.
Every hug you give, every joke you share, every moment that you listen patiently, every time you take a deep breath and see things from your child’s perspective, every time you role model for your child how to show up with integrity, you’re shaping your child into a person who will make you proud. We celebrate you!
(If you’re a mother raising her child without a father by fate or by choice, please just skip this post. Instead, I urge you to read this one which is specifically for moms raising kids without fathers.)
So if you’re a Dad, please accept my deepest gratitude. Whatever else you may accomplish in your life, in my opinion it pales compared to your role as a father. Now, to honor the contribution of Fathers, let’s consider some research findings that may surprise you.
Research Findings On Fatherhood That May Surprise You
Children whose fathers are highly involved with them in a positive way do better in school, demonstrate better psychological well-being, are less likely to get into trouble of any kind, and ultimately attain higher levels of education and economic self-sufficiency. One of the most important factors in girls’ academic achievement is their father’s belief in them. (1)
Boys who frequently wish their fathers spent more time with them weigh, on average, 10 pounds more than boys who are satisfied with the amount of time they spend with their dads. (2)
Kids who feel they have good relationships with their fathers are less likely to use drugs. (3)
Kids who feel they don’t have their father’s respect are more prone to anxiety. (4)
An active and nurturing style of fathering is associated with better verbal skills, intellectual functioning, and academic achievement among adolescents. (5)
When fathers are involved in their children’s education, the kids are more likely to get better grades, enjoy school, and participate in extracurricular activities. (6)
Toddlers with involved fathers start school with higher levels of academic readiness. They are more patient and can handle the stresses and frustrations associated with schooling more readily than children with less involved fathers. (7)
Kids who have problematic relationships with their mothers grow up to be worse parents — UNLESS they have good relationships with their dads, in which case they can become very good parents. (And of course anyone who was parented in ways that left them vulnerable can become a great parent if they’re willing to do the emotional work). (8)
Children whose fathers have left them (and who don’t have a strong male role model to replace him) are more likely to drop out of school, abuse drugs and alcohol, and wind up in prison. (9)
Whether a girl has early and/or unprotected sex is greatly influenced by whether her father was loving and supportive to her. Adolescent girls living in homes without their fathers are 3 times more likely to engage in sexual relations by the time they turn 15, and 5 times more likely to become a teen mother. (10)
Fathers who take a week or more off to spend with their newborn are closer to their child at every stage of the child’s life, right up into young adulthood. (11)
Dads often worry that they don’t know how to care for a newborn. But research shows that men have a hormonal response to becoming fathers, including increased oxytocin, estrogen, prolactin and glucocorticoids, which creates a natural protectiveness toward the baby. So Paternal Instinct is as real as Maternal Instinct. (12)
The more time dads spend holding their new babies, the more their paternal instinct is activated, and the more comfortable they feel comforting and caring for their newborns. This is usually a transformative experience for Dad, a tremendous relief to mom, and a vital relationship for the baby. (13)
Fathers’ parenting-related stress has a harmful effect on their toddler’s cognitive and language development, especially with boys. (16)
Fathers’ mental health issues such as depression can cause behavior problems in toddlers, and can have a long-term impact, leading to differences in children’s social skills, self-control and cooperation. (17)
Teenagers watch an average of 21 hours of television per week. They spend only 35 minutes per week talking with their fathers. (14)
34% of kids in the USA today live without their fathers. (15) But that doesn’t mean you can’t be intimately involved with your child’s life. Sure, it’s harder. But you can do hard things. That’s something you want to model for your kids, right?
Pretty impressive list, isn’t it? More research is coming out every day substantiating the important role fathers play in their children’s lives. But we don’t need scientists to tell us that. You can see it in the face of any child looking up at his or her father. Happy Father’s Day!
Watch this video if you want to get a lil’ teary-eyed:
“Any man can be a father but it takes someone special to be a Dad.” — Anne Geddes
“Don’t make a baby if you can’t be a father.” — National Urban League Slogan
“Small boys become big men through the influence of big men who care about small boys.” — Unknown
“Fathers, like mothers, are not born. Men grow into fathers – and fathering is a very important stage in their development.” — David M. Gottesman
My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard. Mother would come out and say, “You’re tearing up the grass.” “We’re not raising grass,” Dad would reply. “We’re raising boys.” — Harmon Killebrew
One night a father overheard his son pray: “Dear God, Make me the kind of man my Daddy is.” Later that night, the Father prayed, “Dear God, Make me the kind of man my son wants me to be.” — Unknown
“I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father’s protection.” — Sigmund Freud
“A man never stands as tall as when he kneels to help a child.” — Knights of Pythagoras
“When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years.” — Mark Twain
“A truly rich man is one whose children run into his arms when his hands are empty.” — Unknown
“A father is a guy who has snapshots in his wallet where his money used to be.” — Unknown
“By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he’s wrong.” — Charles Wadsworth
“Spread the diaper in the position of the diamond with you at bat. Then fold second base down to home and set the baby on the pitcher’s mound. Put first base and third together, bring up home plate and pin the three together. Of course, in case of rain, you gotta call the game and start all over again” — Jimmy Piersal
and Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids: How to Stop Yelling and Start Connecting and 
more, – you can visit her at ahaparenting.com.