Longitudinal examination of fathers' influences on children's social and emotional development

University Of Rochester, Rochester NY

Investigators

Abstract

This project examines the ways in which parents, particularly fathers, influence the emotional and social functioning of children in the middle-childhood period. A multiple method approach will be initiated, using self-report, other-report, and observational measures of parent and child behavior. The long-term goals of this research are to (a) examine the extent to which fathers' involvement is related to their emotion socialization behaviors with children; (b) examine the relative contributions of fathers and mothers in a variety of social contexts; (c) assess the processes of fathers' influence on children's emotional and social development; (d) evaluate the impact of parents' emotion socialization behaviors on children's emotional and social competence; (e) study the potential relation of parental characteristics such as loneliness and depression to socialization behaviors and children's subsequent social functioning; and (f) determine the relation between peers' perception of children's emotional functioning and their ratings of social competence. The project offers the potential to inform public policy regarding the importance of fathers' involvement for children's social and emotional development.