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The Role of Fathers in Supporting Children’s Development

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Handbook of Parenting and Child Development Across the Lifespan

Abstract

This chapter discusses the processes linking fathers and fathers’ parenting in relation to children’s social, emotional, language and cognitive development, and atypical behavioral development. The review also considers the role of indirect influences, such as paternal mental health, the influence of culture, coparenting, and bidirectional influences between parenting and child behaviors. The chapter begins with a brief history of the scientific study of fatherhood and father–child relationships. Current conceptualizations of father involvement and theoretical frameworks for understanding direct and indirect paternal influences on child outcomes are also discussed. The chapter ends with recommendations for future research and some policy and practice implications based on current research evidence.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education and Social Work, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Louise J. Keown, Nike Franke & Ripi Kaur

Authors
  1. Louise J. Keown
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  2. Nike Franke
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  3. Ripi Kaur
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Correspondence to Louise J. Keown .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Parenting and Family Support Centre School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Matthew R. Sanders

  2. Parenting and Family Support Centre School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Alina Morawska

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Keown, L.J., Franke, N., Kaur, R. (2018). The Role of Fathers in Supporting Children’s Development. In: Sanders, M., Morawska, A. (eds) Handbook of Parenting and Child Development Across the Lifespan . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94598-9_6

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