Why Do Fathers Matter for Children’s Development?

Abstract

Comments on the chapter by Ronald Mincy et al. (see record 2016-01108-008). The question of exactly how fathers matter for children's development has dominated much of the emerging research on fatherhood and has produced some promising findings. A good example of this work is the study conducted by Ron Mincy and colleagues and presented at Penn State's 22nd Annual Symposium on Family Issues. My task is to provide a commentary of this work. Toward this end, I organize this commentary as follows: (1) provide a brief review of the theoretical underpinnings of what fathers do and how it matters for children; (2) discuss Mincy and colleague's findings in the context of the brief review of how fathers matter; and (3) conclude with some directions for future research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)