Fathers play crucial role for daughters' mental health, sons' school behavior, study finds
Children with actively involved fathers thrive significantly more — academically, emotionally and behaviorally — than their peers without involved fathers, according to a new study from the University of Virginia and Hampton University.
The research, which analyzed U.S. census data from over 1,300 children across Virginia, revealed that children with engaged dads were more likely to earn top grades, less likely to have school behavioral problems and less likely to exhibit depression.
Girls in particular were more likely to get better grades with engaged dads (53% compared to 45% without) and were far less likely to have diagnosed depression (1% vs. 10%), according to the report. Boys were far less likely to get into trouble at school. Only 22% of boys with involved fathers had school behavior issues — compared to 35% of boys with less engaged dads.
"Dads matter for both boys and girls," study co-author Brad Wilcox wrote. "But they matter more for boys' school behavior and girls' emotional well-being."
The study defines "engaged" fathers as those who reported managing parenting demands "very well" and regularly share meals with their families, at least four times a week.
"The results here are consistent with literature indicating that boys respond to family problems by acting out ("externalizing" in the literature), whereas girls turn inward ("internalizing" in the literature). In other words, the pain experienced by paternal disengagement is more likely to be manifested externally for boys and internally for girls. And that is what we see here in the state of Virginia," the authors wrote.
There was no racial divide in school performance or school behavior problems between White and Black children from intact families in the state, the authors said.
The study also found no correlation between a father's race or education level and his level of involvement. However, marital status made a "significant" difference in paternal involvement. Over half (51%) of children with married parents have highly engaged fathers — compared to just 15% of those with cohabiting parents.
Children in blended families or living with only their fathers were as likely to have engaged fathers, the study also found.
The authors say the good news is that the marriage rate has leveled off in Virginia since 2020, after being on a decline for decades. Nearly 70% of children live in households with married parents in Virginia, according to their research.
They are proposing that Virginia lawmakers launch a bipartisan "father-friendly policy" initiative, following in the footsteps of states like Florida and Tennessee, to support fathers and families in the state.
Their policy proposals suggest making schools "boy-friendly," "create a positive culture of fatherhood," "limit access to pornography," "revive civic efforts to promote prosocial masculinity," develop pro-father programs to help disadvantaged dads and make more efforts to help formerly incarcerated fathers succeed.
The report was authored by scholars at UVA, the American Enterprise Institute, the American Institute for Boys and Men, the Brookings Institution, the National Center for Black Family Life at Hampton University, the Institute for Family Studies, and the National Marriage Project.
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