The changing role of fathers? Current understandings and future directions for research and practice

This paper examines current knowledge and thinking about fathering during the infancy period, in terms of research, practice, and social policy. The analysis is conducted at four levels: (1) Description of fathering in terms of men's feelings about being fathers, their involvement with their children, and the nature of infant interactions; (2) the antecedents of father involvement; (3) the effects that fathering has on child development and on the development of fathers, themselves; (4) the implications of findings for social policies and practices (e.g., for approaches to parent education). A major conclusion of the review is that despite a recent shift to place more emphasis on fathers, there is not as much evidence of fathers having been fully integrated into family research paradigms and theoretical models of family processes.