Theorizing the father–child relationship: mechanisms and developmental outcomes

“This overt behavior is supported in analyses of father–child interactions, with father–child activity characterized by more physical play-type activities (e.g., rough and tumble play; MacDonald & Parke, 1986; Paquette, 2004).”

“Also, fathers tend to engage infants in non-object mediated interaction, which is more physical, exciting and unpredictable (see Paquette, 2004).”

“very thoughtful efforts, there is still no comprehensive theoretical framework to guide the next generation of research on what fathering is, why fathers parent in the manner they do, and how paternal actions directly and indirectly help determine children’s development (Lamb, 1997; Palkovitz, 2002; Paquette, 2004; Pl…”

“, Jeynes, 2016), as do theories that fathers and mothers serve different functions as parents, and often attribute these purportedly unique effects to evolved differences between males and females (Paquette, 2004).”

“…play and related martial arts training for children, as studies have shown it to reduce children’s aggressive behavior (Bjorklund and Brown 1998; Paquette 2004; Pellegrini 1992; Shannon et al. 2002) and the mechanism appears to involve alteration of brain chemistry (Panksepp et al. 2003;…”

“A theoretical basis for sex differences may be found in differential roles of mothers and fathers in the development of exploratory systems in the infant and young child according to activation relationship theory (Paquette, 2004).”

“, fathers being dominant in dyadic interactions) (Carson, Burks, & Parke, 1993; Paquette, 2004), although the fact that mothers and fathers both engage in RT play, with mothers often engaging in absolutely more (though relatively less) play than fathers, somewhat weakens this argument (Lamb, 2013; Lamb & Lewis, 2010,…”

“For example, mothers may be the primary providers of emotional security for children via the establishment of early parent-child attachment relationships, whereas for fathers, exploration of the world may be a primary emphasis in parenting.(55) Fathers’ more stimulating play style—often involving rough-and-tumble play…”

“Given theory to suggest a unique role of fathers during early childhood (Paquette, 2004) and data indicating that this developmental period is when fathers’ involvement peaks (Yeung, Sandberg, Davis-Kean, & Hofferth, 2001), a confluence of evidence points toward the importance of understanding the…”

“Paquette (2004) emphasizes father play-behavior as central to fathering, much as nurturing behavior is to mothering.”

“This reality largely contributes to a limited body of knowledge that exists regarding which aspects of paternal involvement help student education, and just what components of this involvement are most important (Paquette, 2004; Pianta et al., 2005).”

“Since then more studies have shown the importance of the role of the father (Grossman et al. 2002; Leidy et al. 2013; Panter-Brick et al. 2014; Paquette 2004; Vékony et al. 2004).”

“However, human males invest greater time in providing care to their offspring than nonhuman primates (Bjorklund and Shackeford 1999; Paquette 2004).”

“The greater tendency of fathers towards risk-taking is also reflected in the fact that they engage more frequently than mothers in vigorous physical play with their children, especially boys (Paquette, 2004c).”

“Last, fathers engage more in physical and rough-andtumble play with their children, whereas mothers engage more in cognitive play and role playing (for a review, see Paquette, 2004).”

“According to the current literature, fathering and mothering play different roles in child development: whereas mothers attend to caretaking and children’s relational needs, fathers assume the role of connecting the child with the outside world (Paquette, 2004).”

“For instance, mothers spend consistently more time with their children on a daily basis (Phares, Fields, & Kamboukos, 2009), whereas fathers’ involvement typically centers around leisure time and provision of financial resources (Paquette, 2004).”

“…suggest that past findings are inconsistent perhaps because variables are conceptualised based on child– mother studies and fail to take into account the unique aspects of the child–father relationship (John & Halliburton, 2010; Lamb, 1975; Lewis & Lamb, 2003; Newland & Coyl, 2010; Paquette, 2004).”

“Physical play is especially important to inciting and regulating children’s arousal systems, and theoretical writings note that fathers frequently engage in this form of activity (Paquette 2004).”

“As a result, little is known about the impact of father-child RTP on children’s psychosocial development (Paquette 2004).”

“Studies of mother and father caregiving provide evidence for variation and similarity across mothers’ and fathers’ parenting behaviors with their young children (e.g., Barth & Parke, 1993; Clarke-Stewart, 1980; Cox, Paley, Payne, & Burchinal, 1999; Lamb, 1978; Parke, 1996; Paquette, 2004; Weinraub, 1978; Youngblade &…”

“This is consistent with the activation relationship theory (Paquette, 2004).”

“Perhaps occasional episodes of physical violence from fathers indicate other father-respondent childhood interactions with potential developmental advantages, such as greater quantity or quality of father–child play (Paquette, 2004) or fathers’ use of reasoned physical discipline (Deater-Deckard & Dodge, 1997).”

“In addition, men more than women often encourage children to take risks, while at the same time ensuring their safety and providing an environment where children learn to navigate through unfamiliar situations and to stand up for themselves (Paquette, 2004).”

“Both the measure of sensitive and challenging play in the SCIP scale and the proposed measure of ‘I love you and I am stronger than you’ (Paquette, 2004) have much to offer when assessing the quality of RTP.”

“These results to some extent support the theory that fathers form an activation relationship with their child in which they challenge their child to push his/her limits (Paquette 2004).”

“…in caregiving, popular notions suggest that fathers spend the majority of their time in ‘play’ activities with their children, and most findings indicate that fathers do spend a greater proportion of time in physical play with their children than mothers (Paquette, 2004; Yeung et al., 2001).”

“Some have suggested that other theoretical frameworks may capture different aspects of the father-child relationship (see Paquette, 2004).”

“The literature shows that there are notable differences between mothers and fathers in the type of interactions with children (Blakemore et al., 2009; Lamb & Lewis, 2010; Paquette, 2004; Volling et al., 2002).”

“As another example, that mothers empathize more with their children and provide more warmth and support to their offspring than fathers, fits with the evolutionary based caring and comforting role of mothers (Bögels and Phares 2008; Paquette 2004).”

“emphasizing fathers’ contribution to the cognitive and emotional development of children and adolescents [11,12].”

“Fathers are thought to encourage autonomy and selfcontrol through play (ie, rough-and-tumble play), which may prevent the development of aggressive behavior and anxiety for new situations [43].”

“…1999; Marsiglio, Day, & Lamb, 2000; Roggman, Fitzgerald, Bradley, & Raikes, 2002) and that fathering behaviors can contribute uniquely to children’s development (Grossmann, Grossmann, Fremmer-Bombik, Kindler, Scheuerer-Englisch, & Zimmerman, 2002; Lamb & TamisLeMonda, 2004; Paquette, 2004).”

“…finding of comparable effect sizes between child-mother and child-father attachment and behavior problems stands in contrast with activation theory (Paquette, 2004), which suggest that while child-mother attachment is central to child-mother interactions, child-father attachment is not a key part…”

“This indicates that parents play different roles in children rearing and mothers are more involved in caretaking and comforting (Paquette, 2004).”

“Paquette (2004) and Roggman (2004) link the differential paternal and maternal role in the upbringing of their children to the attachment theory of Bowlby (1969) and Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, and Wall (1978).”

“Parent–child RTP is a fairly recent development in our individualistic and competitive Western industrialised societies (Allès-Jardel, Schneider, Goldstein, & Normand, 2009; Paquette, 2004).”

“We defined CPB as a collection of behaviors in which the parent excites, surprises, and momentarily destabilizes CHALLENGING PARENTING BEHAVIOR the child (Paquette, 2004).”

“father–child physical play (Paquette, 2004).”

“…and the quality of father–child interactive behavior (Grossmann et al., 2002; Hjelmstedt & Collins, 2008; van IJzendoorn & de Wolff, 1997; Lundy, 2002; Paquette, 2004; Ramchandani, Stein, Evans, & O’Connor, 2005; Sarkadi, Kristiansson, Oberklaid, & Bremberg, 2008; Schoppe-Sullivan et al., 2006;…”

“…children, and argue that, whereas mothers typically provide support to their children by comforting them (i.e., the traditional attachment relationship), fathers offer security in situations that are challenging and stimulating (Grossmann, Grossmann, Kindler, & Zimmermann, 2008; Paquette, 2004).”

“Why fathers have these effects on mothers and not vice versa might result from evolutionary and social-cultural differences in the role of men and women in the family (e.g., Bögels & Phares, in press; Lamb, 1980; Paquette, 2004).”

“Second, fathers’ relationships with their children are distinct from mother–child relations, with fathers in general encouraging their children to be competitive and independent (Paquette 2004), and spending more time than mothers in playful and physically stimulating interactions with their children (DeKlyen et al.”

“Altogether the findings described above are in line with proposed paternal and maternal differences regarding child development and the proposed unique role of fathers in the prediction of children’s emotional development (e.g., Bögels & Perotti, 2011; Lamb, 2000; Paquette, 2004).”

“When interacting with their children, fathers tend to engage in more physical, rough, and tumble play (Lamb & Lewis, 2010) and have a tendency to excite and surprise their children (Paquette, 2004) more than mothers.”

“Several scholars of paternal caregiving have suggested that fathers and mothers may have qualitatively different roles as caregivers, and that researchers who assume that father–child attachment and caregiving is functionally the same as mother–child attachment and caregiving, only weaker and more secondary, are missi…”

“Recent theories have drawn attention toward possible differences between fathers’ and mothers’ roles (Paquette 2004) and their differential effect on child anxiety (Bo¨gels and Phares 2008; Bo¨gels et al. 2011; Bo¨gels and Perotti 2011).”

“For example, children and adolescents may likely expect mothers’ calming and warm behaviors and be less tolerant of and vulnerable to fathers’ conflicting and stressful behavior (Paquette 2004; Cummings et al. 2010).”

“Here, the interaction between fathers and their children are thought to momentarily destabilize the stress reactivity systems of children and contribute to their ability to manage such responses in risky situations or novel social interactions (Paquette, 2004).”

“Although there has been an increase in research about father-child relationships (e.g., Paquette, 2004) and Latinx fathers specifically (e.g., Parra-Cardona, Wampler, & Sharp, 2006), most of this research has focused on heterosexual father-child pairs (Horn & Wong, 2014, 2016) or has failed to…”

“Some suggest that fathers fulfill an ‘‘activation’’ role in the overall development of their children, and this role is primarily characterized as increased levels of father-child physical play.(15) Thus, when fathers are involved with their children, this time is more likely to consist of activities requiring physica…”

“Women may value men’s contribution with children in terms of their higher activity level, playful interaction style, and physically arousing play (Paquette, 2004; Teti, Bond, & Gibbs, 1988).”

“Some theorists have expanded attachment theory to include the role of fathers as important sources of stimulation for children's early cognitive development through their encouragement of exploration in new situations (Grossmann et al, 2002 ; Paquette, 2004 ).”

“Fathers have frequently been known to excel in play-oriented activities with their children, and they tend to spend more time than mothers playing with their children (Paquette 2004).”

“However, in predicting children’s outcomes, only a few studies have explored parents’ gender differences (Carson & Parke, 1996; Gaumon & Paquette, 2013; Murray et al., 2014; Paquette, 2004; Simons & Conger, 2007).”

“Moreover, mothers are more likely to be involved in child pain control and child comforting [31,42].”

“Their involvement has positive effects on child behavioural [2, 47] and cognitive outcomes [56, 69].”

“Theoretical work to date has suggested differences in the neurohormonal functioning of fathers versus mothers, and extant empirical literature has pointed to both similarities and differences in the underlying neurobiology of fathering, as compared to mothering (Paquette, 2004).”

“Some degree of non-punitive control is proposed to be necessary in conjunction with highly arousing fathering to promote children’s social development (Paquette 2004), yet it is unclear whether control is more indicative of directive or intrusive behaviour during play, and whether control during rough play might opera…”

“However, it is possible that males and females have different caring stances towards children (Paquette, 2004), so to be conservative we performed initial analyses separate for each sex of participant.”

“These results suggest that fathers’ physical play involvement provides a unique contribution to young children’s attachment security (Bowlby, 1969/1982; Grossmann et al., 2002; Paquette, 2004; Bretherton et al., 2005).”

“…were associated with children’s secure exploration which suggests that fathers contribute to their children’s socio-emotional development through unique attachment provisions, specifically through encouragement of secure exploration and risk-taking (Grossman et al., 2002, 2008; Paquette, 2004).”

“…from the child development literature indicates that fathers manage, interact and play with their children differently than mothers (Craig, 2006; Paquette, 2004; Parke & Sawin, 1976) and there is some suggestion that such differences may play out in the domain of food parenting as well…”

“Researchers argue that fathers play a crucial role in the promotion of emotion regulation and social adaptation through activation in play interaction (e.g. rough-and-tumble play) and insist on the importance to face challenges (Paquette, 2004).”

“…exploration and risk-taking by engaging young children in games of physical and social play or bonding with older children through shared interests and activities (Bretherton, Lambert, & Golby, 2005; Paquette, 2004; Cabrera et al., 2007; Grossmann et al., 2008; Newland, Coyl, & Freeman, 2008).”