Children Are More Likely To Misbehave When A Father Feels Unsupported

In families where the father does not feel supported by his partner, researchers at the University of Sussex have found that these children were more likely to display troublesome traits.

For the study, researchers examined the contribution of both parents' perceptions of co-parent support and undermining in the association with preschool children's behaviors.

Both mothers and fathers from 106 families completed questionnaires on parental practices and telephone interviews that related to their relationship quality and co-parenting techniques. All families involved consisted of both biological parents who were married or living together.

Findings revealed a link between poor parental support and a negative association with the child's behavior. Furthermore, there was a relationship between reported incidents of a child deliberately acting out by breaking a toy or disobeying a parent in another way.

However, researchers found that mothers who felt unsupported by their partners did not see the same relation to their child's behavior.

"Compared to mothering, the fathering role may be less clearly socially defined and fathers may withdraw from it. Whereas mothers -- and fathers -- may see the mother's role as less discretionary than fathers," concluded Rachel Latham, in a news release. "Or it could be simply that fathers don't feel as confident or competent in their role because, although it is changing, commonly they are still less likely to be the primary child career."

At this time, just a link and not a cause has been established from the study. However, Lathman said she believes a number of reasons may be accountable for the findings, including maternal gatekeeping that could hinder complete interactions with the father.

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