What are the most important findings of research into the impact of fathers on psychological development?
The socio-economic changes that have occurred over recent years in Western countries, such as the incorporation of women into the labour market, have brought about a change in the traditional roles of mother and father; so much so, in fact, that we can now talk about a new form of co-parenting in which both the mother and the father are able to carry out different tasks indistinctly in many different aspects of family life, such as asserting authority or looking after the baby. Obviously, this is an ongoing process and does not mean that there is necessarily a completely equal distribution of family tasks, even when parents’ respective working responsibilities so permit. Research into the field highlights the following points: • Fathers tend to relate to their children differently from mothers; their relationship is generally more playful and based on physical games. Fathers are perfectly capable of looking after their children; if the father is involved in the everyday care of his chi
