The Role of the Father in Attachment

• The role of fathers in parenting has long been argued over by pyschologists.
• Some see them merely as sperm donors, others e.g. Bowlby, see them as minor attachment figures, whilst others seem them as figures of prime importance in the healthy development of children.
• Important to understand since ONS figures for 2012 showed that 42% of marriages end in divorce and 90% of single-parent families are female led with little or no involvment in parenting from biological fathers.  
• Does mean that in 10% of households parenting is performed mainly by males.  Also an increasing number of children being raised by step-fathers and biological mothers.
• There are still conflicting opinions on whether 2 parents, 1 parent or either parent is necessary.  Farrell (2001) states that a father is essential for the holisitic wellbeing of the child.
• To gain the truth as to what the role of fathers should be, research needs to be undertaken which is conducted in an unbiased and objective fashion - hard to do when so many people have a deeply set view about this topic.
• Traditionally fathers have been seen to have played minor roles in the parenting of children.  But society has changed a lot.  It's the norm for mother's to have a job.  
• ONS figures for 2013 show 5.3 million mothers in employment with nearly 10% of men caring for kids whilst partner goes out to work.

• Modern politics and family finances dictate that more often than not, both parents need to work.
• This means that children are much more likely to attend nursery, pre-schools and care settings from a very early age when attachments are still forming.

• When Bowlby first proposed monotropy, the father's role was considered to be one of support, providing a secure environment for the mother so she could do her best for the child.  
• Bowlby believed children have one primary attachment figure, usually the mother, though he conceded this could be the father.
• Many researcher's have seen the father less as caregiver, but more of a playmate, as fathers' play is often more physical, unpredictable and exciting than mothers'. Geiger (1996) showed this to be the case, with mothers more nurturing and affectionate. Lamb (1987) however, found that children often prefer interacting with fathers when in a positive emotional state and thus seeking stimulation, with mothers preferred when children are distressed and seeking comfort).  Supports the idea of fathers seen as playmates BUT only in certain conditions.
• Mothers have traditionally been seen, due to percieved nurturing nature, as more able to show sensitive responsiveness, but it seems that men can quickly develop this ability when assuming the position of man care providers.

• Milligan & Dowie (1988) report that once a child is old enough to say, they report the the following features they they particularly enjoy from a relationship with their fathers:

- Role model

- Quality time

- Supportive behaviours

- Expressions of love

- Physical contact

• The study does differentiate whether girls and boys seek different attributes from the relationship with their father, however, Lamb (1981) and Gunsberg (1982) say fathers tend to respond more to boys' needs and form a more intense bond.
• From a psychodynamic viewpoint, it's a necessary part of growing up for children to attach to their own parental sex and to be able to identify with it.  

• It's argued that mothers use more parenting skills requiring gentleness and security and fathers favour independence and confidence building, a more "rough and tumble" approach.
• There are othe distinct differences in the way fathers and mothers communicate with their children, not directly linked to attachment.
• Fathers role usually consists of setting boundaries and testing reality.  Research suggests that fathers encourage children to be physically active and to challenge them intellectually, even from an early age, helping in their overall development.
• Together the mother and father provide a composite, pyschologically secure environment with 2 qualitatively different attachments, both equally sound and viable.
• Rutter (1981) argued that attachment behaviours can be shown for a variety of attachment figures e.g. siblings, peers, fathers or inanimate objects, as well as mothers.  Such responses occur even in children who have developed bonds with their mothers, but they are not shown to strangers.
• Bowlby saw the father as a less important attachment figure and as having no direct emotional significance for the young child, but indirect emotional and economic support for the mother.  Other research has found the father to be of an equivalent, bur different type of relationship when compared with the mother e.g. Clarke-Stewart (1978) found that most children of 7-30 months choose fathers as their playmates.

• Parke (1981) found that when mothers and fathers style of play is compared there are differences - the father indulges in a more vigourous type of activity with physically stimulating games or unusual and unpredictable types of play.  Mothers play more conventional games such as pat-a-cake or reading to the child.
• Lamb (1977) observed interactions between parents and 7-13 month old infants and found that mothers and fathers hold their babies for different reasons - mothers for care-taking and restriciting reasons; fathers for playful purposes.

• Several important factors have been identified that affect the relationship between fathers and children:

Degree of Sensitivity:  more secure attachments to their children are found in fathers who show more sensitivity to children's needs. Hardy (1999) found that fathers are less able than mothers to detect low levels of infant distress, which suggests males are less suitable as prime attachment figures BUT Lamb (1987) found that fathers who become main care providers seem able to quickly develop more sensitivity to children's needs and become a safe base from which to explore, suggesting sensitive responsiveness is nota biological ability limited to women.  Lucassen et al. (2011) performed a meta-analysis of studies involving observations and the Strange Situation technique to find that higher levels of sensitivity were associated with greater levels of infant-father attachment security.  Supports the idea that more secure attachments are found in children whose fathers are more sensitive to their needs.

Type of attachment with own parents:  single parent fathers tend to form similar attachments with their their children that they had with their own parents. Bernier & Miljkovitch (2009) found that single parent fathers' attachments with kids aged 4-6 yrs was similar to the attachments the fathers had with their own parents.  No such effect was found with married fathers, suggesting that continuity of attachments occurs more in fathers who are the main care-givers.

Marital intimacy:  the degree of intimacy a father has within his relationship with his partner affects the type of attachment he will have with his children. Belsky et al (2009) found that high levels of marital intimacy was related to insecure father-infant attachments and that low levels of marital intimacy was related to insecure father-child attachments.

Supportive co-parenting: the amount of support a father gives to his partner in helping to care for children affects the type of attachment he will have with his children. Brown et al (2010) assessed attachment patterns in 68 families with infants aged 12-13 months, finding that high levels of supportive co-parenting were related to secure attachment types between infants and their fathers, but not between infants and mothers.  Suggests that supportive co-parenting is important for fathers in developing positive attachments with their children.

• Children with secure attachments to their fathers go on to have better relationships with peers, less problem behaviours and are more able to regulate their emotions, illustrating the positive influence fathers can have on developmental outcomes.
• Children who grow up without fathers have often been seen to do less well at school and have higher levels of risk taking and agression, especially in boys.  Suggests fathers can prevent negative developmental outcomes. Pederson (1979) points out that most studies have focused on single mothers from poor socio-economic backgrounds, so it may be social factors related to poverty that produce these outcomes, not the absence of fathers.
• Fathers are not just for children but mothers too.  Supportive fathers provide mothers with much needed time away from childcare.  This can help reduce stress in mothers, improve self-esteem and ultimately improve the quality of a mother's relationship with her children.
• Evidence suggests that men are equally able as women to display sensitive responsivenes and form secure attachments with children.
• When fathers spend more time with their children, the children develop more secure attachments, which suggests the amount of interaction is the important factor - it may be that fathers with more sensitivity to their children's needs interact with them more.

• However, Amato (1994) found that it is the quality of the interaction, rather than the amount of time spent, which is most important with this quality time increasing the child's self-esteem, confidence, social competence and life skills.
• Rosenberg & Wilcox (2006) found that when fathers are affectionate with their children, their children tend to have high levels of secure attachment.