Broadening the scope of father-child attachment research to include the family context

ABSTRACT

The associations between caregiver sensitivity and child-parent attachment tend to be weaker among fathers than among mothers. In this commentary, I argue that researchers should pay more attention to child-parent attachment relationships in the context of the family, including coparenting relationships, gatekeeping, and amount of time mothers and fathers provide care to their children.

KEYWORDS:

• Coparenting
• family systems
• father-child attachment
• gatekeeping

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.