Fathers in the twenty‐first century: essential role or accessory?

Study of the development of the infant from birth through key cognitive, intellectual and emotional milestones has revealed a series of enmeshed and complex processes (Bergman et al., 2007; Berger et al., 2007; Huizink et al., 2003; Rutter & Rutter, 1993). This interplay between physiology and genetic heritage and the circumstances of diverse care‐giving environments has led to many valuable insights into the expression of both normative adaptive function and the development of later psychopathology (Bar‐Haim et al., 2007; Bogels and Brechman‐Toussaint, 2006; Crittenden, 1995; Gervai et al., 2007; Goldsmith & Bihun, 1997; Gunlicks & Weissman, 2008; Lyons‐Ruth, 2008). Psychology and psychological science as a broad and applied discipline within the sphere of reproductive health has undoubtedly shaped awareness of the importance of the nature, nurture and shared environment debate (Champagne, 2009; Johnson & Mareschal, 2001; Rutter et al., 1997; Scholl, 2004). An enduring issue is just how the many valuable and important insights gained by careful and systematic investigation and evaluation of infant psychological development can be meaningfully translated into social policy and social infrastructure to support the health and psychological well‐being of children and their families. One area germane to this debate concerns the role of fathers and their contribution to healthy and adaptive infant and child development.

Since the influential work of Mary Ainsworth (1989) and the awareness of the formation of multiple key attachments (Schofield & Beek, 2005; Thompson & Raikes, 2003), the role of the father has been recognised as psychologically important in myriad ways (Condon, Corkindale & Boyce, 2008; Finger et al., 2009; Fivaz‐Depeursinge et al., 2009). Within the context of psychological research, a majority of studies have focused on mothers; however, in more recent times, some emphasis has been placed on the paternal role and contribution (Caldera & Lindsay, 2006). However, in terms of translation of salient psychological evidence into the wider fabric of societal norms, the primary concerns can sometimes appear to condense around the absence of the father.

Against a backdrop of social change and economic uncertainty, the concept of the family has become central to social debate, with the continuing and enduring discourse about responsibility for ‘family breakdown’ acting as an impetus in trying to identify appropriate intervention and support mechanisms. The present economic difficulties bring these issues into sharp relief, and also the concerns raised about a divergence between psychological evidence and social policy. The contribution of rigorous psychological investigation has revealed the pivotal role a father can play within an infant’s environment that can both directly and indirectly facilitate healthy psychological development and social engagement. Policy‐makers, in contrast, would appear, to some observers at least, to promote the father as an ‘option’, through legislative practice related to housing, taxation and child support. In this way, the problems associated with the gulf between social policy and psychological evidence may be compounded.

Perhaps then, a further valuable research endeavour for psychologists interested in the issues vital to the well‐being and development of the infant is not at the level of the child, mother role, father role and family function specifically, but in terms of the processes that facilitate the dissemination and integration of evidenced‐based psychological knowledge within this arena into a broader context of application and force for societal good. Such processes do not entail ‘blue skies thinking’ or a re‐evaluation of the role of the psychologist engaged in developmental research, but rather a willingness to reflect on the disciplinary silo in which we work at times and to consider the constraints of this way of working, and how wider engagement could reduce the gap and modify the relationship between the research evidence and what society values.

This edition of the Journal reflects a broad interest in families, ranging from the attitudes of young adults to childbearing studied by Pinquart and colleagues, the ‘family building’ required in planning and giving children information about their donor conception described in the paper by Blyth, Langridge and Harris, to changes in identity and the development of paternal–foetal attachment over the course of a first pregnancy, which are the subject of a paper by Habib and Lancaster. While men and women and fathers were participants in the studies described in these papers, other papers focused more narrowly on the maternal role with a paper on mothers’ interactions with their preterm infants by Coppola and colleagues, case studies of maternal interactions with disabled infants by Fiamenghi, observations of substance‐misusing mothers with their infants by Salo and colleagues, and a study of maternal expectations of pregnancy and parenthood by van Bussel and colleagues. In the latter research a typology of attitudes was used antenatally to try and predict the type of childbirth experience that women would have. A similar methodological approach to becoming a parent, used with both men and women, could be useful in exploring the relationship between partners and the experiences of childbirth and early parenting. In contrast, an experimental attitudinal study by Hollins‐Martin and Bull, with midwives as participants, investigated the way in which views might be influenced by more senior staff. Given the findings, it would be interesting to think about the ways in which women and their partners may be influenced in the real‐life situation of labour and childbirth.

In planning future work in the area of reproductive and infant psychology, the position of fathers and partners would seem to be an area to which we should be paying attention in terms of research. With a key role in providing social support, greater responsibilities in the area of childcare and household activities and many fathers feeling they spend too little time with their young children (Fatherhood Institute, 2010), there is a need to better understand fundamental and policy issues in the transition to parenthood and during early parenting for both men and women, and to explore the impact of changing expectations and involvement on families and on the individuals making up those families.