The following was culled from CNN/Health and it is a study that examines
men's role in the family. Happy belated fathers day to all the dads out
there.
God Bless abd Peace Be Upon All
Alasana Bah

>>ATLANTA (CNN) -- Just in time for Father's Day, new research shows that
>>dads
>do make a difference in the lives of their children, and examines what
>factors influence men's involvement with their kids.
>
>Researchers at the University of Maryland determined that children who have
>fathers in their lives learn better, have higher self-esteem and show fewer
>signs of depression than children without fathers.
>
>The results shouldn't be surprising, according to one expert.
>>  "All you have to do is ask any child, frankly," said James Levine of the
>Families and Work Institute. "You don't have to ask a child development
>researcher if fathers make a difference. All kids will tell you that the
>presence of a father makes a big difference."
>
>Emotional connection key
>The researchers interviewed 855 children in five states. All had been
>deemed
>high risk. Those with fathers in their lives scored higher on basic
>learning
>skills tests. The findings applied equally to white and minority children.
>
>The study did not address whether a bad father is better than no father at
>all. And the findings don't necessarily mean that children who grow up in
>single-parent homes can't be successful.
>
>"A lot of times these children are getting more attention than they would
>in
>a two-parent home because the single parent is very conscious of the fact
>that it's one person doing the entire job, so they rely on teamwork,
>cooperation," said Brook Noel of Single Parents magazine.
>
>Whatever the family situation, experts stress that a father or father
>figure
>should stay emotionally connected with his kids.
>
>"A little is better than nothing," said psychologist Penelope Leach, "and
>you
>can be really involved with a child on the basis of the talking and playing
>and being there emotionally, even if you can't be there physically all the
>time."
>
>Fathers taking on greater role
>What makes a dad get involved with his child? A separate study conducted by
>the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development focused on
>that
>question. The study was published in the June issue of the Journal of
>Family
>Psychology, a journal of the American Psychological Association.
>
>Researchers found that how much both parents work plays a role in a
>father's
>caregiving activities, as does the man's self-esteem. Fathers also tend to
>be
>more involved with sons than daughters, according to the study.
>
>The researchers followed hundreds of families from 10 cities across the
>United States. The fathers were interviewed about their caregiving
>activities
>like feeding, bathing and changing diapers when their children were between
>six months old and 3 years old. Some of the fathers were also videotaped
>playing with their children at age six months and 3 years, to determine
>their
>level of sensitivity toward the child.
>
>The study found that fathers were more involved in caregiving when they
>worked fewer hours than other fathers, and when the mothers worked more
>hours
>outside the home. The finding "suggests that mothers' full-time employment
>creates demands on family life" that require the father to take on more
>responsibility regardless of his attitudes toward child rearing.
>
>More involved fathers were also younger and had higher self-esteem and
>lower
>levels of depression and hostility. However, the researchers found that
>older
>fathers were more sensitive toward their children.
>
>The researchers concluded that workplace policies that allow fathers more
>flexibility would increase their level of involvement with their children.
>The authors also suggested developing programs to teach men about their
>children's needs as a way of increasing their sensitivity.
>
________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html

----------------------------------------------------------------------------