The Father's Part: Influences of Paternal Psychopathology and Parenting Behavior on Child and Adolescent Well-Being.

Family influences on child quality of life (QoL) are increasingly understood. Parenting behavior and parent individual psychopathology are among the established predictors of offspring mental health. However, literature often addresses these factors as 'parental', lacking further gender-specific differentiation while predominantly studying maternal aspects. Social and biological fathers are still underrepresented in family research. The aim of this study was to analyze paternal contributions to child well-being. A total of 197 father/mother-dyads gave a standardized self-report on parenting behavior and their own psychopathology at child primary school age (t1; 6-10 y). Ratings were compared mutually and associated with child self-rated QoL at t1 and adolescence (t2; 12-14 y). Fathers and mothers differed in psychopathology and most parenting behavior dimensions (positive parenting, involvement, responsible parenting, poor monitoring, and corporal punishment). Father psychopathology made a relevant predictive contribution to girls' QoL at t2. Boys' t1 QoL was significantly influenced by maternal parenting factors (positivity and corporal punishment). Compared to mothers, fathers are faced with different individual stressors; paternal parenting behavior is different, while fathers' influences are significant, particularly for daughters. Father-addressed pre- and intervention programs in child psychotherapeutic treatment are of high relevance.

The Father's Part: A Pilot Evaluation of a Father-Centered Family Intervention Group in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Changes in parental roles have renewed the focus on a father's involvement in an offspring's psychological development. However, fathers are still under-represented in family research. There are only a few structured father-centered intervention programs in child and adolescent psychiatry. In a German population sample, a pilot father-centered family intervention program with n = 16 participants, conducted in person (n = 8) and online (n = 8), in a child and adolescent psychiatry inpatient/day clinic setting was evaluated by comparing paternal stress, PSE, and child-rated paternal competence in a pre-post design. Participating fathers showed significant decreases in child-related parenting stress (presence: p = 0.042, online: p = 0.047) and significant increases in PSE (p = 0.006/0.012). Parent-related stress and child-rated paternal competence were unaffected (p = 0.108/0.171; p = 0.167/0.101), while small-to-medium effect size measures pointed in the direction of our hypothesis (d = 0.48/0.36; d = 0.37/0.50). Participant satisfaction was higher in person than online (p = 0.008). As social and biological fathers have important influences on child and adolescent well-being and development, they should be included more frequently in prevention and intervention programs. Fathers seem to benefit from gender-specific intervention programs with regard to stress reduction, as well as experiencing competence- and PSE-increasing effects.