Father teaching interactions with toddlers at risk: Associations with later child academic outcomes

Abstract

Fathers play an important role in child development, particularly with respect to children's academic skills. Yet relatively little is known about the nature of fathers' teaching interactions with their young children that would produce such effects. The purpose of the current study was to understand the contribution that fathers' teaching interactions make to their children's academic skills over time. Interactions between 109 fathers and their children in low-income families were observed in the home during a novel teaching situation at ages 2 and 3. Controlling for family and child characteristics and maternal behaviors, father behaviors at age 2, but not age 3, were significantly associated with children's: receptive vocabularies at ages 5, 7, and 10; math skills at ages 5 and 7; and reading skills at age 5. Fathers' support of their children's emotion and behavior regulation may contribute to long-term influences on children's academic skills.