Fathers who undermine children's treatment: A challenge for the clinician

Abstract

This study indicates that psychological treatment of children frequently fails when the father is absent from the initial interview. It was found that when the father accompanied the family to the initial interview, the likelihood of the family's following through with recommended treatment was great. By contrast, the probability of followng through declined significantly when the father did not participate. The results also suggest that absent fathers tend to perceive treatment as oriented towards affective expression more than the restoration of function and, hence, as inaffective as a solution to behavior problems.