New Discoveries, Concepts and Questions in the Search to Understand Fathers' Influence on Child Development

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Abstract

Just 20 years ago scholars called the sphere of fatherhood research “understudied.” Today the view is quite different. Fatherhood studies have multiplied in universities across the world, and new discoveries have revealed opportunities for more research directions. New concepts and methodology have given us the opportunity to understand fatherhood at its many levels and analyze its multi-dimensional influence on child development. A better understanding of this influence has in turn inspired changes in the spheres of law, social work, and medicine. This article reviews the development of fatherhood research at the turn of the 21st century and in the past 20 years. It highlights key recent discoveries and changes in the study of fathers' influence on child development, and offers perspectives for further research in this important sphere.

General Information

Keywords: fatherhood, parent-child relationships, child development

Journal rubric: Developmental Psychology

Article type: review article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/jmfp.2022110102

For citation: Hoffman B.A. New Discoveries, Concepts and Questions in the Search to Understand Fathers' Influence on Child Development [Elektronnyi resurs]. Sovremennaia zarubezhnaia psikhologiia = Journal of Modern Foreign Psychology, 2022. Vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 17–25. DOI: 10.17759/jmfp.2022110102. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.)

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Information About the Authors

Brooke A. Hoffman, post graduate student, chair of developmental psychology named after L.F. Obukhova, Moscow State University of Psychology & Education, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4075-3221, e-mail: brookeahoffman@gmail.com

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