Men With Supportive Fathers React Less to Stress

A new study presented at the American Psychological Association’s annual convention last month by Melanie H. Mallers, PhD, called Fathers and Sons: Importance of Paternal Affection for Adult Well-Being,” shows that men who had good relationships with their fathers as children react less to daily stress as adults compared to those whose relationship with their dad was poor.

From an article about the paper by the APA:

Men who reported having a good relationship with their father during childhood were more likely to be less emotional when reacting to stressful events in their current daily lives than those who had a poor relationship, according to her findings. This was not found to be as common for the women in the study. …

“The role of fathers has changed dramatically from the time the oldest participants were children,” added Mallers. “We do know that fathers have a unique style of interacting with their children, especially their sons. We need more research to help us uncover further influences of both mothers and fathers on the enduring emotional experiences of their children.”

Dads are more involved in their children’s lives than just two decades ago, and the research is showing the positive results.  For more on the changing role of fathers, see another APA report: The Changing Role of the Modern Day Father.

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