Relationships Among Paternal Involvement and Young Children's Perceived Self-Competence and Behavioral Problems

We examined the relationships of father involvement to young children's perceived self-competence and fathers' and mothers' perceptions of their children's internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems. The results indicated that mothers in families in which father involvement is high may have a more positive outlook regarding their child's behavior than do mothers in families in which father involvement is low. Fathers who were highly involved indicated their children have more behavior problems than fathers who were not highly involved. High father involvement was associated with increased children's feelings of paternal acceptance, a factor that plays a role in the development of self-concept and esteem.