2-026 - The Role of the Father in Children’s Language and Cognitive Development: Investigating Unique Pathways

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Through early socialization, interaction patterns and material circumstances, parents play a substantial role in children’s language and cognitive development. However, when investigating parents’ roles, studies have limited their focus to mothers. It is important to broaden the scope to fathers, as fathers have substantially increased their involvement over the decades and differ from mothers in how they talk, read to, and play with their children. However, whether fathers’ influence on children is unique is an open question. Previous studies often exclusively focused on father-child dyads. By taking a family systems approach, the four presentations in our symposium examine the uniqueness of fathers’ influence. Using multidimensional conceptualizations of father involvement, they also address the question how fathers influence children’s language and cognitive development. Finally, the presentations jointly provide a cross-cultural perspective. The first presentation shows that Latino fathers’ reading frequency is associated with children’s language skills, and that this association is moderated by reading quality. The second presentation illustrates the importance of low-income US fathers’ language inputs and engagement in learning activities for children’s language and cognitive development. The third presentation shows that the socioeconomic status of Australian indigenous fathers predicts engagement in book reading with their children. The final presentation reveals that Dutch fathers’ involvement in playful interactions mediates the link between socioeconomic status and cognitive development. Overall, the findings indicate that fathers uniquely influence children’s language and cognitive development. Our findings suggest that programs aiming to increase children’s language and cognitive outcomes should develop mother and father engagement initiatives.

Sub Unit

• Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Chair

• Renske Keizer, University of Amsterdam

Individual Presentations

• Father Involvement and Children’s Language and Cognitive Development - Presenting Author: Catherine S. Tamis-LeMonda, New York University, Department of Applied Psychology; Karen E McFadden, City University of New York, Brooklyn College; Kelly Escobar, New York University, Department of Applied Psychology; Natasha Cabrera, University of Maryland

• Latino Mothers’ and Fathers’ Contribution to their Toddler’s Pre-academic Skills: Evidence from Large and Small-scale Studies - Presenting Author: Natasha Cabrera, University of Maryland; Jenessa L. Malin, SRCD Policy Fellow/ACF OPRE; Jerry West, Mathematica Policy Research

• Father Involvement in Home Literacy Activities in Australian Indigenous Families - Presenting Author: Elisabeth Duursma, University of Wollongong

• Father’s Role in Children’s Cognitive Outcomes at Age 6: Fathers as Intergenerational Transmitters of Inequality? - Presenting Author: Renske Keizer, University of Amsterdam; Caspar van Lissa, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Departmet of Sociology; Henning Tiemeier, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus MC; Nicole Lucassen, Department of Psychology, Education and Child Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam