Past child development research often ignored fathers. This is striking given that until the 1970s, the role of fathers in their children’s development was not much studied. Psychologist Ruth Feldman of Israel’s Bar-Ilan University has found that, just like mothers, fathers experience a hormonal boost when caring for their babies, which helps the bonding process. He and his team observed fathers playing with their babies in the first months of life, then tracked the children’s development. Instead of directly affecting their children’s development, the distant dads’ behaviour could, for example, be a sign of other problems in the family.

Source: Standard Digital October 25, 2020 07:52 UTC