Low-Income Dads Key to Child's Development

TUESDAY, Nov. 16 (HealthDayNews) -- Fathers in low-income families may play pivotal roles in their child's intellectual development, concludes a new study from the Society for Research in Child Development.

The presence of an educated, supportive dad can also improve relations between children and their mother, the researchers found.

The study included 290 ethnically diverse, low-income families from across the United States. Researchers videotaped fathers and mothers as they played individually with their 2- and 3-year-olds for 10-minute intervals.

The researchers then performed tests assessing each child's language skills and intellectual development at ages 2 and 3.

Paternal education and income predicted children's language and cognitive development, the researchers report. The fathers' education was also associated with the quality of interaction between mother and child.

Specifically, the study found that 2-year-olds with sensitive, emotionally warm and intellectually stimulating fathers were much more likely to have similarly supportive moms by the time they reached age 3, compared to toddlers with less engaging dads.

Fathers and mothers who'd completed high school and who had higher incomes were also more likely to engage in supportive parenting, compared to parents with less income, or those lacking high school diplomas, the researchers added.

The bottom line, according to the researchers, is that good parenting by moms and dads alike can help kids reach their full intellectual potential, despite the challenges brought on by poverty. To that end, programs aimed at boosting the involvement of fathers in their children's lives and education should be encouraged, they said.

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The American Academy of Family Physicians offers advice on how to be good parents.

-- Robert Preidt

SOURCE: Society for Research in Child Development, news release, Nov. 15, 2004