 |
| Photo credit : http://www.deseretnews.com/images/ |
New research by Padilla-Walker
and colleagues in the BYU School of Family Life shows that her dad was
right — and that fathers are, in fact, key to teaching children to hang
in and complete projects, reach goals and overcome challenges. Their
findings, which link persistence to higher engagement in school and less
delinquency, among other things, are being published Friday in the
Journal of Early Adolescence.
The findings apply to dads who
are "authoritative," not those who are authoritarian, said Randal Day,
co-author and fellow professor with Padilla-Walker.
Authoritarian fathers are
demanding, "because I said so," Day said. Authoritative dads have close,
loving relationships with their children, set boundaries and rules and
explain why they are important and what consequences for breaking them
will be. They also give their children an appropriate level of freedom.
An authoritative father gets to know his child's world and is famliar
with the kinds of things the child is immersed in, he said.
Children whose fathers are
authoritative are much more likely, over time, to develop persistence
and reap its benefits, said Day. Earlier research showed fathers who are
authoritarian, he noted, "may get results but they also get a lot of
unintended effects with it." He speculated that "later in life, when the
threat is removed, children may not persist when the going gets tough.
They may not have been exposed to how to work together, if they've been
doing things out of fear."
For their study, the Brigham
Young University researchers over the course of six years worked with
500 families in Seattle as part of the Flourishing Families Project.
When they started, the families each had an 11-year-old; and the
researchers have periodically reinterviewed them at points in time along
the way, collecting five waves of data. It's a rolling project by BYU
students and the plan is to follow those children into their emerging
adult years. It is a long-term study, but it was not designed to be
representative of all families across America. The families in the study
are not disadvantaged or targeted because they face certain challenges.
It is designed, said Day, to look at families that are flourishing and
see what can be determined about why they do well. "What is it about
these families that makes a difference in the lives of children?"
Both Padilla-Walker and Day
emphasized that the findings don't say moms have no role in helping a
child develop persistence. "It may be true of both parents it they are
authoritative," Day said. Padilla-Walker noted that mothers can choose
to emphasize persistence, "which is a very important trait. I teach
persistence pointedly," she said. Neither are single mothers barred from
having children who acquire that trait.
But the trait of persistence is most naturally "socialized by fathers," she said. "We don't know why."
Connecting with a child and
interacting doesn't translate to solving all of a child's problems, but
rather fostering the kind of conversations and offering the
encouragement that helps children become competent. And persistent.
Other co-authors are BYU professor Justin Dyer and graduate student Brent Black.
No comments:
Post a Comment