Father involvement and emotion regulation during early childhood: a systematic review

Father involvement, defined in terms of both the quantity and quality of ways in which fathers may be involved, affects the child’s development. How specifically father involvement links to emotion regulation during early childhood (0–5 years) is, however, less clear.

This literature review synthesizes research on the links between father involvement and emotion regulation during early childhood, as well as the measurement methods used to assess them. Ten relevant studies were identified via four databases (up to August 2023).

Results showed no significant direct links, but significant links appeared between high father involvement and more adaptive emotion regulation when moderated by variables related to the assessment of father involvement and emotion regulation, as well as the characteristics of the father and the child.

Future research should continue to use observational measures of father behaviors and child emotion regulation, increase the use of physiological measures of emotion regulation, and consider the influence of maternal and family variables.