While psychology has a long history of researching attachment, early research focused on mothers’ relationships with children.

An important part of research is understanding what to do with the information gained from research or, in other words, the implications for the research findings. In this discussion, you consider the implications of the findings of a research study concerning fathers’ roles in their children’s socioemotional development.

While psychology has a long history of researching attachment, early research focused on mothers’ relationships with children. It has not always been clear what a father’s role is in children’s development. Fortunately, there is a great deal of research examining how fathers are an important part of children’s development.

After reading the Jia, Kotila, and Schoppe-Sullivan article, “Transactional Relations Between Father Involvement and Preschoolers’ Socioemotional Adjustment,” consider the implications of this study’s findings. Then, complete the following:

• Describe what the authors studied.
• Describe the findings—how you understand the findings.
• Discuss the implications of the findings. (What value is there in the findings? How can we apply them? How could we effectively get this information out to parents who could benefit? Are there any risks or other drawbacks to implementing the findings?)