Importance of Being an Involved Parent

Importance of Being an Involved Parent

During the past twenty years , an increasing number of researchers and clinicians have begun to give more recognition to the importance of being an involved parent for individual and family development . The relations between being an involved parent and later adaptation are undoubtedly complex . Involvement theory says that , despite change in development , early parent involvement remains influential in later child functioning . Research found the permanent impact of early attachment (Richters and Walters , 1991 . Researchers found the evidence that involved parent have consequences for social development across

the life span . This research considers longer-term implications of involved parent for the continuing development of child

Involved parent is a good start toward healthy development . Research shifts the focus from the examination of parent-child interaction to the image of the parent-child relationship in the child 's mind (Main Kaplan Cassidy , 1985 . There is proper evidence that involved parent is not only connected to greater compliance and reciprocity (Richters Walters , 1991 ) but also to better peer relations , self-mastery , and sociability in the preschool years (Greenberg Speltz , 1990 . The specific claims of parent involvement theory suggest the child 's developing sense of self-confidence , effectiveness and self-worth , and aspects of intimate personal relationship (the capacity to be emotionally close , to want and receive care , and to give care to others . Thus , children with parent involvement histories have been found to be more positive , more responsive and less hostile with peers and more cooperative with parents and so forth

Although the mother is usually the first attachment figure for the baby many infants react just as much to their father , cooing and smiling and becoming excited at his approach . Some infants become primarily to their fathers and thrive at least as well in their development as do infants with initial maternal attachments . Moreover , fathers who are supportive of mothers and are themselves involved parents make it more likely that the infant will develop a secure maternal attachment as well as a secure paternal attachment

By their second year most infants who are well fathered show approximately equal attachment to both parents . It is important to note that attachment is not an all-or- phenomenon . The style of the attachment and the details of the relationship vary with each parent and infant . Researchers have presented evidence that even newborns are capable of responding differentially toward their mother and father (Ainsworth , Blehar , Waters Wall 1995 . The infant can become to any individual who is a consistent source of stimulation , attention and comfort , not just to the mother . If both parents are involved , an infant can develop a strong attachment to each of them . Despite such research findings , traditional conceptions of maternal primacy are difficult to change

Involved parents tend to make even mundane activities like holding an infant or pushing a baby stroller . The pace and tempo of such activities tends to be faster and more varied for fathers than for mothers Involved fathers are more likely to stimulate the infant...