Reasons to travel

Paternal involvement and father-child relationship quality: an intergenerational perspective

Despite exponential benefits, fathers face challenges in spending time with children, making family travel essential for strengthening bonds and motivating daily habits

By Natália Faria G. Viana

The role of fathers in raising children has been increasingly broadly discussed and valued today. Even with these social advances, many still don’t fully understand the depth of impact that an involved father can have on their children’s lives and future generations. Paternal involvement and the quality of the relationship between father and children are essential for children’s emotional development, making them adults who will also tend to have good relationships with their possible children, generating a chain of positive intergenerational impact.

No matter how great the known short and long-term benefits, many fathers face challenges in dedicating quality time to their children, so vacation periods and holidays end up being one of the few viable chances to compensate for this deficit. In this context, family travel offers an opportunity to strengthen emotional bonds and create lasting memories in a short period of time. These moments are essential for enhancing emotional involvement between parents and children and can be a great incentive for fathers to dedicate greater efforts to try to incorporate such habits into daily life, once having experienced their numerous positive effects.

The importance of paternal involvement

The famous Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, proposed by American psychologist Abraham H. Maslow, offers a deep understanding of why these moments of family connection are so vital. According to Maslow, human beings have a hierarchy of needs that begins with the most basic ones, such as food and security, and progresses to more complex ones, such as social needs for love and belonging. In the family context, these social needs can be satisfied through positive and meaningful interactions, such as those between parents and children. These interactions not only promote healthy emotional development but also reinforce the sense of security and support within the family.

And it’s a fact that the father, specifically, plays a crucial role in children’s emotional and social development. According to a study published by Von Jessee and Kari Adamsons in 2018, titled “Father Involvement and Father-Child Relationship Quality: An Intergenerational Perspective,” paternal involvement not only improves the quality of the father-child relationship but is also transmitted through generations. This study, which used data from 2,970 families in the United States, revealed that fathers who had a positive relationship with their own fathers tend to be more involved and build healthy relationships with their children. This initial involvement is crucial for shaping the future relationship, contributing to more robust and positive emotional development.

The study concluded that to ensure positive and active father involvement, with associated benefits for children, parental interventions should focus on promoting positive paternal behaviors, which can improve relationships with their children in the current and future generation. The conclusions suggest the need for fatherhood-focused intervention programs that teach positive behaviors to fathers. These programs can help break intergenerational cycles of inadequate paternal involvement, promoting healthier relationships between fathers and children.

Daily challenges of paternal involvement

Despite the numerous known benefits, many fathers fail to find motivation, time, and energy to actively engage in their children’s lives and dedicate quality time to them. Cultural issues still play a role in some more traditional heterobiparental families (composed of two parents of opposite genders), with expectations that fathers focus on being the main financial providers, while mothers assume most of the caregiving responsibilities. A study by the Institute of Applied Economic Research (Ipea) highlighted that in Brazil, after a child’s birth, the percentage of working mothers drops significantly, while the percentage of fathers remains practically unchanged at 89% (Hecksher, Barbosa and Costa, 2020; Brasil, 2022). This disparity illustrates how caregiving responsibilities are still disproportionately divided, affecting active paternal participation in children’s lives. Such rigid divisions of parental roles tend to limit opportunities for fathers to actively engage in their children’s lives, resulting in less deep relationships and weaker emotional connections.

But today, the most common situation is that for most fathers, it’s simply long work hours and busy routines that are the main obstacles still hindering the creation of strong and meaningful bonds with their children. According to a January 2024 article from the R7 portal, Brazilian work hours are higher than the global average of 38.2 hours, as revealed by the International Labour Organization (ILO). In Brazil, the maximum workweek is 44 hours, and the average is 39 hours. This scenario is a major obstacle to Brazilians’ active participation in family life. In comparison, worldwide, the country with the lowest work hours has an average workweek of 24.7 hours — just over 4 hours, considering a 6-day work week.

The transformative power of family travel

Faced with these challenges, family travel emerges as a perfect opportunity for parents and children to connect meaningfully outside the stressful daily routine. During a trip, the change of environment and break from routine create a context conducive to fathers dedicating quality time to their children. According to various family development specialists, moments of leisure and relaxation are ideal for strengthening emotional bonds and creating lasting memories. And studies show that shared experiences have a lasting positive impact on emotional well-being and relationships. Additionally, the absence of work pressures and other responsibilities during a vacation trip allows fathers to be more present and engaged in activities with their children, promoting an environment of support and love.

Family travel has the potential to create a positive cycle of involvement and relationship between fathers and children. Following the reasoning of Von Jessee and Kari Adamsons’ study, when a father dedicates quality time to his child during a trip, he’s strengthening his current relationship and shaping how that child will relate to their own children in the future.

It’s worth noting that while travel offers an environment conducive to exercising family bond strengthening, it’s equally important for fathers to find ways to incorporate this quality time into daily life with their children. Joint activities, such as games, sports, reading, park walks, and even cooking together, are essential for maintaining a healthy and close relationship.

Despite busy routines and daily responsibilities, investing in quality time with children is fundamental for emotional development and creating lasting bonds. Family travel, in turn, represents an opportunity to intensify these connection moments and create memories that will last a lifetime. They function as an “intensive course” for strengthening bonds, facilitating the incorporation of healthy relationship habits into the family routine.

Therefore, when planning the next trip, consider not only the destinations the family dreams of visiting and the activities each member wants to experience, but also the positive impact these moments can have on family dynamics and future generations. The active and involved presence of fathers is crucial for children’s emotional development, and travel can be the key to initiating this transformation.

References

Jessee V, Adamsons K. Father Involvement and Father-Child Relationship Quality: An Intergenerational Perspective. Parent Sci Pract. 2018;18(1):28-44. doi: 10.1080/15295192.2018.1405700. Epub 2018 Jan 9. PMID: 30881229; PMCID: PMC6415916.

HECKSHER, M. D.; BARBOSA, A. L. N. de H.; COSTA, J. S. De antes da gravidez até a infância: trabalho e estudo de mães e pais no painel da PNAD Contínua. Mercado de Trabalho: Conjuntura e Análise, n. 68, p. 81-88, abr. 2020.

Adamsons K, Johnson S. An updated and expanded meta-analysis of nonresident fathering and child well-being. Journal of Family Psychology. 2013;27(4), 589-599.

National Center for Fathering. The importance of father involvement. Retrieved from [https://fathers.com].

Pew Research Center. Modern Parenthood: Roles of Moms and Dads Converge as They Balance Work and Family.