I have been thinking a great deal on the impact I’ve had (and continue to have) on my children as well as the impact not having a father growing up has had on me. I came across this summary on the effects of a father’s involvement with his children. The summary is full of research-backed information, concise and worth the read. The following passage stuck out to me:
Father involvement is positively correlated with children experiencing overall life satisfaction, less depression (Field et al., 1995; Furstenberg & Harris, 1993; Zimmerman et al., 1995), less emotional distress (Harris et al., 1998), and fewer expressions of negative emotionality such as fear and guilt (Easterbrooks & Goldberg, 1990).
The Effects of Father Involvement: A Summary of the Research Evidence, written by Sarah Allen, MSC and Kerry Daly, PhD, University of Guelph in the Newsletter of the Father Involvement Initiative – Ontario Network, Volume 1, Fall 2002.