The Ecology of Father‐Child Relationships: An Expanded Model

Abstract

We expand our 2007 heuristic model of father involvement using recent research on the dynamic and reciprocal processes by which fathers influence children's development over time. Based on new evidence, our expanded model incorporates more dynamic reciprocity, temporal factors, and nuanced considerations of context in which fathers parent. We identify aspects of context as well as fathers' personality and behavior that are central to the next generation of studies on fathers. We highlight studies related to fathering versus mothering, discuss ecological theory and how it has been used to understand fathering, and present an expanded version of our model.