Role of the father

• Most attachment research has focused on mother and baby attachment, and the role of the father in the development of attachment has often been neglected
• There is research on the specific roles that fathers play in development
• Father


  A child's closest male caregiver
• Attachment to fathers


  • Babies are much less likely to become attached to their father compared to their mother
  • 75% of babies studied formed an attachment with their father by 18 months
• Attachment to mothers


  Related to attachments in adolescence
• Quality of fathers' play with babies


  Related to quality of adolescent attachments
• Primary attachment figure


  A baby's primary attachment has special emotional significance and forms the basis of all later close emotional relationships
• When fathers take on the role of primary caregiver they are able to adopt the emotional role more typically associated with mothers
• Primary caregiver fathers, like primary caregiver mothers, spent more time smiling, imitating and holding babies
• Fathers have the potential to be the more emotion-focused primary attachment figure