The importance of a father in a child’s upbringing has again been highlighted by recent research.

A literature review just published in the journal Infant and Child Development looked at nearly four dozen studies on father-child relationships and highlighted the role that dads play in building a child’s skills in regulating emotions.

Fathers who were involved in caregiving and play, and who reacted with warmth and greater sensitivity to a child who expressed emotions, were significantly more likely to have children with better emotional balance from infancy to adolescence. Those skills in children are linked, in turn, with higher levels of social competence, peer relationships, academic achievement and resilience, while poor emotional regulation skills are linked with anxiety, depression and behavioral problems.