Father-child Play: A Longitudinal Study on Fathers' Parenting and Cognitive Development and Academic Achievement Across the Transition to School

Abstract: This study examined associations between biological, co-resident father-child play at 54 months and child cognitive development and academic achievement at first grade for 699 father-child dyads who took part in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care. Fathers interacted with their child at 54 months in play oriented tasks and fathers' sensitive and stimulating parenting were measured. Then, in first grade, children's cognitive abilities and academic achievement were measured using the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-educational Battery-Revised. Analyses using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) revealed that fathers' parenting during the play session at 54 months significantly predicted children's cognitive development and there was a trend for predicting academic achievement at first grade. These results held true even after controlling for mothers' parenting and parental education (which was used as a measure of SES). There were no moderating effects of child gender.