According to a new study Closeness between fathers and daughters tends to help daughters to come out of loneliness faster and they might feel less lonely. Xin Feng explained, “We found that closeness between fathers and daughters tends to protect daughters and help them transition out of loneliness faster.”
The study has been published in the Journal of Family Psychology, in which the researchers analysed data from 695 families. Mothers and fathers rated their relationships (both closeness and conflict) with their child when the child was in grades 1, 3, 4 and 5. In grades 1, 3 and 5 the children rated their levels of loneliness.
Julia Yan a doctoral student at Ohio State said, “Results showed that levels of closeness tended to decline over this time period, while conflict increased. This is a time when children are becoming more independent, developing relationships with friends and spending more time outside the home. So they become less close with their parents and have more conflict as their need for autonomy increases.”
The researcher said, “Mothers’ relationships didn’t have an effect in this study, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t important, Yan said. One reason for the lack of impact among mothers in this research was that mothers nearly always had close relationships with their kids, so there was less difference to measure. Fathers’ relationships with their children, particularly their daughters, are different from relationships mothers have.”
Xin Feng added, “In our society, mothers tend to be responsible for everyday care and stability for their children. Fathers have more freedom to interact with their children in different ways, to challenge them and have a wider range of emotional contact. That may be one reason why fathers had more impact on their daughters. Pay attention to their feelings, especially when they are sad or unhappy, and help them cope. Our results suggest it can really help daughters feel less lonely over time.”