Longitudinal research over the past 20 years within the general population suggests that father-related factors, such as the quality of father-child relationships and father wellbeing, are important in predicting later behavioural development in children. The link between parent-child relationships or parent mental health and child behavioural outcomes has also been documented in the learning disability population, although the majority of studies in this area have focused on mothers.

It is important to investigate the possible covariation between child behavioural outcomes and father related factors over time due to the negative and wide-ranging impact of behaviour problems on children. These include, but are not limited to, disruption to a child’s educational attainment and friendship development. As children and adolescents with a learning disability already experience more challenges in these areas than their peers, examining the association between father related factors and child behavioural problems in this population may be of particular benefit.

Growth models examined the best-fitting trajectories for child behaviours, in 260 children with and 11,137 without an intellectual disability between the ages of 5 and 14 years from waves 3-6 of the UK Millennium Cohort Study. Models were also fitted to examine the association of internalising, externalising and prosocial behaviour with time-varying father-child closeness and father psychiatric distress.

We are currently in the process of analysing the data.  We will update this webpage with our findings.

Project page last updated 23 August 2022.