When fathers experienced a larger decline in their testosterone after the separations with their crying infant, they used more sensitive parenting in the teaching tasks. We looked at such things as whether fathers supported their infant’s attempts to work on the tasks or stopped and responded to the infant if they were frustrated with the tasks.
In the process, we have uncovered another clue to promote good fathering, because previous research has shown that sensitive and responsive fathering is linked to young children’s social, emotional and cognitive development. These findings have important implications for developing interventions to assist fathers in the care of their infants because we now know how to help fathers cope with infant distress.
Why? Increases in testosterone in response to a crying infant combined with a father’s inability to soothe the baby can lead to aggravation and aggressive tendencies that place the infant at risk for maltreatment.
Based on our study, we believe the fathers’ empathy and declining testosterone level shaped how they responded. For example, if fathers interpret infant crying as a means of communicating distress and empathize with the infant, they will experience a decline in testosterone. This, in turn, facilitates a nurturing response.
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