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Although there has been increased interest in the study of father-child relationships, fathers are dramatically underrepresented in the research literature on the effects of parental involvement on child development. However, there is evidence that there are important correlations between father involvement and child outcomes (Lamb, 1987). Father involvement and nurturance are associated with children’s intellectual development, social competence, internal locus of control and the ability to empathise. Regardless of the quality of the mother-child relationship, father involvement during childhood is also related to adult sons’ and daughters’ educational and occupational mobility and their psychological adjustment and well-being (Amato, 1994). This research, using data from the National Child Development Study will explore the long-term outcomes for children with involved fathers, the mechanisms by which fathers make long-term contributions to their children’s well-being and the processes by which fathers remain involved. If, as the research suggests, ‘involved’ fathers have long-term beneficial outcomes on their children’s development, it is important to know what these outcomes on their children are, the processes whereby, and stages when, in the child’s development ‘involved’ fathering exerts its beneficial influence, and the factors that appear to keep fathers involved and the factors that place this relationship at risk.

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