As fathers are increasingly involved in childcare, understanding the neurological underpinnings of fathering has become a key research issue in developmental psychobiology research. This systematic review specifically focused on (1) highlighting methodological issues of paternal brain research using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and (2) summarizing findings related to paternal brain responses to auditory and visual infant stimuli. Sixteen papers were included from 157 retrieved records. Sample characteristics (e.g., fathers’ and infant’s age, number of kids, and time spent caregiving), neuroimaging information (e.g., technique, task, stimuli, and processing), and main findings were synthesized by two independent authors. Most of the reviewed works used different stimuli and tasks to test fathers’ responses to child visual and/or auditory stimuli. Pre-processing and first-level analyses were performed with standard pipelines. Greater heterogeneity emerged in second-level analyses. Three main cortical networks (mentalization, embodied simulation, and emotion regulation) and a subcortical network emerged linked with fathers’ responses to infants’ stimuli, but additional areas (e.g., frontal gyrus, posterior cingulate cortex) were also responsive to infants’ visual or auditory stimuli. This review suggests that a distributed and complex brain network may be involved in facilitating fathers’ sensitivity and responses to infant-related stimuli. Nonetheless, specific methodological caveats, the exploratory nature of large parts of the literature to date, and the presence of heterogeneous tasks and measures also demonstrate that systematic improvements in study designs are needed to further advance the field.

Despite the strong evidence that fathers have a crucial role in child well-being, very little is known about the development of the father-child relationship from prenatal to postnatal period. In this longitudinal study, the fathers' prenatal attachment representations (n ϭ 129), between 29 and 32 gestational weeks, were assessed with the Working Model of Child Interview, and the father-child interaction was analyzed with the Parent-Child Early Relational Assessment at 4 and 18 months after the birth. The results showed that fathers' prenatal balanced attachment representations were associated with more positive paternal behaviors compared to fathers with disengaged attachment representations when the child was 4 months old, but not when the child was 18 months old. In addition, positive changes occurred in the interaction quality between 4 and 18 months in all three groups of representation categories (balanced, disengaged, distorted), which offers an optimistic view of the evolving nature of the father-child relationship.

The aim of this study is to describe parental coping, representations, and interactions during the time of inclusion in the Small Step early intervention program for infants at high risk of cerebral palsy (CP) in Norway (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03264339). Altogether, 11 infants (mean age 4.8 months, SD: 1.5) and their parents (mothers: n = 10, fathers: n = 9) were included. Parental coping was assessed using the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form (PSI-SF) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Parental representations and parent–infant interactions were assessed using the Working Model of the Child Interview (WMCI) and the Parent–Child Early Relational Assessment (PCERA). Parents’ PSI-SF and HADS scores were within normal range; however, 26.7% showed symptoms of stress, 52.6% showed symptoms of anxiety, and 31.6% showed symptoms of depression above the cut-off. WMCI results indicate that 73.7% of the parents had balanced representations. For PCERA, the subscale Dyadic Mutuality and Reciprocity was of concern, while two other subscales were in areas of strength and three subscales in some concern areas. There were no differences between mothers and fathers. Most of the parents had balanced representations, some had mental or stress symptoms and many were struggling with aspects of the parent–infant interaction. This knowledge could be useful when developing more family-centered interventions.