Conducting Nonsexist Research, Prevention, and Treatment with Fathers and Mothers

Abstract

In published research and in unpublished doctoral dissertation research, fathers are underrepresented in the investigation of child and family functioning. A number of possible explanations for this underrepresentation are discussed, including researchers’use of sexist theories that either directly or indirectly result in mother blaming, family demographics that suggest fathers are less present in the lives of their children when compared with mothers, and researchers’perceptions of fathers’unwillingness to participate in research. In order to encourage nonsexist family research that includes both mothers and fathers, recommendations are provided to increase the inclusion of fathers in child and family research. Specifically, researchers are encouraged to always provide parallel investigations of paternal factors when maternal factors are investigated. Researchers are also encouraged to investigate similarities as well as differences between mothers and fathers in relation to their children's functioning. Implications for the involvement of fathers in prevention and clinical interventions are discussed. In order to move beyond non‐sexist research, feminist research issues are also raised.

Therapeutic Alliance in Family Therapy for Adolescents with Epilepsy: An Exploratory Study

“…In addition, the participation rate of fathers in our sample was low. Although this finding is consistent with typical levels of paternal participation in therapy and research studies in general (Phares, 1996), it precluded analyses that may have shed light on the development of working alliance for fathers of teens with disabilities in family therapy. Second, the generalizability of current findings may be limited to atrisk teens with epilepsy or other episodic, neurological disabilities.…”

The Relation Between Parental Coping Styles and Parent-Child Interactions Before and After Treatment for Children With ADHD and Oppositional Behavior

“…In addition, the sample size in this study was small, particularly for fathers, thus limiting the power and generalizability of this study. We retained fathers in our analyses because so few studies have focused on fathers of children with ADHD and there is a need to examine fathers in studies of parenting (Phares, 1992(Phares, , 1996 and parent training (Budd & O'Brien, 1982); the sample size for fathers was sufficient to detect largesized effects with a power of .80. The sample size for mothers was sufficient to detect medium-to largesized effects, but small-to medium-sized effects may have been missed.…”

Perceived Parent–Child Relations and Adolescent Self-Esteem

“…Williams and Kelly (2005) stated unequivocally, ''little is known about the different roles that mothers and fathers play during adolescent development' ' (p. 171). More specifically, Phares (1996) argued fathers are especially underrepresented in research assessing family functioning. Overall, little recent research illustrates if and how maternal and paternal parenting in nuclear families are independently and jointly associated with the self-esteem of their adolescent children.…”