When it comes to parenting research studies, most focus on the act of parenting in general, or the relationship between mother and child. That’s because there isn’t as much data available on fathers, researchers note, plus, let’s be real, dads aren’t the ones whose minds and bodies biologically change after a pregnancy (science says “mom brain” is a real thing, folks!). But a new research study aims to uncover some truths about the father/child bond, and shows that even just a father’s presence has a hugely positive effect on his relationship with his kids. If only it was that easy for moms, amirite?

In fact, living in the same home was the strongest predictor of a close father-child bond during adolescence, regardless of the parents’ marital status, according to new research out of the University of Michigan, University of Nevada-Las Vegas and The Ohio State University. Using a large sample size of nearly 3,000 diverse dads who participated in the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study, researchers made a basic yet profound conclusion: “simple, consistent involvement from fathers builds closeness during adolescence.”

What’s interesting is that it didn’t matter if the father was married and living with the mother, a single father, or separated/divorced and living independently from the mother. The most important factor in establishing and maintaining closeness was the father being physically present for his child(ren) and living in the same home, especially as kids approached the teenage years.

What does this look like, you ask? Pretty run-of-the-mill parenting: helping with homework, expressing interest in the child’s life and engaging in conversation. The co-authors of the study said these small acts can “strengthen the [father/child] relationship over time.” This checks out, considering other research has found that Millennial dads are way more involved than fathers of previous generations.

This is obviously great news for dads and kids. But to be honest, as a mom with tremendous guilt and anxiety over just about everything as it relates to my son and daughter, it’s also a little bit of a blow. Moms are out there doing the most day in and day out, from carrying the mental load to waking up overnight with sleepless kids. But dads need to simply do the bare minimum as fathers to set their kids up for success as teens? This is what we call a double standard, folks. Hmm. And society wonders why Millennial moms are so stressed…

You can check out the study in its entirety as it appears in the Family Relations journal HERE.

What do you think of this research study? Good news for dads, bad news for moms or both?

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