Times have changed a lot and parents participate in a much more active way in raising their children, a fact that causes, it seems, that couples have more disagreements and problems than those in which the mother is the primary caregiver.
This conclusion has been reached by researchers from the Ohio State University after conducting a study of 112 couples who had a four-year-old child. These couples filled in some questions in which they were asked how often the father played with the son and how often he participated in care activities, such as bathing, dressing, etc.
In addition to assessing the questionnaires, the researchers watched each couple for about twenty minutes to see how they helped the child to do two tasks, draw a picture of his family and use construction chips to make a house.
It was observed that the couples had a stronger and more supportive relationship when the father spent more time playing with the child, but participating less in the care of your child. But nevertheless, couples had more problems and more differences when the father participated more in raising his son.
These results surprised the researchers, who stated that the study could disappoint those who believe that both the mother and the father should share the care of the children equally.
To me this study, which is published in the January issue of the journal Developmental PsychologyIt doesn't surprise me in the least. He goes on to say that when the father does not make decisions in the upbringing of the child, but plays a lot with him, the relationship works better than when the father actively participates in the care of the child. This is logical, since the normal thing is that where decisions are made by a single person there will be less conflict than those situations in which both must make decisions and they must reach a consensus.
I remember a study we talked about a while ago that said that when parents participated more in raising children, they grew more emotionally stable. We now know that the benefit to the child can be detrimental to the couple (or not). In any case, as I say, each couple must choose who they prefer to benefit (if the couple avoiding arguments or the child) or simply try to find a balance such that the family can live happily.
