Are fathers involved in pediatric psychology research and treatment?

BACKGROUND Recently, there has been a growing awareness of the importance of the roles of fathers in understanding normative developmental processes. Increased attention has been given to the roles of fathers in the area of clinical child research and therapy. However, the presence of fathers in research and treatment in pediatric psychology has not been fully examined. OBJECTIVE To explore the status of including fathers in both research and treatment in the area of pediatric psychology. METHOD An extensive review of published research. RESULTS The findings suggest that pediatric psychology research lags even farther behind clinical child research in including fathers in research designs and analyzing for maternal and paternal effects separately. There is also a concomitant lack of inclusion of fathers in family-based interventions in pediatric psychology. CONCLUSION These patterns are discussed, with an emphasis on strategies to increase the inclusion of fathers in research and treatment of pediatric psychology issues. Future directions for researchers and clinicians are also included.