Turning Points of Closeness in the Father/Daughter Relationship

While historically under-studied in comparison to other family relationships, the fatherdaughter relationship is an important dyad within the family sytem and has been associated with a number of significant psycho-social developmental outcomes for women as they grow from young girls to young adults. Of particular importance is the quality of the emotional connection shared by fathers and daughters, especially in terms of perceptions of closeness. The goal of the current study was to examine both fathers’ and daughters’ perceptions of closeness in their relationship and the events that have affected the strength of those relational bonds as the daughter was growing up. Using turning point analysis, 43 fathers and 43 daughters (not related) participated in the study. Daughters reported 129 turning points of closeness from which six primary categories of change emerged. Fathers reported a total of 134 turning points resulting in six additional categories of change. Fathers and daughters found considerable agreement concerning events affecting their perceptions of closeness, while traditionally masculine forms of creating and maintaining closeness emerged as an important component of this unique family dyad.