ABSTRACT
Research on paternal behavior has had a short history compared with research on mothers. However, after modest beginnings, investigations into fathers’ interactions with their children have multiplied at an accelerating rate, a trend that has been particularly evident in the last decade. One of the most interesting areas of recent research on fathers is concerned with men’s transitions to parenthood, their responses to the many changes taking place in the year or two after the birth of a first child, and their interactions with their babies. The conference that gave rise to this book was planned because it appeared to be an appropriate time to take stock, to survey what had been studied, how the research had been carried out, to ask what is now known, what information is needed, and what the best methods are with which to proceed.
