ABSTRACT
Among the many factors that can influence the quality of father-daughter relationships, one of the most powerful is the mother. From the time their daughter is born, the mother either promotes or impedes the father-daughter relationship in a multitude of ways. Yet she herself may not be fully aware of how her feelings and beliefs are influencing the father-daughter connection. How does she truly feel about her daughter’s father as a parent? Does she value and welcome him as a coparenting partner? Or does she see herself as the expert who directs, critiques, and supervises his parenting? Does she behave as if her daughter will be just as well off with her father playing a secondary role to the mother? Or does her behavior demonstrate that she considers his expertise and his role equal to her own?
