Communication in the Father–Child Dyad: The Intergenerational Transmission Process

Evidence indicates a link between the parenting children receive and their subsequent choice of parenting behaviors (Simons, Beaman, Conger, & Chao, 1992). That connection may be detrimental, as in the relationship between having been the victim of harsh discipline and/or abuse as a child and being an abusive parent or spouse (P. C. Alexander, Moore, & E. R. Alexander, 1991). Likewise, growing up with a father whose communication skills are poor or even hostile might negatively affect a child’s communication ability as an adult. Consequently, we need to examine the process by which fathers’ parenting affects communication choices made by their children later in life.