The father's bad mood causes problems in the emotional and cognitive development of his children

We have always believed that children should be based on the maternal figure, however, parents are equally transcendental for the integral development of children, as the German philosopher and poet Friedrich Nietzsche said, "He who has no father, should procure one," implying that the father is as indispensable in the formation of children as the mother is, since the affection and / or repudiation of the parents can affect the psychological integrity of This, as well as self-esteem, security and some other emotions of their own.

It has been shown that children who do not have a paternal image regularly are children with difficulties to adapt, in addition to showing destructive behavior and adopting a lifestyle in constant danger as they grow. We can perceive that the absence of the father at home, the knowledge that is not, and that you can not have a word of encouragement from that man, usually has negative repercussions, but if you have it when necessary, the child develops with Greater ease, adapting and integrating into a group, assuming that the psychological processes have been developed in full.

The mental state of the father directly affects his children

In some cases it has been shown that parents who suffer from a lot of stress, or in their case children, depression or anxiety, both end up having a significant impact on the development of children and evidently the parent-child relationship.

It is worth mentioning that some psychologists from Michigan State University have done some studies, mainly investigating the importance of parents in the development of their children, in addition to analyzing about 800 families; Yielding very obvious results, where the psychological states of the parents most notably stood out, which markedly marked their children in the long and short term, causing their abilities in society to decay as self-control and the capacity for cooperation.

It could be appreciated that the first years of life of the infants are determinant; If his father presents a depressive condition during his 2 or 3 years of life, it could damage his cognitive and language development, which does not happen if in a given case it was the mother who presented depression.

Curiously, although they have the emotional support of the mother, these problems appear, is whether or not, noting that the paternal influence is very strong, even more so in boys than in girls, since males usually identify more with The paternal figure and by her behavior ends up affecting them more.

The damage caused by the absence of paternal love

Several studies have recently been carried out to analyze how the absence of a father or who is very distant with his children, ends up affecting his behavior in society. Some psychologists at the University of Connecticut analyzed data collected from 10,000 parents and their sons and daughters, with the result that most children who felt rejected by their parents had very low self-esteem and were unsafe, Aggressive

It is for these cases that the concern for the development of children, has made that redouble efforts in the investigations. Thus, other research has been undertaken to identify how important the father is within the family nucleus; Showing that if dad regularly engages in the education of children, they are often safer to discover around them, becoming emotionally stable as they grow, developing their academic intellect and with less difficulty; Assuming that parents are very important to children as well as the mother, noting that both have a lot of responsibility and a lot of work to do to promote the emotional and psychological development of their children.

Parents, how to improve mood?

We all know that being a parent is not an easy task, especially when you are first, being this stage more complicated for both the father and the mother, as they both face something unknown and as a consequence it is very normal to have many fears , Feeling insecure and uncertain.

Many men are burdened with the responsibility of being the support of their partner and therefore they must always be strong, perhaps it is the cause that these end up overflowing emotions of one and in turn, this makes them more likely to feel stress, provoking Thus causing serious harm to their children.

Therefore we have the following recommendations for parents:

- Reserve a space for yourself. You should not put your own life before giving your full attention to your child, you must remember that you have a partner and you must give equal or greater attention in addition to offering you quality time. It is also good to look for times for yourself, do the activities you like, relax and clear your mind from time to time and fill you with energy.

- Express what you feel. Remember that you have all the trust and love of your partner to tell you everything you feel, express your fears and concerns. Tell your partner that you want to be a good father, that you want to support her in everything that is possible and that you want to be a mutual support to have a beautiful family.

- Recognize the signs of stress. Having a routine life where every step is planned makes us feel obliged to be the provider of the house and we do not realize that we are stressed. It is for this reason that we must be alert to any symptoms of anxiety or despair. Also, do not forget to identify the triggers that are causing this stress so that you can eliminate them from your life.


Remember that both parents play a key role in the lives of children and although there is no instruction to be the best parent, both must do their best to facilitate the development of this. It is clear that we all want to see happy children, right? SHARE this valuable information with your friends who have the joy of being parents.

Vallotton, C. et. Al. (2016) Child behavior problems: Mothers’ and fathers’ mental health matters today and tomorrow. Early Childhood Research Quarterly; 37: 81-93.