The father - child relationship: A longitudinal study over 33 years
The Gothenburg Longitudinal Developmental Study (GoLD) is a prospective longitudinal study of 144 Swedish participants and their families that we have followed from age one to two, until recently when they were 33 years old.
The present study investigates how fathers’ involvement develops over more than three decades, thus across a significantly larger part of the lifespan than in previous research. Our focus is on stability and change and how these aspects are related to “major life events”. In 2015 we again, for the 20th time met with the participants, this time when they were 33 years old (so far we have only had a handful of dropouts in the study). The results show, that there is a certain degree of stability over time in father involvement. Fathers who are highly involved early on seem to be so even later in life. The findings offer a deepened understanding of the struggles of trying to balance work and family, as well as salient issues pertaining to family relationships throughout the lifespan.
Participating researcher at Univerisity West
Philip Hwang
Other researchers
Michael E. Lamb
Ann Frisén
Project leader
Philip Hwang
External funding
FORTE
Duration
2012 - 2026
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