printThe Ways Involved Fatherhood and Close Relationships with Fathers Affect Well-Being of Adolescents
Bezrukova O.N.
Cand. Sci. (Sociol.), Acting Head of the Department of youth sociology and youth policy, Saint Petersburg State University. Saint Petersburg, Russia. o.bezrukova@spbu.ru
Samoilova V.А.
Cand. Sci (Psychol.), Assoc. Prof., Saint-Petersburg State University, Saint-Petersburg, Russia v.samojlova@spbu.ru
The article was supported by Russian Science Foundation project No. 23-18-00770.
Bezrukova O.N., Samoilova V.А. The Ways Involved Fatherhood and Close Relationships with Fathers Affect Well-Being of Adolescents. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. 2025. No 6. P. 92-104
The article aims to analyze the influence of involved fatherhood and close relationships with the father on the subjective well-being and development of a psychologically healthy personality of adolescents. Based on the assessment of fathers’ contribution to the upbringing of adolescents during the childhood and adolescence periods, we can assume that there is a trend for the shift from traditional to involved fatherhood. The research shows that involved fatherhood serves as the basis for the development of close relationships between fathers and adolescents. We can trace gender differences in fathers’ relationships with children: boys get more attention from fathers than girls, and fathers’ communication with boys is more diverse and intense. We found out the gender- related nature of the father’s influence on the personal development of adolescents in groups with different degrees of closeness. Fathers who maintain close relationships make an important contribution to the development of a strong and stable personality of adolescents. Boys develop resilience, the ability to manage their feelings, confidence, a calm attitude to criticism, and independence, while girls develop the desire for self-development, positivity, kindness and mindfulness. Teenagers with distant relationships with their fathers have a lack of communication with them, which is most strongly manifested in their emotional sphere. The most vulnerable are girls, who experience the whole range of subjective experiences of distress.
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