Blogger of Jared

“Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity.”

-“The Family: A Proclamation to the World”

While we don’t need to see scientific proof to know a gospel principle is true, such evidence is instructive and can strengthen one’s testimony of that principle. Scientific evidence was recently published that supports principles declared in “The Family: A Proclamation to the World.” The headline of a recent scientific news article reads:

“Children who have an active father figure have fewer psychological and behavioral problems”

While there are many reasons, both temporal and spiritual, why children need fathers, this article reviews a number of studies on the effect of fathering on childhood development and identifies several specific benefits children tend to experience when they have an active father in their life.

Swedish researchers reviewed 24 papers that covered 16 studies published between 1987 and 2007. These studies included smaller research from Israel and Sweden as well as large ongoing studies in the UK and USA. Findings include the following:

• “Children who had positively involved father figures were less likely to smoke and get into trouble with the police, achieved better levels of education and developed good friendships with children of both sexes.“
• “Women who had better relationships with partners and a greater sense of mental and physical well-being at the age of 33 if they had a good relationship with their father at 16.“
• “Children who lived with both a mother and father figure had less behavioural problems than those who lived with just their mother.“

One of the reviewers concludes, “our review backs up the intuitive assumption that engaged biological fathers or father figures are good for children, especially when the children are socially or economically disadvantaged.”

These findings appear to support the prophetic warning “that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets.”