A Systematic Review of Father–Child Play Interactions and the Impacts on Child Development

Father enthusiasm, affection, engagement, responsiveness (Video Game Play), general play involvement (Creative Play), sensitivity and mutual compliance were all positively related to child social/behavioural outcomes in terms of positive interactions with their friends and general prosocial behaviours. However, results also demonstrated how the same paternal behaviour can have vastly different associations with child outcomes, both within the same play type and across play types.