The Importance of Divorced Fathers in the Lives of Daughters

Emotional Stability

• Emotional stability is an important state of being for the psychological development of children. Girls who lack parental love and care from both parents can experience unstable emotions and exhibit behavioral problems. A 2012 study carried in a report published by the University of Bristol asserts that father absence in childhood is linked to depression in adolescent girls. Girls who have a good relationship with their divorced fathers are rarely exposed to mental health issues such as emotional and behavioral disorders.

Social Skills

• The ability of a girl to relate well with her peers and make new friends can be influenced by the kind of relationship she has with her father. Writing in a 2013 article at Huffingtonpost.com, clinical psychologist and college instructor Terry Gaspard stresses that a father's presence in his daughter̵7;s life affects how she relates with all men who come after him. Gaspard states that a woman's relationship with her father can influence her view of herself and psychological well-being. Divorced fathers who stay close to their daughters give them a better chance of building stronger families in the future by improving their social skills.

Educational Attainment

• If you are a divorced father who wants your daughter to score high grades in school and realize her educational goals, put her first before everything else. With your fatherly love and care, she has little to distract her from schoolwork. A nonprofit, public benefit charity organization that works on improving the health and well-being of women and girls living in poverty, the Grass Roots Community Foundation, suggests on their website that a daughter̵7;s quality of relationship with her father has a lasting impact on her academic achievement, self-esteem and sexual behavior. Girls with supportive divorced fathers enjoy the same concentration in school as their peers with fathers who are not divorced.

Role Model

• In the absence of a real father, girls can benefit from their mothers or other men who can step into the role of "father." However, these girls still want to look up to their biological fathers. According to a 2001 report by the U.S Department of Health and Human Services, published on its website, children desire a continuing relationship with their fathers, no matter how well they are raised by alternative parents. Divorced fathers, even if unable to secure physical custody of their daughters, should strive to nurture and develop quality traits in them.