How Teen Girls Benefit from Having Their Dads in their Life
There’s a reason why I dedicated an entire chapter of my book 7 Secrets Guys Will Never Tell You to dads and their influence in their daughters’ lives.
It’s a topic that comes up again and again, in class and in countless letters girls write me.
“Reflecting on my ‘daddy issues’ makes me realize the cause of some of the bad choices I’ve made in the past with other guys due to lack of trust, fear of being ignored, and fear of being hurt. I really don’t know what to do about my relationships with guys because every issue I have with my father somehow affects my relationships!”
So, in honor of Father’s Day this weekend, instead of focusing on the “daddy issues” many girls struggle with, I want to highlight the “(dad)vantages” they enjoy when they have healthy relationships with their fathers.
Breaking Down the Benefits
Research shows that young women win when they have an actively engaged father in their lives.
Linda Nielsen, a professor of educational and adolescent psychology at Wake Forest University has researched and written extensively on the subject.
Including an article she wrote several years ago entitled, How Dads Affect Their Daughters into Adulthood for the Institute for Family Studies. In it she writes:
“The well-fathered daughter is also the most likely to have relationships with men that are emotionally intimate and fulfilling. During the college years, these daughters are more likely than poorly-fathered women to turn to their boyfriends for emotional comfort and support and they are less likely to be ‘talked into’ having sex.”
Great news, right? But why is that?
Watch the video below to find out as clinical psychologist Dr. Alduan Tartt, and I break down the advantages that girls experience by having a healthy relationship with their fathers.
The bottom line is this: engaged dads matter!
And I would like to wish a Happy Father’s Day to all the dads reading this post who are actively involved in their daughters’ lives!
God bless you for being present and accounted for!
P.S. Please share this post with every father of a teen girl you know as a source of encouragement for them to either continue being actively engaged in their daughters’ lives, or to get started.
