Paternal role in family relations: an integrative review

Abstract

Objective

To describe the paternal role in family relationships.

Methods

This is an integrative literature review carried out in September 2020, by consulting the Journal Portal of the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel in the Directory of Open Access Journals (Doaj), Scientific Electronic Library Online (Scielo) databases, Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (Medline), SAGE Publishing, Public Library of Science (PLOS), Taylor & Francis Group (tandfonline) using the descriptors associated by the Boolean operators as follows: Fathers and Paternity and Family Relations. Primary productions published from 2009 to 2020 were included, considering the implementation of the Brazilian National Policy for Comprehensive Care for Men’s Health, available in full, free of charge, and materials that did not clearly show paternal role in family relationships. 1,365 scientific materials were found and, after selection following the recommendations of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta Analyzes, 15 articles were included.

Results

Paternal role is described through actions of care, education and provision for children. Care was unveiled through actions aimed at maintaining life, starting at conception and extending into childhood and adolescence. In this cycle, the father appears as an educator, above all, based on the example that leads the children in their future lives. The provision, in turn, was linked to the guarantee of family subsistence by the paternal figure.

Conclusion

Understanding the roles can guide professional practice in order to encourage male involvement in monitoring the development of children.

Fathers; Paternity; Family relations; Parent-child relations; Family