Exploring the impact of involving fathers in the treatment of their children: A study using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA)

Abstract

Although fathers have been shown to contribute uniquely to the development of psychopathology in children, they continue to be ignored in research and clinical work. Knowledge about the impact of involving fathers in their child’s treatment – for the child, couple and the family as a whole - is still sparse. The aim of this study was to explore parents’ experiences of having fathers involved in the treatment of their child. Parents, whose children had received cognitive behavioural therapy for an anxiety disorder, were interviewed about this topic. The participating parents had all been involved in the treatment of their child. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was used to analyze the data in this study. Three higher order themes and 11 subthemes emerged from the six interview accounts. The three higher order themes were as follows: Strengthening the family system, empowerment of parents, and impact on partner relationship. Results indicated that parents’ experiences of the involvement of fathers to be beneficial not only on the child’s treatment but also on other aspects of family life. The parents reported that the family as a whole benefitted from the treatment and that the relationship between the parents was strengthened. A model was created to conceptualize these results.