PANAJI
A father’s presence has a positive impact on psychological development of adolescents. High school students reared in the regular presence of fathers differed significantly from high school students reared in long absence of fathers on levels of emotional competence and self-esteem.
A practising psychologist and diocesan priest, Fr Clifford Castelino, has published these findings in his recent book ‘As Dear As Mother’, largely based on his PhD thesis on “Impact of fathers on self-esteem and emotional competence of high school students in Goa”.
“The compulsion I felt in writing my book was to initiate discussions on the father’s role in homes and to create awareness that adolescents in a phase of ‘Storm and Stress’ need support and guidance from significant others like the father,” explained Fr Castelino (43) who hails from Corjuem-Aldona, while interacting with The Goan.
“The father’s contribution is vital and irreplaceable for personality development of high school students. My book is a call for mothers to move from the role of being a “gatekeeper” to that of “gateway” for fathers to exercise their fatherly role, thus rejuvenating family, a vital cell of society,” said Fr Castelino, presently assistant parish priest at St Anthony Church at Siolim.
Studying a sample of 600 students from 27 schools in Goa, Fr Castelino found out that high school students reared in regular presence of fathers differ significantly from high school students reared in long absence of fathers on levels of self-esteem.
“However, there is no significant difference between high school students reared in regular presence of fathers and short absence of fathers,” added Fr Castelino, who also serves as coordinator of the Department of Pastoral Counselling of Diocesan Family Service Centre (DFSC).
“My findings reveal that action is needed at all levels to further the cause of fatherhood and build a healthy, happy and productive society. Educational institutions, therapists, policymakers, researchers, media communication centres, business houses and individuals need to bring back the father, ‘the forgotten contributor’, back into the family,” he said.
In his research, Fr Castelino, a visiting faculty to various educational institutions, found out that the father’s absence can have a negative impact on the emotional development of an adolescent, while physical and cognitive development is also affected.
“There is a great psychological difference between adolescents living with their father or both parents and those adolescents where the father is absent,” said Fr Castelino, who is associated with Life Skill International and Conference of Catholic Psychologists of India.
According to Fr Castelino, the father’s presence has a positive impact on the psychological development of adolescents.
“Responsible fatherhood is associated with supporting, monitoring, teaching, guiding, helping adolescents face different problems and situations in an appropriate manner. A warm and caring interaction with the father helps adolescents imbibe values and principles, giving them a sense of efficacy and ability to appraise their worth.”
“It enhances their emotional intelligence and competencies. Undoubtedly, the mother too contributes towards the development of self-esteem and emotional competence among adolescents. However, she cannot take the place of the father, whose affection, strength and love are qualitatively different.”
“Adolescents need a role model and the father has an important role to play. Further, his life example as a male person helps adolescents to cope with crises and depressing situations, developing their self-esteem and imbibing emotional competency skills,” Fr Castelino said.
His findings also revealed that high school students from old conquest areas reared in regular presence of fathers have significantly higher level of self-esteem and emotional competence than their counterparts in the new conquest areas.
