Fathers ' work experiences, the father-child relationship and children's hehaviour'

The effects of fathers ' subjective work experiences on their children's behaviour have been largely neglected, despite increasing recognition accorded to the fathers ' role in all aspects of child development. The present study redresses this issue by assessing whether (a) fathers' work experiences are related to children's behaviour, (b) the father-child relationship moderates the effects of fathers ' work experiences on children's behaviour, and (c) specific child behaviours are associated with paternal work experiences. One hundred and f'orty two fathers (M age = 39.55 years) and their eldest child (M age = 9.2 years; 66 boys, 76 girls) participated. Moderated multiple regressions demonstrated that fathers ' job satisfaction was related to specific child behaviours, viz. conduct problems and hyperactivity. More importantly, the father-child relationship moderated both these relationships: Where fathers were dissatisfied with their jobs, conduct problems and hyperactivity were significantly greater when the father-child relationship was of a higher quality. Implications for studying the effects of both mothers ' and fathers ' work experiences on their children's behaviour are drawn