ABSTRACT
Growing evidence suggests that fathers have distinct influences on parent and child health and well-being through their engagement in parenting. Although fathers have increased their involvement in parenting in recent decades, father involvement remains more variable than that of mothers. The present paper applies a biopsychosocial perspective to the transition to fatherhood to elucidate the factors that may promote positive adaptation to fatherhood. We review research on the biological, psychological, and social factors that strengthen fathers’ parenting. Overall, recent findings suggest that a range of biopsychosocial changes facilitate positive adaptation to fatherhood, which may have broader implications for family health and well-being. However, there is also heterogeneity in findings, and much of the research in this area remains preliminary due to the paucity of large longitudinal studies that comprehensively assess biopsychosocial factors among expectant and new fathers. We propose that integrated, longitudinal, biopsychosocial research designs that consider the family as an interdependent system embedded within a broader context will help address existing research gaps. Ultimately, such research will more comprehensively characterize the complex interplay of biological, psychological, and social factors in expectant and new fathers and advance biopsychosocial research and theory on fatherhood. We also discuss the significance of biopsychosocial research on fathers for prevention and intervention efforts to support parent, child, and family health.