Based on the results of a recent parenting study, fathers who play a more active role in their children’s lives may help their offspring become smarter.

In a Concordia University study, researchers assessed 138 children and their parents when kids were between the ages of 3 and 5 years old and later on when they were 9 to 13 years old. During these sessions, participants also completed intelligence tests.

The researchers found that fathers had an influence on their children’s behavior, as their parenting helped establish structure and appropriate limits. Furthermore, they were able to reduce the number of emotional problems their offspring had, while enhancing children’s problem-solving abilities.

"Compared with other children with absentee dads, kids whose fathers were active parents in early and middle childhood had fewer behavior problems and higher intellectual abilities as they grew older - even among socio-economically at-risk families," said Erin Pougnet, a PhD candidate in Concordia’s Department of Psychology.

Additional findings revealed that girls who lack a paternal presence in their lives had more difficulty in school than female students whose dads were actively involved in their lives.

Parents who want to see what academic subjects their children excel in, or need further assistance in, may want to have them take a kids IQ test.

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