Playing sports helps fathers bond with daughters: study

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A new study suggests that relationships among fathers and daughters improved significantly once they engaged in a shared activity.

Published in the Journal of Human Communication and released this week, the study out of Baylor University in Texas found that the most commonly cited event that served as a turning point for the 43 fathers and 43 daughters questioned was playing sports together.

The participants were not related to one another. Women were a minimum of 22 years old, and fathers between 45 and 70.

Female respondents who played a sport with their father said they learned to compete, take risks and stand up for themselves, and enjoyed having their father all to themselves.

When asked to pinpoint the moment their relationship entered a turning point, women also mentioned working and vacationing together, marriage, and physical distance.

Among fathers, playing sports was likewise the most frequently cited activity they identified as marking the turning point in relationships with their daughters.

For some, throwing around a ball or coaching their daughter’s sports team established a unique bond that couldn’t be shared with the mother or other sibling. Shared activity also helped to open up lines of communications.

Other activities identified that helped bring them closer to their daughters included religious functions, household projects and teaching them how to drive, while events included marriage and the moment their daughter started dating.