With the aim of providing an estimate of the association between father and child internalizing symptoms, the present study systematically reviewed and meta-analyzed associations between father and child anxiety and depression symptoms from existing research (mostly from North America and Europe, conducted between 1981 and 2021). Based on 70 samples (158 effect sizes, N = 58,255), the meta-analysis with robust variance estimation identified a positive and significant association between depression in fathers and children (r = .15, 95% CI [.12, .17]). Similarly, a positive and significant association between father and child anxiety was observed (r = .13, 95% CI [.07, .18]) based on 39 samples (72 effect sizes, N = 11,683). The effect sizes for depression and anxiety did not significantly differ from one another or as a function of sample characteristics and methodological moderators. Findings show the importance of fathers in the development of child psychopathology. Directions for future research from a family systems perspective are proposed.
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