Research from Dr Alex Martin at Kings College London shows that when fathers are able to develop supportive relationships with their child and their co-parent, this can have long-lasting protective effects for the child, well into middle childhood and early adolescence. This is important for all children, but it is especially important when one or both parents experience mental health difficulties. The research found evidence that this is true for biological and chosen fathers, and in both families where the father lives full-time with the child and families where the child lives part-time with the father.