Although research on fathers tends to focus on mother-derived conceptualizations of caregiving, such as sensitivity, it has been theorized that fathers play a unique role in opening their children to the world by encouraging exploration and risk-taking. However, extant research on these forms of paternal caregiving is scattered across multiple related but distinct domains, namely rough-and-tumble play, challenging parenting behavior, and the activation relationship. Based on the overlap in theory and operationalizations of these domains, the present review aimed to define and operationalize a new caregiving construct: activation parenting (AP). Fathers who exhibit frequent and high-quality AP behaviors encourage children to take risks, challenge children physically and socioemotionally, and set appropriate limits during stimulating interactions to ensure safety and prevent over-arousal. Using Belsky’s (1984) process of parenting model as a foundation, associations between paternal AP and characteristics of the father, his environment, and his child are reviewed, with a focus on early childhood (i.e., ages 0–5 years). The present review found some support for paternal AP occurring more frequently, but not necessarily with higher quality, when fathers had children older than one years old. Unexpectedly, the frequency and quality of paternal AP did not differ much by paternal age or indicators of socioeconomic status, or by child age or gender. In line with underlying theories, higher quality paternal AP in early childhood has been found to be associated with children’s self-regulation skills and lower levels of internalizing and externalizing problems. Limitations of the current paternal AP literature are discussed and future directions for research, policy, and clinical work are proposed.

尽管对父亲的研究倾向于关注源自母亲的照顾概念，例如敏感性，但有理论认为，父亲通过鼓励探索和冒险，在让孩子向世界敞开心扉方面发挥着独特的作用。然而，对这些形式的父亲照顾的现有研究分散在多个相关但不同的领域，即粗暴的游戏、具有挑战性的养育行为和激活关系。基于这些领域的理论和操作的重叠，本综述旨在定义和操作一个新的照顾结构：激活养育 (AP)。表现出频繁和高质量的 AP 行为的父亲鼓励孩子冒险，在身体和社会情感上挑战孩子，并在刺激互动期间设置适当的限制，以确保安全并防止过度唤醒。使用 Belsky (1984) 的育儿模型过程作为基础，回顾了父亲的 AP 与父亲、他的环境和他的孩子的特征之间的关联，重点是幼儿期（即 0-5 岁）。本综述发现，当父亲的孩子大于 1 岁时，父亲的 AP 发生得更频繁，但质量不一定更高。出乎意料的是，父亲 AP 的频率和质量在父亲年龄或社会经济地位指标，或孩子年龄或性别方面没有太大差异。根据基本理论，研究发现，儿童早期较高质量的父亲 AP 与儿童的自我调节技能和较低水平的内化和外化问题有关。讨论了当前父系 AP 文献的局限性，并提出了研究、政策和临床工作的未来方向。