This study aimed to investigate paternal engagement as a factor related to aggressiveness regulation in four to six year old children. Fifty fathers answered questionnaires regarding their involvement with their children and sociodemographic data and 26 teachers answered questionnaires about the social development of the children. Descriptive and inferential statistical techniques were employed. It was found that the fathers were engaged with their children and more frequently performed activities related to emotional support, discipline and physical games. The fathers with more working hours were less engaged and the more the father involved himself in the basic care and household tasks, the less his child presented externalizing problems. Policies and programs to support paternal involvement are essential for the transformation and consolidation of male responsibility in relation to children and the prevention of persistent aggression.
involvement; fatherhood; father child relations; aggressiveness; preschool students