Relations Between Parental Gatekeeping and Parenting in Families With Children: A Scoping Review

The present study aimed to identify, evaluate, and synthesize the existing literature on the interactions between parental gatekeeping and parenting in families with children. Following the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews guidelines, we searched the literature and found 16 relevant studies in databases, including Web of Science, Embase, Scopus, PubMed, SciELO, Virtual Health Library (BVS), LILACS, and PsycInfo. The results indicated a primary focus on the association between maternal gatekeeping and father involvement, without addressing other dimensions of parenting or the possibility of paternal gatekeeping. Most studies suggest that father involvement is positively related to gate opening and negatively related to gate closing, with this relationship potentially being mediated by individual and contextual factors. Cultural and gender aspects also influence these dynamics, as social expectations that reinforce the woman’s primary role in caregiving and the need for control are particularly associated with the perception of the father’s insufficient parenting, which can consequently lead to maternal discouraging behaviors. Furthermore, maternal gatekeeping can influence child development both directly and indirectly, with parenting serving as a partial or complete mediator. These results emphasize a bidirectional, nonlinear and networked interaction between parental gatekeeping and parenting. There is a lack of methodological, conceptual, and theoretical consensus regarding parental gatekeeping and father involvement theories and research. Future studies should explore other dimensions of parenting beyond father involvement, examine the mediators and moderators of this relationship, and further develop and refine measurement instruments and methodological approaches.