Social development research shifted in the last decades from the focus on mother–child dyad to a multi-factor approach in which the father and the family dynamics are relevant (Tamis-LeMonda & Cabrera, 1999, Parke et al, 2008). Father involvement has been specially associated with social competence, which becomes more salient at the preschool age (Lamb, 2010). The present study aims to assess the relative importance of father and mother sense of well-being and mental health on social development child outcomes. Participants were 277 children between 36-71 months of age (M=53.8, SD=8.8), 53% girls, attending day care in average 7.3 hours per weekday (SD=1.5), and living in resident-father families. Father and mother completed independently a survey consisting of self-report instruments on: A) Relative father involvement with the child on five dimensions of tasks: Direct-care, Indirect-care, Teaching/discipline, Play indoors and Leisure outdoors (Monteiro et al, 2008), Difficult Temperament of the child (ICQ-Preschool; Bates, 1987), B) the CORE-OM for assessing well-being and mental health (Evans et al, 2002). The child’s teachers independently reported on the child's behaviour and interaction with peers on three scales: Social Competence (SC), Anger-Aggression (AA) and Anxiety-Withdrawal (AW) (SCBE; LaFreniere & Dumas, 1995). Preliminary analysis show that 1) mothers’ self reported poor mental health and low well-being is associated with children Anxiety-Withdrawal, while fathers’ self reported poor mental health and low well-being is associated with Anger-Aggression. 2) Children in families with egalitarian levels of father and mother involvement seem to be protected against the effect of father low well being on anger aggression: father involvement moderates the effect of well being on child anger-aggression. Results will be discussed at the light of socio-ecological models of developmental psychopathology and father involvement.

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