Examined the influence of maternal differential behavior and child temperament on sibling relationships. Forty pairs of four-to-nine-year-old siblings and their mothers were observed playing in sibling dyads and mother-children triads in their homes. Mothers provided temperament ratings of their children's activity, emotional intensity, and…

Examines longitudinal relationship between adolescents' involvement in family decision making, parental warmth, and marital quality assessed in 1981 and parent-adolescent attitude dissimilarity assessed in 1987. Suggests that, when adolescents were actively involved in decision making and their relationships with fathers were warm,…

A randomized prevention trial contrasted families who took part in the Strong African American Families Program (SAAF), a preventive intervention for rural African American mothers and their 11-year-olds, with control families. SAAF is based on a contextual model positing that regulated, communicative parenting causes changes in factors protecting…

A randomized prevention trial was conducted contrasting families who took part in the Strong African American Families Program (SAAF), a preventive intervention for rural African American mothers and their 11-year-olds, with control families. SAAF is based on a conceptual model positing that changes in intervention-targeted parenting behaviors…

A study examined a proposed family process model that links family financial resources to academic competence and socioemotional adjustment during early adolescence. Subjects were 90 9-to-12-year-old African American youths and their married parents, all of whom lived in the rural southeastern United States. The theoretical constructs in the model…

Older siblings' contributions to younger siblings' competence net of parenting processes were examined with 152 pairs of first-born (M=11.7 years) and second-born (M=9.2 years) siblings in rural, single-parent African American families. Structural equation modeling indicated that parenting was linked with older siblings' competence, which in turn…

This study represents further work into the area of what specific processes determine whether a sibling relationship will be positive or negative. Specifically addressed was the influence of each child's personality or temperament in shaping the quality and type of sibling relationship. Significant attention was paid to analyzing sibling…

Examines how parents use nonverbal behaviors in family situations. Results revealed that nonverbal behaviors which parents model for their children vary with the number of family members interacting, the gender of the offspring, and the gender of the parent. Results were discussed in terms of family dynamics. (Author)

Used a hierarchical linear model to examine contributions of neighborhood disadvantage, collective socialization, and parenting to African American 10- to 12-year-olds' affiliation with deviant peers. Found that community disadvantage had a significant positive effect on deviant peer affiliations. Nurturant/involved parenting and collective…

A 4-wave longitudinal design was used to examine protective links from child competence to behavioral problems in first- (M=10.97 years) and second- (M=8.27 years) born rural African American children. At 1-year intervals, teachers assessed child behavioral problems, mothers reported their psychological functioning, and both mothers and children…

Evaluated applicability of family stress model of economic hardship for understanding economic influences on child development among African American families with a 10- or 11-year-old child. Found that economic hardship positively related to economic pressure in families, and to emotional distress of caregivers, which in turn damaged the…

Examined contributions parenting and classroom processes make to 7- to 15-year-olds' self-regulation and adjustment among single-parent Black families. Found that parenting and classroom processes contributed uniquely to children's adjustment through the development of self-regulation, and that each process could serve a protective or stabilizing…

We tested a hypothetical model linking maternal education and maternal coping behavior with parent-child relationship quality, and in turn, children's self-regulatory behavior and mental health difficulties. Consistent with predictions, mothers' use of active coping behaviors predicted more positive parent-child relationship quality, greater child…

A study examined the links among mothers' endorsement of developmental goals, use of competence-promoting parenting practices, youth self-regulation, and academic and psychosocial outcomes. A sample of 175 single-mother-headed African American families with a 6- to 9-year-old child was recruited from nonmetropolitan counties in Georgia. Interviews…

Focuses on the links between social contexts and normative family patterns to identify factors at the societal, community, family, and individual levels that enhance African Americans' ability to overcome stressful life events and foster positive family relationships. Maternal psychological distress was linked with parent-child relationship…