The development and adjustment correlates of parent-child social (parent, child, and others present) and dyadic time (only parent and child present) from age 8 to 18 were examined. Mothers, fathers, and firstborns and secondborns from 188 White families participated in both home and nightly phone interviews. Social time declined across…

Current estimates suggest that by 2015, 60% of college students will be women, a change since 1970 when 59% were men. We investigated family dynamics that might explain the growing gender gap in college attendance, focusing on an ethnically diverse sample of 522 mixed sex sibling dyads from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. We…

Using latent profile analysis, the authors examined patterns of mother-father involvement in adolescents' peer relationships along three dimensions--support, guidance, and restrictions--in 240 Mexican-origin families. Three profiles were identified: (a) High Mother Involvement (mothers higher than fathers on all three dimensions), (b) High…

This study charted the course of parent-child and sibling relationships from early adolescence to early adulthood and examined how these relationships changed following firstborns' departure from their parents' home for the first time. Data were drawn from a 10-year longitudinal study of family relationships. Participants included mothers,…

This study examined patterns of mothers' and fathers' acceptance and youths' friendship intimacy among 246 Mexican-origin 7th graders. Three patterns were identified using mixture modeling: (a) low mother and father acceptance, and average friendship intimacy (Low Parent Profile); (b) average mother acceptance, high father acceptance and…

We examined correlates of sources of parental knowledge of youths' experiences in Mexican American families, including "child self-disclosure", "parental solicitation", "spouse", "siblings", and "individuals outside the family". Home and phone interviews were conducted with mothers, fathers, and their seventh-grade male and female offspring in 246…

Mothers and fathers in 156 African American families reported on racial discrimination experiences, gendered traits, and warmth and conflict in family relationships. Discrimination was linked with relationship quality, but links differed for mothers and fathers. More expressive parents and less instrumental fathers had more positive relationships…

This study examined longitudinal links between incongruence in mothers' versus fathers' differential treatment of adolescent-age siblings and parents' marital quality. Multilevel models including 200 families, over four waves, spaced across 6 years tested whether youth perceptions of incongruence in differential intimacy and conflict predicted…

The authors examined siblings' dyadic and differential conflict frequency with mothers and fathers from 7 to 19 years of age. Participants were first- and second-borns from 201 families who reported their conflict with each parent in 4 home interviews spaced over 5 years. Multilevel models examining trajectories of conflict frequency across age…

This study used a person-oriented approach to examine links between adolescents' experiences with parents and peers. Cluster analysis classified 361, White, working- and middle-class youth (mean age = 12.16 years) based on mothers' and fathers' reports of parental acceptance and adolescents' reports of perceived peer competence. Three patterns…

This study examines the relationships between mothers' and fathers' perceptions of negative work-to-family spillover and their knowledge of their preadolescent children's (mean age = 11.8 years) daily lives in a sample of dual-earner families. Three constructs are tested as potential mediators of the association between spillover and parental…

Little research has examined parents' experiences of their children's transition to adolescence. The authors studied a sample of 170 mothers' and 159 fathers' open-ended descriptions of their experiences and investigated the role of prior relationship quality in predicting the nature of parents' experiences. Changes in the personal qualities of…

Compared mothers' and fathers' direct involvement in adolescent girls' versus boys' peer relationships, and examined the links between parents' involvement and the qualities of adolescents' friendship and peer experiences. Findings revealed mothers were more knowledgeable about adolescents' peer relationships than fathers, and both mothers and…

A study of 30 mothers with mentally retarded children and 30 with only nonretarded children found no overall group differences in maternal well-being. Child welfare issues and restrictive time demands were the most intense family problems reported by mothers with retarded children. (Author/JDD)

Examined correlates of parents' knowledge about their children's daily experiences. Found between- and within-family differences as a function of mothers' work involvement, sibling composition, and children's and adults' personal qualities. Fathers knew more when mothers worked longer hours. Parents knew more about younger than older offspring.…