The current studies explored early humour as a complex socio-cognitive phenomenon by examining 2- and 3-year-olds' humour production with their parents. We examined whether children produced novel humour, whether they cued their humour, and the types of humour produced. Forty-seven parents were interviewed, and videotaped joking with their…

It is now generally accepted that training parents can be effective in supporting children with behaviour difficulties and given the current climate of decreasing resources there is a strong case for evaluating effectiveness. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a significantly modified version of the standard clinic-based Parent-Child…

This study explored reciprocal associations between paternal child-care involvement and relationship quality by following British couples from the birth of a child until he or she reached school age. It extends the literature by distinguishing between paternal engagement in absolute terms and relative to the mother and by considering relationship…

The assumption that Chinese young people are passive beings with little or no agency is a dominant theme within the academic literature. However PhD research findings demonstrate how British Chinese adolescents (aged 11-14) do exhibit varying degrees of agency in their lives. Here, agency is understood as individuals having the capacity to act, to…

This article explores how Punjabi Sikh parents in Britain try to produce "good children" through moral reasoning about their schooling. Parents compare schooling in Britain with India and sometimes wonder about sending their children to school "back home", in the hope of immersing them in Indian culture, traditions and…

This multidisciplinary approach to cultural mediation brings together insights from anthropology, sociology, linguistics and intercultural communication to offer a detailed depiction of family life in immigrant Chinese communities. Utilising a strongly contextualised and evidence-based narrative approach to exploring the nature of child cultural…

This report outlines findings from Pearson and the National Literacy Trust's second annual early years literacy survey, conducted in May to July 2014. 1,012 parents of children aged 3 to 5 and 567 early years practitioners who work with this age group participated. Attainment data in the form of vocabulary abilities were available for a subsample…

Parenting occurs within families and communities and is shaped by parents' internal resources and the structures that surround their life. Utilising a large national data-set, "Understanding Society," this study examined the extent to which variation in mothers' personality, cognitive ability and well-being, as well as structural and…

The success of Britain's "Kindertransport," the British child rescue scheme, required legal negotiations, multifaceted organizational efforts, hands-on, spontaneous work of individuals and fierce determination of desperate parents. While moral responsibility motivated some of these actors, a sense of religious, cultural or familial duty…

The idea that parenting matters for early child development is now firmly recognised by policymakers. It is well established that parents' investments influence young children's development, and their chances in life. Parenting is one of the most important drivers of social inequalities in cognitive development before school. We also know that…

Drawing on a UK research study on immunization, this article investigates parents' understandings of the relationship between themselves, their infants, other bodies, the state, and cultural practices--material and symbolic. The article argues that infant bodies are best thought of as always social bundles, rather than as biobundles made social…

Findings are presented on a U.K. study of 41 gay father families, 40 lesbian mother families, and 49 heterosexual parent families with an adopted child aged 3-9 years. Standardized interview and observational and questionnaire measures of parental well-being, quality of parent-child relationships, child adjustment, and child sex-typed behavior…

Challenging the popular narrative of the long-run decline of the extended family, contemporary studies of intergenerational relations insist that the ties between adult children and their parents are increasing in importance. Although research documents a decline in multigenerational households, there is little empirical evidence on changes over…

Given the disadvantaged position of working-class children in the education system, it is important to understand how parents and families might support their children to succeed academically. This paper reports on 35 case studies that were conducted as part of the Effective Provision of Pre-School, Primary and Secondary Education (EPPSE 3-16)…

Results of previous research suggest that parents of children with intellectual disabilities are at increased risk of psychological distress and psychiatric disorder. Secondary analysis of the Millennium Cohort Study in the United Kingdom indicated that controlling for between-group differences in socioeconomic circumstances reduced the…