Examines aspects of the marital relationship and its assessment relevant to scholars of child development. Reviews current knowledge regarding marital quality, behavior, emotional responding, and cognition in marriage. Makes recommendations for assessment and argues that the child's perspective of the marriage is critical for understanding…

This article explores the literature that supports the use of family stories to help special educators better understand the sociohistorical reality and ways of thinking of diverse families and communities. Examples from the work of student interns provide evidence for the seven key dispositions necessary for special educators using family…

Examines the relations of both family and school contexts on students' academic achievement and explores the mediating effects of students' perceptions of their motivations and academic self-competence. Students' perceptions of parenting style, parental involvement, teaching style, and school atmosphere significantly predicted their school…

This chapter argues for the value of sibling research in addressing behavioral genetic issues on the etiology of individual differences. The goal of the report is to provide a set of simple and practical examples of sibling analyses in order to highlight the importance of incorporating siblings in future research. It begins with a discussion of…

This paper reviews several studies on preschoolers' perceptions of alcohol and drug use. The studies make five main points: (1) the process of socialization to alcohol and drug involvement begins earlier than adolescence, and involves the ability to identify alcohol and drugs by name, class, and smell; (2) the process of socialization involves…

This research review sought to discover the forms of family verbal interaction that nurture language development in infants and toddlers, the function of different family members in this process, and the role of environmental factors in language development. Results indicate that speech to a child is significantly different from speech to an…

This paper discusses the implications of changes in the family environment on child development. Changes identified concern increases in the number and percentage of children who live in poverty, maternal employment in two-parent families, single-parent families, and the number of children in nonparental child care. Characteristics of poverty for…

One of the nonschool factors influencing children's reading ability is the home environment. Data from recent research point out four factors that promote child readiness for reading in the home: (1) availability and range of printed materials in the home; (2) reading is done in the home; (3) home facilitates contact with paper and pencil; (4)…

Introduces the articles in this special issue, all of which provide new theory and/or data on the intersection of gender stratification and economic variables with, and within, the family. Describes most of the articles as considering this "triple overlap" at both macro and micro levels. Outlines the articles selected. (KS)

Reviews and compares six methods used to assess family functioning. Results showed that methods of total family assessment are nearing the formation of a family systems paradigm, although psychometric qualities of the instruments lag behind theoretical development. Recommendations are made for further development of procedures to assess family…

Reviews and discusses the implications of Carew's (1980) research on the influence of young children's everyday experiences on their intellectual development. (RH)

Increasing numbers of patients will be discharged from mental hospitals because of changes in delivery services. Approximately 650,000 patients will return to their families. This presents new challenges to family therapists. Presented at the Annual Conference of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy, Washington, DC, October…

Reviews science education research in grades 6-12 related to the constructs of student motivation, home or family environment, and peer-group environment. Science education literature (1964-1979) from several sources was examined and correlations made between construct variables and science learning. (CS)

Addresses the following aspects of context: multidisciplinary perspectives and definitions of context, contextual shifts between the home and the school, contextual factors involved in the process of learning to write, and pedagogical implications for curriculum development. (CB)

Reviews research on home literacy experiences of nonmainstream families, and challenges traditional views of what constitutes a rich literacy environment. Discusses efforts at home-school collaboration to help children grow in writing ability. (PCB)