The literature on coping with stressful life events and the literature on parental issues related to the birth of a handicapped child suggest that such variables as understanding of the nature, intensity, and duration of parental responses figure prominently in their adjustment to the disability. The development of support programs designed to…

This review of the relevant literature and data reports on the availability and use of telecommunications technologies in the home was intended to provide a base for a household-based study focusing on those technologies that have a potential for instruction or learning within a home environment. The information provided includes household…

A family's metaphor, the frame of reference or perspective that is created and reflected through a family's use of figurative language, is a key to understanding the underlying values and realities of families. Constructivist theories of language view metaphor as essential to the creation of meaning. From this perspective, using metaphor as a…

A study, as yet unfinished, sought to replicate, expand, and provide preliminary answers to questions raised in previous research on the development of fantasy play by black children as functions of age, sex, income level, and other environmental factors. Fantasy play involves the attribution to persons, objects, materials, or situations of…

The first of a two-part review of the National Council for Families and Television's (NCFT) journal publications from 1978-1983 discusses articles examining both television and children, and discovers a multi-phase evolution in NCFT's perception of children's associations with television. Periodical articles by television and academic/research…

Reviews research on the components and stages of stress in the lives of children, identifying three stages and six categories of stress factors: personal child variables, ecological stressors, socioeconomic status, catastrophes and terrors, family events, and spouse problems. (KS)

Many researchers in the field of education and psychology have been aware of the tremendous impact of the environment as a complex system on human development. By providing and creating the most favorable environment for children, active and wholesome social development is promoted. Three principle areas of concern in creating a quality early…

Researchers studied patterns of language use by parent-child dyads working together on an instructional task in their homes. Analysis of speech acts indicated (1) different use of speech and different performance rates across achievement levels and (2) relationships between socioeconomic status and achievement and between language and task…

Research on the relationship of parental authoritarianism, parental ethnocentrism, and other parental variables to child ethnocentrism is reviewed. (MC)

Much research has been done on the negative effects of divorce on children. Future research should focus on how positive family functioning and support systems can facilitate the development of social, emotional, and intellectual competence in children in single parent families. (Author/GC)

Based on findings from four studies (conducted between 1928 and 1979) of adopted children, discusses the differential effects of heredity and environment on intellectual development. (GC)

Examines new studies of family-level dynamics that explain individual variability in early socioemotional development. Shows that family processes help explain unique variance in conceptually related measures of child development. Reviews studies showing prospective links between family processes during infancy and behavior at age 4, and…

Examines parallels between the findings of empirical studies on bulimia and the findings of empirical studies on the diffusion status of the adolescent identity transition. Results reveal similarities in familial descriptors, personality characteristics, and interpersonal styles for adolescents who are bulimic and those who are identity diffused.…

This epilogue to a forum on literacy issues in school-age children from culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds highlights research findings that address: the importance of home environment in influencing literacy; the relationship between socioeconomic status and literacy; and the use of dynamic assessment and process-dependent…

Reviews current research about families of young children with disabilities, and raises issues related to the actual application of this knowledge at both policy and practice levels. Notes that a deficit model has guided much of the study of young children with disabilities, but that alternative conceptual perspectives, advocating a…