Discusses reasons for the lack of attention to cross-sex friendships, and delineates the significance of these close relationships as a focus of analysis for social scientists interested in personal relationships. Explores the nature of cross-sex friendships through a conceptualization of the major relationship challenges that cross-sex friends…

Attachment theory provides a framework for understanding children's relationships to their primary and secondary caregivers. The theory describes how secure attachment bonds are formed between children and caregivers and the consequences of both secure and insecure attachment relationships. Recommendations for putting attachment theory into…

Efforts to prevent unintended teen pregnancy seem to have ignored emotional motivations in romantic relationships. Proposes a model that may provide mental-health counselors with a theoretical-research base for interventions and programming designed to enhance teens' romantic relationships while simultaneously preventing unwanted consequences such…

Reviews the literature on attachment and child maltreatment in relation to the intergenerational transmission of maltreatment. Review of 13 studies suggests that a poor mother-infant relationship is the primary process by which maltreatment continues from one generation to the next. (Author/DB)

Surveys early brain development research. Discusses the importance of attachment, windows of opportunity, and the importance of quality in care. Suggests 6 ways to promote healthy development, lists 10 things every child needs, and poses 12 questions to ask about early brain development. (DLH)

Clarifies key concepts and assumptions of attachment theory, emphasizing the importance of adult attachment relationships in counseling supervision. Case examples are presented of supervisee behaviors and subsequent supervision strategies used during semester long practicum. The case examples illustrate how the application of theoretical…

Initial research on maternal reminiscing style established clear and consistent individual differences that vary along a dimension of maternal elaboration and that are related to children's developing autobiographical skills. More recent research has linked maternal elaborative reminiscing to strategic memory development, language and literacy…

Integrating concepts from family systems theory, attachment theory, and family socialization theory within a systems theory of public opinion and social movements, this paper concentrates on linkages between family socialization and political attitudes, adding the influence of social structure. The paper holds that family systems theory…

The role played by neuroembryological forces in shaping brain development is well documented in Nowakowski's (1987) article. Additional mechanisms whereby experience may influence brain structure and function are outlined. Several routes exist by which postnatal experiential influences may produce long-term alterations in behavior and…

Asserts that the sensitive-period hypothesis has not been tested on three counts: (1) no systematic studies of initial mother/infant contacts exist, (2) the majority of studies confound timing and amount of contact, and (3) failure to consider underlying mechanisms results in the omission of designs and dependent measures that could address…

Conclusions from research in the areas of maternal deprivation, institutionalization, and parent-child relations are used to conceptualize and hypothesize about dimensions of daily separation experiences relevant to attachment. (SS)

Refines the concept of attachment by distinguishing it from generalized distressed responses to divorce. Among separated adults, characteristics of the marital situation account for feelings of loss of attachment but do not contribute to the explanation of generalized distress. (Author)

Reviews recent research advances in the areas of individual differences in the way maternal-infant attachment behavior becomes organized, differential experiences associated with various attachment patterns, and the values of such patterns in forecasting subsequent development. (Author/GC)

Investigates the relationship of the affective and fostering of autonomy components of maternal and paternal attachment with indices of instrumental and social/relational competence among high school students. Students rated fathers higher than mothers on fostering of autonomy. Boys rated themselves higher than girls on several indices of…

Two hundred fifty-two students completed the Parental Attachment Questionnaire, the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure, the Multigenerational Interconnectedness Scales, and the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire, Results from Asian, Asian Indian, Black, Hispanic, and White participants revealed sex differences in predicting college…