Uses J Bowbly's (1969) theory of attachment as a framework for considering the implications of a lack of outdoor access for parental strategies and for the interaction of parents and children in low-income families. It argues that having access to outdoor play opportunities is supportive of healthy child development and responsive parenting and…

Uses metaphor of the dance to suggest reciprocity, harmony, and a mutual exchange of leadership as key components of adolescent-adult relationships. Suggests that adolescents have high expectations of adult's character and competencies; therefore, teachers should elicit the highest values and behaviors from their students. (KDFB)

In this article, a parent of a gifted child muses on the challenges of raising her daughter, coping with her daughter's frustrations, her decision to stay home, and her brief envy of a doppelganger, a professional in a purple suit. (CR)

Contends that our materialistic culture has drawn in families and created pampered, spoiled, and unhappy children which parents, child care providers, and educators are left to deal with. Asserts that parents should not be tempted by "things" to make their children happy; rather they should provide time, attentiveness, hugs, and an…

Discusses the importance of family-style dining in early childhood education and care settings for child nutrition, socialization, and cognitive development. Illustrates how family dining experiences build family relationships and provide a context for defining family roles and responsibilities. Shows how easily television can become a mealtime…

Provides a rationale for services to children of alcoholics and describes school-based interventions to help these children. Asserts that schools are the logical setting for providing knowledge, skills, and support to help children of alcoholics understand the dysfunctional effects of familial alcoholism. Offers suggestions for school counselors…

Discusses the following dominant themes in the relationships of older parents and their adult children within the context of societal age structure changes: roles and responsibilities, parent-child interaction, individual well-being, relationship quality, and caregiving by adult children. Concludes with speculations on the future of research on…

Attempts to provide a plausible theory of music's evolutionary development. Speculates that music may have provided survival benefits by helping establish mother/infant bonds, by aiding in the acquisition of knowledge, by providing a unique way of knowing, and by playing important roles in social organization. (LS)

The mother of a highly creative girl describes her daughter's openness to experience and sensitivity, examines how adults misinterpret creative aspects of her daughter's being, comments that education could be a liberating medium but is generally a conditioning program, and notes that creativeness means living in essence and arriving at insights…

Examines the nature of mother-child bonding from the prenatal stage through early infancy, discussing how the mother's actions, even before birth, stimulate her child's senses. Explains the crucial role that physical contact, breastfeeding, and visual stimuli have on mother-child bonding in human and animal newborns. (MDM)

Argues that research on father-adolescent relationships must move beyond demonstrations of links between father behavior and adolescent outcomes (phase 1 findings) to research in which the pathway or processes linking father variables to adolescent variables are explicitly spelled out and examined (phase 2 findings). Suggests areas of future…

Families in individual-orientated Western society spend little time together and tend to focus on accomplishments rather than belonging. Proposes that human development is not an individual but a group process and that a nest of ongoing support during childhood encourages a sense of belonging. This support should include at least 10 minutes of…

Examines ways in which individual differences in emotion regulation may be influenced by children's attachment experiences. It argues that individuals characterized by the flexible ability to accept and integrate both positive and negative emotions are generally securely attached, whereas individuals characterized by either limited or heightened…

Outlines what stepfamilies need from therapy and describes three important lessons other types of families can learn from remarriage families: dealing productively with losses and changes, accepting and appreciating differences, and enhancing relationships by increasing dyadic interactions. (Author)

Examines the influence of prenatal sex hormones on later behavior and social learning that results from differential treatment of boys and girls by parents and peers. Also explores differences in academic achievement between boys and girls. Concludes that, contrary to the views of some parents and teachers in the 1970s and 1980s, inborn gender…