This study utilized data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (N = 14,860) to examine whether early-life family income (age 0-5) predicted long-term academic achievement (age 16-18) and to investigate the role of executive function (EF) assessed multiple times across age 7-11 in explaining this association. Task-based EF was a…

Drawing on data from a longitudinal study of 204 Mexican-origin adolescent mothers, their mother figures, and their children, the current investigation examined (a) adolescent mothers' educational re-engagement and attainment beginning during their pregnancy and ending when their child was 5 years old; and (b) the influence of the family economic…

This longitudinal study examined the influence of parents' educational attitudes on adolescents' educational attitudes and identified antecedents (i.e., parent education, family income, and parent acculturation), consequences (i.e., academic achievement and engagement), and a potential moderator (i.e., adolescent acculturation) of the transmission…

The present study examined the effect of caregivers' experiences of racial discrimination on their adolescent children's psychological functioning among a sample of 264 African American dyads. Potential relations between caregiver discrimination experiences and a number of indicators of adolescents' (aged 12-17) psychological functioning over time…

Fifteen-year-old adolescents (N = 109) in a longitudinal study of child development were recruited to examine differences in DNA methylation in relation to parent reports of adversity during the adolescents' infancy and preschool periods. Microarray technology applied to 28,000 cytosine-guanine dinucleotide sites within DNA derived from buccal…

This third-generation, longitudinal study evaluated a family investment perspective on family socioeconomic status (SES), parental investments in children, and child development. The theoretical framework was tested for first-generation parents (G1), their children (G2), and the children of the second generation (G3). G1 SES was expected to…

Latent growth curve modeling employed data from a longitudinal study of 451 sibling families to examine parents, siblings, and family economics as factors in individual differences in the developmental course of interpersonal aggression during adolescence. Findings suggest that individual change in interpersonal aggression during adolescence can…

The links between single mothers' employment patterns and change over time in the well-being of the mothers' adolescent children were investigated using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Adolescents were ages 14 to 16 at baseline, and they and their mothers were followed for 2 years. Relative to being continuously employed in a good job,…

Examined conflicts between middle-class African American preadolescents/early adolescents and their parents. Found that conflicts were relatively frequent, of low intensity, and occurred over issues such as the adolescent's room, chores, activity choices, and homework. Early adolescents rated conflicts as more intense than preadolescents. Mothers'…

Uses a representative national sample of adolescents to study the interrelationships among family structure, patterns of family decision making, and deviant behavior among adolescents. Mother-only households are shown to be associated with particular patterns of family decision making and adolescent deviance, even when family income and parental…

Examined the effects of change in parental work status on 883 early adolescents' school adjustment. Based on parental work status, families were characterized as deprived, declining, recovery, and stable. Teacher reports indicated that adolescents in deprived and declining families were less competent than adolescents in recovery and stable…

Examined longitudinally conceptions of parental authority and ratings of parental rules and decision-making among middle- class African American adolescents and their parents. Found that nearly all subjects affirmed parents' legitimate authority to regulate and children's obligation to comply regarding oral, conventional, prudential, friendship,…

Explains economists' general approach to family behavior and describes how that framework is useful for thinking about families and children. Outlines how economists model parental investment in children. Examines the implications of approach for developmental science. Illustrates this approach using the example of the involvement of children and…

Investigated parenting behavior, parent/adolescent relationship, and adolescent attitudes and behaviors in three family types. Results showed minimal support for the hypothesis that welfare is negatively related to family processes and adolescent attitudes and behavior, although mothers receiving welfare reported fewer effective parent-management…

Used longitudinal data from a sample of African-American children of teenaged mothers in the Baltimore, Maryland, area to examine determinants of functional literacy in adulthood. Found that preschool cognitive and behavioral functioning predicted literacy in young adulthood. Family environmental factors that predicted literacy in young adulthood…