Tested four different theoretical models (risk, protective, potentiator, and person-environment fit) describing ways that geographical neighborhoods might be associated with aggression and peer relationship problems in 1,271 elementary school children. Results suggest a protective effect of middle-SES neighborhoods on the aggressive behavior among…

Investigated homesickness in boys ages 8 through 16. Results indicated that homesickness was prevalent and varied in intensity, was experienced as a combination of depression and anxiety, was presented most often as internalizing behavior, and was more typical for younger boys. The most-homesick became increasingly so during the separation,…

Key components of human behavioral genetics and Sandra Scarr's work of the past two decades are critically reviewed based on scholarship in animal neuropsychology and clinical and educational psychology. Scarr's opinion that interventions to enhance intellectual development are ineffectual for children from abuse- and neglect-free backgrounds is…

Examined the relative contribution of maternal, household, child, and poverty characteristics to the quality of the home environment through an analysis of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Improvements in family income had the strongest effect on the quality of home environment for children who had lived much of their lives in…

This study examined ways in which children's risk of school failure may be moderated by support from teachers. Participants were 910 children in a national prospective study. Children were identified as at risk at ages 5-6 years on the basis of demographic characteristics and the display of multiple functional (behavioral, attention, academic,…

Developed a model of individuation in family relationships focused on communicative processes. Expressions of four dimensions of the model (self-esteem, separateness, permeability, and mutuality) were predicted to be positively associated with identity exploration in adolescents. Analysis of observations of families in a Family Interaction Task…

Examines relations among early social and familial experience, social problem-solving skills, and social competence in the classroom, in sample of 46 children, aged four and five years, from economically distressed backgrounds. Finds family experience predictive of both social competence and problem solving. (Author/RWB)

A four-and-a-half-year longitudinal experiment reconsidered the contribution of organic impairment to the genesis of mild mental retardation among disadvantaged children. It was hypothesized that nonoptimal perinatal conditions might result in deficits that increase a child's vulnerability to environmental risk factors. Study results supported the…

Chinese, Japanese, and American children at grades 1 and 5 were given a battery of 10 cognitive tasks and tests of achievement in reading and mathematics. Goals were to determine (1) possible differences in cognitive abilities and (2) the possible differential relation of scores on cognitive tasks to reading by children of the three cultures.…

Study of a cohort of low birth weight, preterm infants examined effects of maternal knowledge and concepts of child rearing on the home environment and developmental outcomes. Maternal knowledge, measured at 1 year, was found to be associated with quality of the home environment, the number of child behavior problems, and to a small degree, infant…

Investigates the relationship between family economic hardship and adolescent distress among 622 students in grades 9-12. Hardship effects varied according to type of distress. Hardship had direct and indirect effects on the depression-loneliness factor and an indirect effect on the delinquency-drug use factor. (RJC)

Reports on the development and testing of the Children's Perception of Interparental Conflict Scale. Three subscales were derived from factor analysis. The validity of the conflict subscale was supported by parent reports of conflict. The threat and self-blame subscales correlated with children's responses to conflict vignettes. (BC)

Takes the position, contrary to that of Sandra Scarr, that the details of socialization patterns are crucial to an understanding of normal and deviant development. Research is cited to support the argument that better than adequate parenting optimizes the development of both normal and vulnerable children and that parents' belief in their own…

Infants' home-based Q-sort scores of security, dependency, and sociability were compared to laboratory Strange Situation classifications of secure, anxious-resistant, and anxious-avoidant. Secure classification was associated with Q-sort security and sociability, but not dependency. (BC)

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…