Using extensive, multifaceted observational and interview data from the Family Socialization and Developmental Competence Project (FSP), this paper examines the claims that androgynes, by comparison with sex-typed individuals, are more effective persons and parents. (Author/RH)

Examined continuity and discontinuity in maternal sensitivity of 135 disadvantaged mothers and their first-born children from 6 and 24 months to 42 months. Results indicate that sources of stress originating from the child or environment result in decreased sensitivity over time, whereas sources of support increase sensitivity.(RJC)

Examines parental, adolescent, and family system characteristics that place a family at risk of destructive parent/child relations during the child's adolescence. Maladjusted youth from 10 through 16 years of age and both of their parents were visited at home by a team of researchers, who administered a battery of questionnaire, interview, and…

Results indicate that (1) social support is the best predictor of secure attachment and is most important for mothers with irritable babies, (2) maternal unresponsiveness is associated with resistance during reunion episodes and appears to be a mechanism through which anxious attachment develops, and (3) social support may mitigate the effects of…

Examined individual differences among third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade children (N=59) in the tendency to remember and utilize dispositional as opposed to situational information in predicting and explaining the behavior of story characters. (JMB)

To determine the impact of quantitative and qualitative aspects of fathering, relationships among father involvement in childrearing, parenting characteristics, and child adaptation were investigated. Results from 70 infants 20 months of age and their parents highlighted the salience of qualitative characteristics of parenting for toddler…

This research demonstrates significant but moderate association among 4 methods of measuring other-centeredness, including behavioral, cognitive, valuative, and peer-rating measures. (Authors)

Examines the choice behavior of White third graders who indicated either a preference or no preference for closeness to Whites over Blacks on a social distance measure. Several predictions based on conflict theory were made pertaining to choice behavior and latency of responding in the two preference groups. (Author/RH)

Assessed the impact of parents' marriages on the parenting of firstborn three-month-olds. Concluded that mothers are warmer and more sensitive with infants than fathers are. Fathers hold more positive attitudes toward their infants and their roles as parents when they are in close, confiding marriages. (RH)

Based on data collected prenatally and during infants' first 2 years of life, this study attempted to discriminate among three major attachment classifications and to account for qualitative changes in attachment relationships. Data included maternal and infant characteristics, mother-infant interactions, life-stress events, and family living…

Examines the functioning of toddlers with physical anomalies (but without central nervous system damage) in comparison to premature toddlers (with similar deviant early experience but no deviant physical appearance) and to normal toddlers. Premature and disabled toddlers performed more poorly than normal toddlers in measures of social initiative,…

Stable characteristics of female rhesus monkeys with offspring, in terms of Confident and Excitable scores, were significantly positively correlated with the respective scores of their female offspring but not their male offspring. Female parents' Excitable scores were significantly negatively correlated with males' Confident scores. How this…

Patterns of mothering and fathering in 72 families were observed longitudinally and from the perspective of the family system when infants were 1, 3, and 9 months old. Findings suggested similarities and differences in mothering and fathering. (Author/RH)

A longitudinal model of parent academic involvement, behavioral problems, achievement, and aspirations was examined for 463 adolescents, followed from 7th (approximately 12 years old) through 11th (approximately 16 years old) grades. Parent academic involvement in 7th grade was negatively related to 8th-grade behavioral problems and positively…

Fatherchild and motherchild engagements were examined longitudinally in relation to children's language and cognitive development at 24 and 36 months. The study involved a raciallyethnically diverse sample of low-income, resident fathers (and their partners) from the National Early Head Start evaluation study (n290). Fatherchild and motherchild…