Presents an account of the development and use of the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS). Discusses ways in which NBAS has increased understanding of development in the newborn, of states of consciousness in the infant, of prediction in development, and of a clinician's opportunities to share information with parents. (BC)

Reanalyzed data from Sheldon and Eleanor Glueck's study of 500 delinquents and 500 nondelinquents from low-income neighborhoods of Boston between 1924 and 1935. Found that low supervision, weak parent-child attachment, and erratic, threatening, and harsh discipline, contributed to delinquency. Suggests that strong family social controls may serve…

Traced links among family financial resource adequacy, maternal beliefs and behavior, developmental goals, and child outcomes in rural, single-parent African American families of 6- to 9-year-olds. Found that financial adequacy was linked with childrearing efficacy. Efficacy beliefs were linked with parenting practices indirectly through…

Examines the child-rearing attitudes and behavior of 96 mothers of preschool children living in mining and rural towns in inland Australia in terms of the influences of three factors outside the home: father's absence because of work demands, community characteristics, and mother's informational support. (HOD)

Evaluates a two-year intervention program for low income families in which a toy demonstrator modeled verbal interactions with children ages two to four. Contrary to earlier results, finds no detectable program effects in children's IQ, achievement, or school adjustment three years post-program. Considers problems of ensuring that samples are…

Reviews and considers the developmental implications of recent evidence on the nature of sibling interaction from observational studies of preschool children. Argues that, in contrast to complementary interaction, sibling influence is most plausibly associated with reciprocal interaction and with sociocognitive development. (Author/RH)

Examined the relationship between maternal psychological functioning and child competence and psychological adjustment among black families with 11-year-old children. Found a chain of influences over a 3-year period in which maternal education and income were linked with maternal psychological functioning, which predicted competence-promoting…

Examined longitudinal relations of observed parental warmth and positive expressivity and children's effortful control and ego control with children's high versus low emotional expressivity. Found that moderate child expressivity related to high effortful control. Children's ego overcontrol mediated relations between parental warmth/positive…

Examined stress and coping symptoms of 258 children whose parents were divorced. Found that, in the cross-sectional model, avoidance coping partially mediated the relations between negative events and symptoms; while active coping moderated between negative events and conduct problems. In the longitudinal model, significant negative paths were…

Used observations and family reports to examine the relationships between family economic stress factors and adjustment of adolescent boys. Economic pressures were associated with parental demoralization, which was related to marital conflict and disruptions in parenting. Disruptions in child-rearing behavior had adverse consequences for…

Children at risk for cognitive difficulties were put in two intervention groups, family and day care education and family education alone, and one control group. Children were tested for cognitive performance. The family and day care group scored higher than other groups. No intervention effects were observed for the family education alone group.…

Examined environmental and gene-environment processes linking parenting (affect, control, responsiveness) and preschoolers' behavioral adjustment difficulties (noncompliance, conduct problems). Found that estimates of shared environmental variance and mediation were greatest for observational data, and estimates of child genetic variance and…

Investigated interactions among 18 African American mother-infant pairs participating in an early intervention program for infants with developmental delays or at risk for developmental disabilities. The hypothesis that mothers would become less responsive to infants over time as a function of drug addiction, poverty, or serious developmental…

Discusses how social trends changed father involvement and family life, and in turn affected children's and fathers' developmental trajectories. Examines how today's children will construct expectations about fathers' and mothers' roles. Maintains that a life-span approach considers the broader sociohistorical context in which fatherhood develops.…

Examined relationship between paternal roles and 3-year olds' well-being in low income, African-American families. Found that children's cognition, receptive language, behavior, and home environment were not related to father presence. Controlled for maternal age, education, and parenting satisfaction; found that paternal roles related to indices…