Developmental science is replete with studies on the impact of mothers on their children, but little is known about what might best help caregivers to function well themselves. In an initial effort to address this gap, we conducted an Internet-based study of over 2,000 mostly well-educated mothers, seeking to illuminate salient risk and protective…

Late-life well-being often shows steep deteriorations, but the contributing factors are not well understood, in part because data about people's final year of life are scarce. Here, we draw from and test theoretical perspectives that health-related vulnerabilities undermine the experience and skills older adults typically use to maintain…

The present longitudinal study addressed the ongoing debate regarding the benefits and risks of infant-parent cosleeping by examining associations between sleep arrangement patterns across the first year of life and infant and parent sleep, marital and family functioning, and quality of mothers' behavior with infants at bedtime. Patterns of infant…

Physical activity is considered a valuable tool for enhancing life satisfaction. However, the processes linking these constructs likely differ across the adult life span. In older adults the association between physical activity and life satisfaction appears to involve usual levels of physical activity (i.e., a between-person association driven by…

To what extent does maternal and paternal autonomy support enhance well-being across the major transitions of high school? We tested the degree to which perceived autonomy supportive parenting facilitated positive changes in self-esteem and life satisfaction and buffered against negative changes in depressive symptoms and school related burnout in…

The aim of this study was to investigate the prospective relations between parental psychosocial functioning and toddlers' sleep consolidation. Investigators met with 85 families 3 times, when children were 15 months (Time 1 [T1]), 18 months (T2), and 2 years of age (T3). Mothers and fathers completed questionnaires pertaining to their parenting…

This study examined children's peer information processing as an explanatory mechanism underlying the association between their insecure representations of interparental and parent-child relationships and school adjustment in a sample of 210 first graders. Consistent with emotional security theory (P. T. Davies & E. M. Cummings, 1994), results…

Correlates of father involvement were examined in 40 dual- and single-earner families with 1- to 25-month-old children. Fathers' work hours, sex role attitudes, perceived child care skill and perceived love for wives were assessed. On nine occasions, parents were asked to report on child care, leisure activities, and marital interactions during…

Examined the construction of parent-adolescent separation from the perspective of late adolescents. Study one included factor analysis of 34 separation-related items by 391 college students. In the second study, 199 college students completed related measures. Results indicate ways in which late adolescents define and achieve separation.(Author/BN)