Hess and Camara (1979) have shown that it is post-divorce family functioning, rather than family structure, that is most important in influencing the effects of divorce on children. A child's adjustment to divorce should be viewed as a developmental process rather than as a single event. Consequently, it is important to focus on the ways in which…

The policy analysis examines application of permanency planning principles (services in family settings that provide continuity in relationships) to services for developmentally disabled children (through age 21) in Colorado. Section I provides an extensive description of permanency planning principles and a discussion of their theoretical and…

This report describes family support through the experiences and testimony of eight families. The eight families, who had children with very difficult health and behavioral problems, were participants in the Macomb-Oakland Regional Center's Family Support Program, near Detroit, Michigan. Interviews were conducted to give voice to the families who…

The Bar-Ilan Picture Test for Young Children is a semi-projective device which was designed to fill a gap in the local diagnostic battery of the educational system. The test depicts realistic and meaningful situations which focus upon issues generally encountered in the educational environment of the young child. The demand characteristics of…

The Children's Perception of Support Inventory (CPSI) which assesses the extent to which children perceive their families and peer networks as understanding, responsive, and supportive is described. This measure was constructed (1) to differentiate children on family and peer-support scales and to demonstrate the relationship between the…

This paper criticizes Zajonc's confluence model of the relationship between sibling spacing and sibling intelligence. According to Zajonc, variations in the intellectual performance of individuals are accounted for in part by two features of the individual's family of orientation: (1) the number of children in that family, and (2) the spacing…

This report is an attempt to analyze the aggression which occurs within extended dyadic interchanges of parent and child, husband and wife, or sibling and peers. An argument is made for a "performance" theory of children's noxious behaviors based on the assumption that most children, exposed to modeling and reinforcing contingencies through which…

Controversies continue regarding the effects of corporal punishment on children. Research has demonstrated an association between levels of corporal punishment and negative outcome behaviors such as aggression and other mental health problems. However, most of these studies have been cross-sectional and correlational in design, thereby precluding…

Situational obstacles stemming from cultural and economic circumstances (migrant status, time away from school for work, etc.) were observed to have at least as much influence on the Mexican American child's educational and occupational aspirations as the more commonly stressed family interaction variables such as parental aspiration and emphasis…

Presents a model for understanding children's formation of schemas of self, other, and how self and other do and should communicate emotion. Attributes important roles to families' tendencies to display or not display emotion and to their rules regarding desirability and importance of communicating emotion. Notes that child characteristics and…

Argues that cohesion is a measure of supportive interactions and that enmeshment is a measure of psychological control. In a study of children and adolescents, cohesion was associated negatively with both internalizing and externalizing adolescent problem behaviors. Enmeshment was related positively with youth problems, and more strongly with…

Examines the determinants of postdivorce contact between nonresidential fathers and their children after martial disruption and to evaluate the relative merit of three sociological perspectives on postdivorce contact: social parenting, marital-involvement parenting, and socioeconomic-advantaged parenting. Results suggest that fathers have limited…

Examined how peer acceptance and friendships moderated the link between family adversity and child externalizing behavioral problems. Found that peer acceptance in kindergarten and Grade 1 moderated the relationship between family adversity measures and externalizing behavior problems in Grade 2; friendship served as a moderator for harsh…

Describes the posttraumatic stress, impact of the event, and behavioral responses of 56 schoolchildren, ages 6 to 17, following a fire in their homes. The children were tested two separate times: posttraumatic stress scores, impact of event scores, and problem behaviors decreased significantly from the first time to the second. Other results are…

Examines parenting models and parent-child relationships from early to middle adolescence. Focuses on implications for adolescent functioning, including school integration and psychological well being. Results identify four distinct types of parenting styles characterized by different degrees of acceptance and control of young people's behavior.…