Examined associations between perceived family relationships and depressive symptoms in two ethnic contexts--European American and Asian American--at two developmentally important points--early adolescence and late adolescence/early adulthood. Found that ethnic differences in depressed mood not evident in the early adolescent sample emerged in the…

Examined how women's reconstruction of various family patterns during childhood and adulthood relate to levels of depression, anxiety, and self-esteem. Found that women who recalled cross-generational alliances or triangulated family patterns, and whose parents were emotionally distant, were more at risk for depression, anxiety, and low…

Tested a model of individual differences in the development of emergent literacy. Focused on home environment contributions to children's emerging literacy skills and on processes relating family environment and two domains of emergent literacy (outside-in and inside-out). Found that early connections between home, language, and emergent literacy…

While questions of children's engagement in physical activity are being widely debated, little is known about how physical activity is valued and managed within families. This paper reports on qualitative data from a multi-method study on lower primary aged children. The focus of the broader study was to determine the relationships between young…

Evaluations of early intervention for children facing biological and/or socioeconomic risk have tended to focus most directly on change in the child, treating family variables primarily as mediators of change. In contrast, the current study used developmental theory to articulate hypotheses that address one way in which a focus on the relationship…

Contributing to the family violence and conflict literature, we examine prospective and concurrent risk factors associated with verbal and physical aggression toward mothers by 15/16 year-old adolescent sons and daughters. Data from the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Kindergarten Children is used to examine the influence of socioeconomic factors,…

Mainstream educators tend to assume that families should follow a school-prescribed pathway, centred on parent-child storyreading sessions, to help their children become literate and achieve educational success. The research discussed here focuses on case studies of bilingual families with six-year-old children growing up in London, and shows that…

This article discusses a study that deals with the relationship between family life and professional activity in Russian society. The materials of the present study were provided by 80 parents (40 men and 40 women) representing 40 families in St. Petersburg. Study participants included families with an average level of subsistence, making up the…

This chapter focuses on the innermost level of Bronfenbrenner's four-level conception of the human environmental ecology, namely the microsystem, and more specifically, the child's socialization in the family. Following discussion of concepts related to socialization, competence, and environmental ecology, selected research studies are reviewed to…

Though not a new concept, child effect has yet to be integrated into mainstream research. This book offers a review of what is already "known" but generally ignored in the area of how children affect their parents, what kinds of children most affect their parents, and what characteristics in parents make them especially vulnerable to…

Most research on the long-term outcomes of early enrichment programs for low-income children suggests that the effects of Head Start participation and similar experiences are to help narrow the gap between academic achievement of low-income and higher-income children. The failure of children from low-income families to excel in public schools has…

This book provides early childhood educators with perspectives and tools that will enable them to strengthen parents and families during the child's earliest year of development. The 25 chapters are divided into 6 parts or themes. Part one focuses on understanding families as learners from an ecological and empathetic perspective, with the premise…

This book provides a framework for understanding the dimensions (scope, taxonomy, philosophy) and dynamics (individual, familial, and societal) of child sexual abuse. The major focus is on integrated intervention strategies for any professional who must work with incomplete information. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the problem of child sexual…

This report represents the second phase of an ongoing longitudinal study of children in different child-rearing environments in Sweden: children's own homes, "day" homes and day care centers. One hundred and two of the 120 original families participated in the follow-up. The children had reached an age of 5 1/2 years. Four areas…

In order to assess the effects of home backgrounds upon a child's performance in school, data were collected from 518 students and their mothers. Interviews with mothers covered topics such as: family background and parental expectations and aspirations; parental contact with the school; use of communication media; child management and personal…