This study examined relationships between home-based communal activities and beliefs and student reports of various achievement correlates with 290 black and white undergraduates. MANOVA procedures examined differences in self-esteem, self-efficacy, identified motivation, motivation to know, and amotivation and scores on Home Communalism Measure…

This study tests propositions regarding idiosyncratic deals (i-deals) in a sample of N = 265 hospital employees using structural equation modeling. Timing and content of idiosyncratic employment arrangements are postulated to have differential consequences for the nature of the employment relationship. Results confirm that i-deals made after hire…

Background: The idea that raising a child with disabilities has a negative impact on the parents' relationship is still widely accepted despite contradictory research findings. This article addresses the impact of raising a child with disabilities on family structure in the present Norwegian context. Method: Family demographics were collected at…

Past research has suggested that family reminiscing may be a particularly important avenue for the development of children's well-being. In this study, the authors examined the ways in which mothers and fathers scaffold conversations about past emotional events with their preadolescent children. Narratives of positive and negative shared family…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine how kin and fictive kinship relationships help to ameliorate or buffer responses to parental alcoholism and the breakdown in parenting. This qualitative study investigated coping responses developed by college students, who self-identified as adult children of alcoholics (ACOAs) who lived with…

In this article, we document the literacy practices of Genna Johar and her extended family. Genna, a grade 1 student, is a member of a Indo-Canadian joint family in which her parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, share a household. Family members including siblings and cousins play important roles in supporting Genna's literacy…

Family environment appears to be an important determinant of friendship quality. Despite this apparent link, few studies have explored how family environment relates to friendship, especially among college students. The present study examined the relationship between family environment and best friendships, by administering the Family Environment…

We examined psychological disorders across cultures and their associations with parental factors (control, inconsistency, and rejection). A questionnaire assessing psychological disorders was administered to male and female adolescents in nine countries. The results showed that psychological disorders differ across cultures. Parental factors are…

The high-tech environment of the Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) may seem a million miles away from the classroom, but the baby who has been born prematurely, wired up in an incubator in the former, will in five years' time be a learner in the other. The journeys through our education system of children who have survived premature birth to become…

In the minds of many people, poor families equal problem families. Indeed, that perception is not surprising, giving compelling evidence of the harsh effects that poverty can have on family life and child well-being. However, far less attention has been paid to the strengths that many poor families have and the characteristics that they may share…

A dearth of literature exists about the effects of former cult involvement on family relationships. This study employed the narrative method to explore the experiences of women and children who are former members of the Children of God. We conducted in-depth interviews with 15 middle-aged women and 12 young adults and used a life course…

There have been numerous legislative initiatives to limit gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) people's rights at local, state, and national levels (G. M. Herek, 2006). Although research has focused on how GLBT people are affected by these initiatives, to date no research has explored the impact of this legislation upon the families of…

Balancing the roles of parent and partner is challenging for most people and may be especially challenging when extra time and effort are required in the parenting role. The current research compared 25 couples whose children have autism spectrum disorders (ASD) with 20 couples whose children do not have developmental disorders. Comparisons were…

We examined the associations between perceived parental rearing, attachment style, self-concept, and mental health problems among Japanese adolescents. About 193 high school students (143 boys and 50 girls, mean = 16.4) completed a set of self-report questionnaires including EMBU-C (My Memories of Child Upbringing for Children), AQC (Attachment…

As nonmarital childbearing escalated in the United States over the past half century, fragile families--defined as unmarried couples with children--drew increased interest from researchers and policy makers. Sara McLanahan and Audrey Beck discuss four aspects of parental relationships in these families: the quality of parents' intimate…