The quality of the parent-parent relationship is considered as an important factor for managing stressful family crises. The assumption in this study is that specific patterns of parent-parent communication make it easier or more difficult to adjust to changes in the family that are required when the first child enters early adolescence. In a…

Traced pathways between perceived coparenting support and child-rearing conflict, family interaction quality, and child self-regulation, academic competence, and behavior problems in families of 9- to 12-year-old African-Americans. Found that husbands' perception of coparental support was linked to family interaction quality; wives' perception of…

Examined how family relationship quality and contact with deviant peers (CDP) contributed to change in problem behaviors, particularly whether gender of the adolescent and parent moderated these associations. Found that CDP was associated with increases in problem behaviors, whereas family influence on problem behaviors was indirect and varied as…

Interviewed adolescents in grades 9 through 12 to examine family closeness as either mediator or moderator of relationships between intense work and academic engagement. Found that for boys, the family closeness mediational model provided best fit for data; for girls, the moderator model fit best. Found girls were especially vulnerable to negative…

This study derived data from the Family Environment Scale, from home visits to 29 individuals with moderate mental retardation, and from other sources to determine that the Parenting Style Survey is a reliable and valid measure of parenting behaviors for individuals who have a child with mental retardation living at home. (Author/JDD)

Investigated reliability of the Family Narrative Consortium (FNC) scales for measuring the effect of social context on construction of family narratives. Analyzed data from four FNC studies to determine reliability of scale dimensions of narrative coherence, narrative interaction, and relationship beliefs. Found that the scale was a set of…

This study examined relationships between the caregiving environment, severity of disability, and several aspects of family ecology for 102 adolescents with disabilities. Family ecology variables included poverty status, parental intelligence, social support, and marital quality. The disability categories were mental retardation; orthopedic…

The reason for studying the characteristics of a healthy family is to encourage and strengthen the family and to move toward an enriched family life by using the characteristics as bench marks. Six characteristics are discussed as the essence of a healthy family: (1) commitment; (2) togetherness; (3) appreciation; (4) good communication; (5)…

The purpose of this research project was to investigate the utility of the genogram and eco-map as family assessment tools for working with American Indian vocational rehabilitation (VR) clients who are referred for rehabilitation services, and to describe changes in the family system after VR services have been delivered by evaluating information…

A study of Hmong refugees settling in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) focused on the social resources (e.g., kinship, literacy) available for adapting to life in the United States and the refugees' use of those resources. The study also resulted in profiles of several Hmong adults, documenting language and literacy use in daily life and patterns of…

Sex roles and sex differences in grandparent-grandchild relationships have begun to attract the attention of researchers in the field of extended family relations. Male (N=184) and female (N=221) students of a rural Maine high school responded to a questionnaire designed to examine sex differences in interactions between adolescents and their…

The optional functioning of the family unit is dependent on the health and happiness of each family member. When the wife is professionally trained and yet feels "trapped" by the presence of children in the home with no available transportation, baby-sitting, or part-time employment options, the family unit can suffer or the wife suffers. The…

This paper reviews the research literature in the area of family communication and reports on what is known about communicaton in the homes of emotionally disturbed children. It then reviews and summarizes the patterns of communication cited in the literature that seem unique to such homes, including extreme emotional distance between parents, a…

This paper reports the outcomes of a study that investigated the effects of family conflict on childhood functioning. The sample consisted of 95 children (ages 3-17) applying for clinical services at the Yale Child Study Center Outpatient Clinic. Forty-nine children were from families in which the custodial parents were currently married, 33 were…

This study examined individual differences in young children's understanding of emotion and potential correlates in the domain of family experiences. Participating in the study were 49 children, ages 40 to 75 months from a predominately white, middle to upper class sample. Self-report questionnaires concerning the expression of emotion, management…