The contributions of receptive vocabulary scores, maternal responsiveness, and maternal directiveness to the prediction of verbal IQ and reading over a 5 1/2-year period were investigated. Receptive vocabulary scores of 543 low-birthweight children at 36 months accounted for the major portion of the variation. Maternal responsiveness added…

A survey of teachers and mothers of kindergartners in Seoul, Korea, revealed that mothers had most knowledge, among six areas of knowledge, about modification of child behavior; and perceived a need for knowledge about creative development, observation techniques, social development, and safety. Mothers' perceived needs were predicted by their…

Examines the use of alcohol by adolescents (N=535) in Dade County Public Schools during 1992. Significant factors that increase the probability of alcohol use are friends who drink, awareness of risks associated with alcohol use, and ease in obtaining alcohol. Family-related variables, smoking, religion, gender, race, academic performance, and…

Examined the relations between family characteristics, childhood temperament, and convictions for violent and nonviolent offenses at age 18. Found that family factors were associated with both violent and nonviolent offenses, whereas childhood temperament was associated primarily with convictions for violent offenses. Results suggest potentially…

Examined parent-child interaction during toddlers'"terrible twos" stage. Found that families experiencing difficulty could be identified, troubled behavior could be predicted based on family ecology, and families at moderate and high contextual risk were more likely to experience troublesome behavior when the child experienced 20 or more hours per…

This paper on the behavioral manifestations of child sexual abuse first reviews previous research concerning child variables, parent/family variables, sexual abuse in combination with other maltreatment, and physiological outcomes. Criteria for future research are offered and specific research needs in the areas of developmental progression,…

The present study investigated the associations between family functioning, acculturation between parents and their adolescents, and adolescent adjustment problems. Chinese adolescents and their parents (N=41) living in the United States and Canada participated in this study. Results showed that differences in acculturation between parents and…

The relationship between social, family, peer and school factors and leisure engagement within a transactional model of stress and health was investigated in 655 young adults. Results show that the family environment, encouragement from parents and teachers, relationships with peers and socioeconomic factors in childhood predict adult attitudes to…

Maternal support received by sexual abuse victims is considered a key factor in coping with the aftermath of abuse. The present study looked at four groups of potential predictors of maternal support: mother's psychosocial characteristics, abuse characteristics, victim's characteristics, and disclosure characteristics. A total of 120 adolescents…

Prior studies of juvenile drug courts have been constrained by small samples, inadequate comparison groups, or limited outcome measures. The authors report on a 3-year evaluation that examines the impact of juvenile drug court participation on recidivism and drug use. A quasi-experimental design is used to compare juveniles assigned to drug court…

This study examined eight home environmental variables as they predict students' academic attainment in history. The variables considered included warmth and democracy in the home, interactions between parents and children, the language of communication at home, relations between the parents, parents' aspirations for the children's education,…

The present study examined the independent and interactive relations of effortful control and two family environment variables (parent-adolescent conflict and negative family relations) on the subsequent conduct problems and depressive symptoms of 459 European American and Latino adolescents between the ages of 10 and 14. Hierarchical regression…

Objective: Parents' behavior management practices, parental stress, and family environment are highly pertinent to children's conduct problems. Preadolescents' psychiatric hospitalization usually arises because of severe conduct problems, so the relationships of family-related variables to postdischarge functioning warrant investigation. This…

The nature and strength of home and school environmental characteristics relating to attitudes of children in Ghana are investigated. A total of 200 second, third, fourth, and sixth graders randomly selected from 10 schools serving urban and rural areas participated in the study. Two instruments were used to collect data: the values and attitudes…

Researchers have pointed out that the effects of generic stressors such as poverty may be mediated through other stressors in the microsystem of parent-child relationships or personal characteristics of family members. Specific, potential mediating stressors were sought in this study involving 191 low income Moslem families who had immigrated from…