To study effects of the gender-packaging of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) toys, mother-child dyads (31 daughters; 30 sons; M = 5.2 years) were randomly assigned to play with a mechanical toy packaged for girls ("GoldieBlox") or boys ("BobbyBlox"). When familiarizing themselves with the toy to prepare…

This study describes a test of the Fathers and Sons Program for increasing intentions to avoid violence and reducing aggressive behaviors in 8-to 12-year-old African American boys by enhancing the parenting skills satisfaction and parenting behaviors of their nonresident fathers. The study included 158 intervention and 129 comparison group…

Discrimination concerns and parental expectations were examined as mediators of the relations between gender and parenting practices among 796 African American mothers of 11- to 14-year-olds from the Maryland Adolescent Development in Context Study. Mothers of sons had more concerns about racial discrimination impacting their adolescents' future,…

This study investigated the development of mother-son relationship quality from ages 5 to 15 in a sample of 265 low-income families. Nonparametric random effects modeling was utilized to uncover distinct and homogeneous developmental trajectories of conflict and warmth; antecedents and outcomes of the trajectory groups also were examined. Four…

This study examined whether 17-year-old adolescents (n = 189) and their parents reconstructed their memory for an adolescent-parent laboratory conflict over a 6-week period as a function of adolescent attachment organization. It also compared participants' perceptions of conflict over time to observational ratings of the conflict to further…

Given that girls show more interpersonal concern than boys, it was predicted that more mother-daughter than mother-son dyads would develop a relationship of mutual concerned responsiveness (CR). Two hundred and twenty-six Israeli children (7-8 years old) and 91 mother-child pairs provided narratives of mother-child interactions. At high levels of…

Analyzes conflicts of 52 families observed during dinner. Findings suggest that family members frequently joined dyadic conflicts, they were equally likely to attempt to end or continue conflicts, they formed alliances half of the time, and their intervention strategies were related to the patterning and outcome of the conflicts. (RJC)

The similarity between rules used by mothers and those used by sons was extensive. Results suggest that research should emphasize the process by which children come to employ multidimensional rules and the role of parental models in this process. Current research in moral judgments largely ignores the rule-governed nature of children's judgments.…

Differences were found between father/son and father/daughter dyads in such behaviors as father prohibitions, child mischievousness, mutual proximity, toy exchange, and child toy play. A total of 107 father/child dyads involving year-old children were observed. (Author/RH)

Examined risk factors of 3-year-old sons in 58 families with alcoholic fathers and 16 families with nonalcoholic fathers. Found that sons of alcoholic fathers were more impulsive than sons of nonalcoholic fathers. No differences between the groups in developmental age, IQ, or behavior problems were found. (MDM)

Stable characteristics of female rhesus monkeys with offspring, in terms of Confident and Excitable scores, were significantly positively correlated with the respective scores of their female offspring but not their male offspring. Female parents' Excitable scores were significantly negatively correlated with males' Confident scores. How this…

Examined effects of SES components for divorced/recently separated mothers of 6- to 9-year-old sons. Found that SES indicators were associated with better parenting. Parenting indirectly affected achievement through home skill building and school behavior. Maternal education direct effect was mediated by home skill building. Maternal occupation…

Examined associations between maternal employment and mothers', fathers', and teachers' perceptions of young children. In contrast to findings from a study by Bronfenbrenner and others, maternal employment was more strongly associated with fathers' and teachers' perceptions of children than with mothers' perceptions of them. (GLR)