This paper provides a structured overview of the existing parenting literature with the aim of developing an evidence-based and culture-sensitive framework of parenting and its influence on child development. The paper outlines how changes in the 21st century have altered family life and summarises evidence from 29 meta-studies and 81 quantitative…

Parents are a child's first educator. A child's family and home environment has a strong impact on his/her language and literacy development and educational achievement. This impact is stronger during the child's early years but continues throughout their school years. Many background variables affect the impact of the family and home environment…

This paper reviews the research literature from 1972 to 1990 relative to inappropriate sexual contact between children. Because of the difficulty in making a clear comparison between studies, the normal child sexual development literature was reviewed to establish a baseline for determining the nature of inappropriate sexual interactions between…

Reports on extent of children's involvement in the household division of labor and the meaning of this work for the family, using data from a random sample of 790 Nebraska parents. Data indicated that children's chores are an ubiquitous feature of family life. Discusses four rationales for these chores. (Author/RC)

Examines hothousing from a developmental perspective and concludes that hothousing is a matter of concern because it is based on a conception of the preschool child's future which is too narrow to include the complex creative and social needs these children will face. (PCB)

This paper utilizes knowledge gained from work on future issues related to families, the work of futurists on social trends and technological development, and recent studies in home economics to draw conclusions regarding what people will need to know in the 1980s and beyond to be intelligent consumers and effective homemakers. The first of six…

A research review of the major consequences of early childbearing on education, income, marriage, subsequent childbearing, children's development, and family support. (CM)

Reviews studies of the effects of maternal employment on marital relations, child development, and the mothers themselves. Concludes that employment is not the major issue in either marital relations or child development, but family circumstances, attitudes and expectations of both parents, and the distribution of available time have important…

Discusses the findings of studies of how parents' work experiences affect children, pointing out methodological problems as well as areas for further research and emphasizing the need for a shift from studies of parents' work status per se to investigations of coping strategies in a time of dual-earner families. (RH)

This paper explores the factors involved in the adjustment of children who must live with grandparents. Some studies indicate these children may be at higher risk for the development of psychopathology and pre-delinquent behavior. In contrast, other studies seem to indicate the love and care of supportive grandparents can lessen the impact of a…

Describes the Chatham-Savannah Youth Futures Authority (YFA) program designed to help eliminate problems of urban youth, and analyzes the YFA with a focus on problems associated with female-headed, urban, black families. A summary of research is provided followed by a discussion of the conceptual model used as a basis for the program and an…

This article reviews issues related to the development of young children adopted from Eastern Europe. Medical considerations, growth and developmental delays, sensory processing difficulties, and social and emotional development of institutionalized children are discussed. Issues are considered in light of their effects on child and family…

Reviews effects of television on various aspects of children's behavior, including learning through passive viewing, lowered attention span, school achievement and reading, aggression, sex role stereotyping, and prosocial behaviors. Concluding sections focus on effects of television on family life and point out ways parents and teachers can better…

This paper discusses the impact of World War II on the lives of U.S. home-front children--that is, the boys and girls born between 1933 and 1945 who were children during the war and were still preadolescents when the war ended. The paper proceeds by discussing, first, the topical approach to the subject used in this essay; second, the ways in…

In 1899, Katherine Pettit and May Stone established the first social settlement in the Kentucky mountains. In Chautauqua-like fashion, the women pitched tents in and around the vicinity of Knott County, Kentucky for three consecutive summers. The primary purposes of the social settlement were social justice and community uplift. While the women…