This report describes a project designed to explore the feasibility of undertaking a systematic 6-year longitudinal study of how children being reared in alternative family life styles are being socialized and how these patterns of socialization affect the development of the children. Pilot investigations were conducted to (1) identify the…

This study, part of a naturalistic longitudinal study of infants being reared in a variety of family life styles, attempted to establish the extent to which differing parenting patterns affected early developmental outcomes. Subjects were 200 infants: 50 of single mothers who headed their family units, 50 of mothers in communal living groups, and…