Relations among parental depressive symptoms, overt and covert marital conflict, and child internalizing and externalizing symptoms were examined in a community sample of 235 couples and their children. Families were assessed once yearly for three years, starting when children were in kindergarten. Parents completed measures of depressive symptoms…

We tested special and general explanations of male adolescent sexual offending by conducting a meta-analysis of 59 independent studies comparing male adolescent sex offenders (n = 3,855) with male adolescent non-sex offenders (n = 13,393) on theoretically derived variables reflecting general delinquency risk factors (antisocial tendencies),…

Each year, between 10 and 20 percent of schoolchildren in the United States are exposed to domestic violence. According to psychologists, such exposure can lead to aggressive behavior, decreased social competence, and diminished academic performance. A majority of parents and school officials believe that children who are troubled, whatever the…

This study extends the growing literature of family instability by investigating the significance of its timing for children's social adjustment. We find that more than a third of the 1,364 elementary school children in the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development experienced some family structure change. Their cumulative level of…

Objective: This research seeks to study the impact on family function after 3 months of treatment with amphetamine. Method: A total of 43 children, 6 to 11 years of age, with ADHD were treated with amphetamine for 3 months. Family function was studied before and after treatment by parent self-rating and independent observer ratings of videotaped…

This study examined spillover between daily family stressors and school problems among 589 ninth-grade students (mean age = 14.9 years) from Mexican, Chinese, and European backgrounds. Spillover was examined using a daily diary methodology in which adolescents reported on their school and family experiences each day for 2 weeks. Analyses using…

Resources on the topic of children of alcoholics are presented in this document. The first section presents facts and figures for children of alcoholics which range from noting that there is strong, scientific evidence that alcoholism runs in families, to the fact that children of alcoholics have greater difficulty with abstraction and conceptual…

Early intervention and early care providers reported frequently encountering families with multiple economic, social and mental health challenges. Providers endorsed needs for mentoring and training to understand specific problems, to gain knowledge of community resources, to be able to talk with families about challenges and to recognize and…

This study examines the usefulness of a screening process implemented in the context of a Head Start home visit and compares families who screened positive for substance abuse with those who did not on an array of child and family indicators important for healthy child development. The sample included 1,105 low-income families with preschool-age…

Managing work and family responsibilities is particularly difficult for military families with children. While military life has always been demanding, in recent years an increasing number of military personnel in both the Active Duty Force and Selected Reserves have had to confront the additional demands of parenthood. Providing resources to…

Calls for a recognition of existential issues in family therapy. Notes the importance of "big questions" to families, reviews the roots of existential philosophy therapy, and offers an example of the usefulness of connecting existential thought to the family field by discussing differentiation/fusion from an existential perspective. (BH)

The article describes a family and marriage relationship deteriorating in part because of the father's difficulty in playing with his disabled son. (CL)

Presents an integration of object relations theory and family systems theory in the conceptualization of bulimia. Proposes that in bulimic families there are transgenerational developmental deficits and adaptations which determine the level and quality of intrapsychic experience within individuals and the interpersonal relationships and dynamic…

Fathers are involved in treatment for child and family problems to a far lesser extent than are mothers. This article reviews the level of fathers' inclusion in therapy, delineates possible barriers to fathers' participation in child-related treatment, and discusses factors associated with fathers' involvement in therapy. Empirically and…

Changes in families have brought new sources of stress into the home. Much daily stress can be handled if families use effective ways of dealing with it. Guidelines for reducing stress are presented, including a section on children's stress. (MT)