The developmental science literature is riven with respect to (a) parental similar versus different treatment of siblings and (b) sibling similarities and differences. Most methodologies in the field are flawed or confounded. To address these issues, this study employed a within-family longitudinal design to examine developmental processes of…

African American mother-child dyads (N = 99) were observed interacting on a collaborative puzzle exercise. Raters blind to the purpose of the study rated the dyads on several mother and child behaviors. Mothers of daughters were rated as more empathetic, encouraging, warm, and accepting and less negative than mothers of sons. Male children were…

This study compared reactions of mothers and fathers to the risk taking behavior of sons and daughters. Mother-father pairs (N = 52) imagined their 2-year-old boy or girl behaving in risky ways in common home situations that could, and did, result in injury. Emotional and parenting reactions to the behaviors were assessed before and after injury.…

The relations of childhood fearfulness (observed and adult reported) and adult-reported shyness at 18 (n = 256) and 30 (n = 230) months of age were assessed. Fear was positively related to shyness concurrently and longitudinally, but slightly more consistently at 18 months. The moderating roles of observed maternal sensitivity and children's sex…

Many studies point to the importance of social information processing mechanisms in understanding distinct child behaviors such as aggression. However, few studies have assessed whether parenting might be related to such mechanisms. This study considers how aversive forms of parenting (i.e., corporal punishment, psychological control) as well as…

This study examined responsivity of mothers with childhood-onset depression (COD) in relation to children's overt expression of positive and negative emotion. It was hypothesized that COD and control mothers would differ in contingent responsivity to their children's expression of both positivity and different types of negative emotionality. Using…

Family practices related to hygiene, affection behavior, and privacy were studied using a sample of mental health and child welfare professionals. The professionals were asked to use their own experience to state up to what age it was acceptable for parents and children of the same gender and mixed gender to engage in certain family practices. For…