Filmed were interactions in a variety of situations of approximately 150 infants from three groups: a preterm respiratory distress syndrome group, a postterm postmature group, and a normal term group. Videotapes were made of interactions involving the infant, mother, father or sibling, a raggedy ann doll, and a mirror. Among findings were that the…

Four basic determinants of parental authority are suggested. Hypotheses are tested using questionnaire data from 3,641 sixth, eighth, tenth, and twelfth grade students. Acceptance of parental authority is associated most strongly with offspring's perceptions of parental expertise and benefits received from parents. (Author)

A total of 440 adult couples were observed in eight different kinds of public places. Couples with children were observed to touch, talk, and smile less at one another. But children are disruptive of adult touching and talking, which means that couples with children experience reduced reward levels and less adequate communication. (Author)

The use of reciprocal behavior contracts with families of behavior-problem adolescents was investigated. Most family contracting to date has involved one-way contracts; that is, the child agrees to certain responsibilities for which he will be reinforced by the parents. A reciprocal contract requires the parents, in addition to the child, to agree…

Responses from 331 elderly mothers and 261 elderly fathers were compared on four indexes of filial responsibility expectations with significant gender differences being found in two of the four measures. The findings indicate that women in this cohort tend to expect more filial support than do their male counterparts. (Author)

Father involvement with first-born infants in caretaking, affective proximal, and social activities was observed in a naturalistic home setting with mothers also present. Fathers were more involved in social activities, particularly play with the infant, than in physical caretaking. (Author)

This study sought to explore the pattern of self-disclosure in parent discussion groups. Subjects were 16 parents. Patterns of self-disclosure to occur contiguously, suggesting that reciprocity in self-disclosure is a general phenomenon operating in a variety of group settings. (NG)

The affective quality of relationships between noninstitutionalized white, elderly (65+) parents and their adult (21+) children was explored through interviews with 54 parent-child pairs. The health and the attitude toward aging indicator were found to be statistically significantly related to the family relationship indicator. (Author)

Examines how children see themselves in terms of needs met and unmet through their "home space." Subjects were 100 boys and girls, grouped in four age brackets (7-9; 10-12; 13-15; and 16-18). (Author)

Present research questions the traditional unidimensional model in childhood psychopathology. Not only do parents influence the development of their offspring, they, in turn, are influenced by them. The infant is an active agent, affected by and affecting those around him. The infant emerges as a primary source of influence--often in the direction…

A preventive intervention program based on self-help groups for parents reinforced by the involvement of veteran parents, those who had a premature infant during the past 12 months, and professionals to provide support and information was evaluated. Sets of randomly selected parents (N=35) met weekly in a small group of four to six couples during…

Differences in sex role expectations between parents of female college freshmen and male college freshmen were investigated. It was hypothesized that parents of entering college freshman women would be less likely than parents of entering freshman men to agree on expectations for their child and on sex role expectations in general, and that young…

Male and female therapists read bogus case descriptions of families in which a boy or girl was depicted as athletically incompetent or obese and unattractive, and rendered judgments of mother versus father blame and treatment need. Mothers were implicated in children's psychopathologies slightly more than fathers, but less than expected. (Author)

The verbal interaction of 31 middle class early adolescent boys and their parents was analyzed in order to provide information concerning adolescent autonomy. The boys were independently and reliably classified on the basis of age, physical maturity, and intellectual level. The taped interactions were coded for interruptions, talking times,…

The interpersonal conditions which may maintain a child's aggression in the family were investigated by observing immediate, ongoing interactions in families of normal and aggressive adolescent sons. Normal-son families (N=6) and aggressive-son families (N=6) were videotaped engaging in a 50-minute discussion of questionnaire items designed to…