Investigated predominant kinds of parent-infant play and individual differences in play style. Participants were 24 families of healthy, full-term, firstborn infants, four boys and four girls at each of three ages: 7, 10, and 13 months. (RH)

Investigated the relationship between joint attention and toddler's race, sex, and SES. Found that joint attention related to a "persisting" mother, whether or not the toddler accepted the initial maternal bid. Females engaged in joint attention bouts and nonpersistent maternal responses after the bid was accepted more often than males. Race and…

A sample of 1,172 cases of both confirmed and unconfirmed child abuse was analyzed in an attempt to identify major demographic variables which might be associated with differential case handling. The data were collected by transferring previously recorded information on child injury cases from state central registries to a standardized form. The…

Examined relationships between children (N=61), aged 6 to 12, and their mothers in the first year of separation from their husbands. Analyzed videotapes of mother-child dyads who played for 30 minutes. Results showed involvement and positiveness were higher at the last half of the postseparation year for younger children. (BH)

This study explores the interaction between acculturation and socioeconomic status across generations of Latino families with adolescent children. Also studied are the implications for the adolescent's involvement in delinquent behavior, both violent and nonviolent. Researchers hypothesized that an elevated level of delinquency in Latino…

The present study examined relations between behaviors of mothers and children. The analysis of relations over time suggested that stimulating responsive maternal behavior influenced the child's intellectual development, whereas in the area of social relations the child's behavior influenced the mother. (CS/Author)

This study sought to determine if there is a shift with age in affection (1) from parents to friends, (2) from one parent to the other, and (3) from same-sex to opposite-sex friends. Subjects, eighth graders and eleventh graders, completed the Measurement of Family Affective Structure. (Author)

This experiment was primarily designed to investigate the preferred reinforcement patterns of urban Anglo-Americans, urban Mexican-Americans, and rural Mexicans. Subjects were 48 mother-child pairs, equally divided by culture and child's sex. (Author/CS)

Triadic interactions between mother, preschool-age first-born, and 14-month-old second-born siblings were studied in 40 families as part of a longitudinal study using home observations. Interaction between mother and second-born exerted an important influence on the behavior of the first-born. (Author/RH)

Examines changes in level and types of support that children receive from parents, from young through middle age, using data from National Survey of Families and Households. Finds that, in general, there is no change or only a slight increase in support when children are in their twenties. Decline in all forms of support occurs after age 30. (KS)

Examined multiple prenatal antecedents and postnatal correlates of change in marital adjustment and satisfaction in 102 couples from diverse sociocultural backgrounds. Fathers' caregiving, play, and affiliative behaviors were the most powerful, positive predictors for adjustment in both spouses. Additional positive predictors for women were…

Examined mothers' and preschoolers' emotion talk for age- and gender-related patterns in use of labels and explanations. Found that children used emotion words mainly in labels. Boys' emotion talk increased with age. The youngest girls had more emotion talk than same-age boys. Mothers used more explanations than labels with boys but similar…

Children approximately three to seven years old were presented with pairs of cartoons and asked to choose the funnier of each pair. Cartoons differed in terms of which of two persons was accidentally victimized by his or her own action or action of the other person (e.g., having paint spilled from a ladder onto one's head). (Author/MP)

Reviews literature for strongest position with respect to sex differences in parent-child relationships, namely that both parents' sex and child's sex contribute to four distinct dyad relationships. Found many claims and assumptions about the distinctness of relationships but little empirical evidence. When dyadic distinctness was found, it often…