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…

Theories on empathy development have stressed the role of socialization in general and the role of parental support in particular. This 3-wave longitudinal study of middle adolescents (N = 678) aimed to contribute to the extant research on the socialization of empathy (a) by examining the relative contribution of perceived maternal and paternal…

This study used data collected from a sample of 840 Italian adolescents (418 boys; M age = 12.58) and their parents (657 mothers; M age = 43.78) to explore the relations between parenting, adolescent self-disclosure, and antisocial behavior. In the hypothesized model, parenting practices (e.g., parental monitoring and control) have direct effects…

This study used a cross-national framework to examine country, region, and gender differences in emotional availability (EA), a prominent index of mutual socioemotional adaptation in the parent-child dyad. Altogether 220 Argentine, Italian, and U.S. mothers and their daughters and sons from both rural and metropolitan areas took part in home…

Interactions of mothers and fathers with hyperactive or normal 6- to 12-year-old sons were observed in dyadic and triadic settings. There was more frequent coercion in families with hyperactive boys than in those with normal boys. (BC)

Examines the relations of Type A scores of parents to Type A scores of their children. Parent-child correlations were found for father-son pairs. (PCB)

Studied 125 mothers and firstborn sons over 11-month period to examine relations between mothers' representations of their relationships with their children, adult representations of attachment, and observed mothering. Findings revealed significant relationship between mothers' representations of relationships with their children and adult…

Examines main and interactional effects of paternal identification on a son's personality and drug use. As in another study by Brook et al., included in this issue, questionnaires were completed by White college students and their fathers. Sons who identified with fathers having positive traits were more likely to possess these traits themselves.…

Examined free recall narratives of younger and older children and their parents independently interviewed about injuries requiring hospital emergency treatment. Found that mothers' narratives were more cohesive and coherent than fathers', and girls' narratives differed from boys' in parallel ways. Parent and child measures were correlated;…

Compared the mother-son and father-son interactions of male toddlers who were completely home-reared with the parent-child interactions of male toddlers who participated in a daily three-hour playgroup. (JMB)

This study examined gender differences in early adolescents' adaptation to stepfamilies in which the mother had custody. Parent-child interaction was compared in mother-custody stepfamilies and intact families. Results indicated that girls had more difficulty interacting with stepfathers than sons did. (SH)

Examined mothers' representations of their relationship with toddler sons over a 13-month period. Found that the three factors characterizing mothers' representations for 15-month olds also fit data for 28-month olds. Found significant increases in anger but no changes in joy, pleasure, coherence, guilt, and separation distress. Changes in…

Observed 40 married couples interacting with their 6- to 8-year-old sons after pleasant and conflictual discussions to examine indirect effects of marital conflict on children through their disruptions in family alliances and parenting. Found stronger evidence than previously available of a causal link between conflict and disrupted parenting.…

Reports a study of mathematically and verbally talented children which investigated hypotheses that (1) mathematically related fields are sex typed as male domains and (2) parents give differential encouragement to sons and daughters in math. Results indicated that neither hypothesis related to current sex differences in mathematical reasoning…

Results of a study of 925 educated Chinese who recalled child-rearing patterns of their parents indicated that greater perceived parental dominating control was related to less perceived parental warmth and that greater parental warmth and less parental control were related to greater perceived family harmony. (RH)