This study was designed to examine the prospective relations of perceived racial discrimination with allostatic load (AL), along with a possible buffer of the association. A sample of 331 African Americans in the rural South provided assessments of perceived discrimination from ages 16 to 18 years. When youth were 18 years, caregivers reported…

Minor parenting hassles appear to be an important source of stress, not only in their ability to contribute to major life stress predictions, but also as a meaningful independent construct for assessing stress in the parent-child context. (RH)

Infant temperamental difficulty was strongly related to mothers' level of postpartum depression, both directly and through the mediation of parenting self-efficacy. Social support appeared to function protectively against depression, primarily through self-efficacy. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed. (Author/RH)

Suggests that the determinants of individual differences in parental functioning are illuminated by research on the etiology of child maltreatment. Three domains of determinants include parents' personal psychological resources, child characteristics, and contextual sources of stress and support. A process model of competent parental functioning…

Reports the effects of a hospital-to-home transitional support program for 47 mothers of infants who were treated in an intensive-care unit. Findings indicate positive effects of the program on the sense of competence, perceived control, and responsiveness of mothers who needed the most support. (RJC)

Interviews, HOME inventories, and videotapes of home observations were used to obtain information from adolescent and nonadolescent mothers with four-month-old infants on (1) the mothers' childcare network, (2) stressful life events since the infant's birth, and (3) parenting behaviors. (PCB)

Demonstrated that abused mothers who broke the abusive cycle were significantly more likely than mothers who did not to have: received emotional support from a nonabusive adult during childhood; participated in therapy at some time; or experienced a nonabusive, stable, emotionally supportive, and satisfying relationship with a mate. (RJC)

A total of 52 pairs of mothers and premature infants and 53 pairs of mothers and full-term infants participated in structured home interviews at one month and observations of behavioral interactions at four months. Although no group differences were found, both stress and support significantly predicted maternal attitudes at one month and…

Questionnaires were used to measure mothers' social networks, coping abilities, and life stress. A mother/child interaction situation was used to measure maternal control, maternal maturity demands, maternal nurturance, mother/child communication, and child compliance. Results indicated significant differences in the lives of single and married…

Examined parents' emotional responses to aggression and social withdrawal in early childhood, beliefs about the causes of problematic social behaviors, and strategies for responding to aggression and withdrawal. Considered variation in parental beliefs as a function of child sex and differences between mothers and fathers. (RH)

Investigated the contributions of stressful life events and resources to the prediction of changes in children's adjustment. Resources and stressful life events showed some correlation with adjustment after two years. Increases in social support and social problem-solving skills over time were significantly related to improvement in behavioral and…

This study investigated how stressful environmental conditions influence the relation between mothers' social support and parenting strategies among poor, African American single mothers and their young adolescent children. Findings indicated that as neighborhood conditions worsened, the positive relation between emotional support and mothers'…

Examined the relationship between students' stress and social support in junior high school and the same students' psychological distress and school performance two years later. Stress and support variables predicted subsequent psychological distress. Stresses, but not supports, predicted subsequent school performance. (BC)

Examined how maternal education, economic conditions, and instrumental support influenced maternal psychological functioning, parenting, and child development among single Black mothers. Found that maternal education positively related to earnings, which, with instrumental support, negatively related to financial strain. Financial strain related…