This study was conducted to observe the effects of social class on the interaction of mothers and their 12-week-old infants. Data on the infants' cognitive and attentive behavior was also obtained. Each of 32 white and black infants from five different levels of social class was observed at home for two full hours of waking time. Observed infant…

A prospective study in the area of developmental psychopathology and depression was conducted to determine whether an additive pathological effect upon offspring existed when psychosocial disadvantage and maternal depression were combined. Differences in psychiatric epidemiology and psychological outcome were investigated in 27 children of latency…

To better understand the role of wives in families in which fathers raise the children, data were analyzed from a previously conducted study of partial role reversals in two-parent families. The sample consisted almost exclusively of 59 white, middle-class families with a child 3 to 6 years of age. Data gathered in separate interviews with mothers…

Compared the sensitivity and teaching strategies of white, middle-class dysphoric and nondysphoric women working with unfamiliar five- and six-year olds during classification tasks and unstructured activities. Found that nondysphoric women were more sensitive to children's level of understanding than dysphoric women and were more likely to use a…

This study explored the relationship between maternal sensitivity and the development of mother-infant vocal interaction. Two characteristics of mother and infant vocalizations were assessed at six and nine months in a home feeding situation: (1) the degree of mutual responsiveness, and (2) the affective quality of vocalization. These assessments…

In a Fort Collins, Colorado, school district, parents whose children attend alternative schools choose schools for all the right reasons. Unfortunately, only a limited segment of parents exercises a choice. Teachers say alternative schools skim off the most motivated parents and students, leaving the problem children behind. These survey results…

Examined the speech of middle- and working-class black and white parents to their preschool children during picture identification, free play, and a meal. The study found the groups similar in the level and form of parental labeling and different in the information supplied by parents, parental direction of child behavior, and parental sensitivity…

THIS EXTENSIVE STUDY INVESTIGATED THE SPECIFIC ARRANGEMENTS PROVIDED BY TWELVE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS AND EIGHT HIGH SCHOOLS IN EIGHT NEW JERSEY COMMUNITIES TO ENCOURAGE PARENTS INVOLVEMENT IN, KNOWLEDGE ABOUT, AND SUPPORT OF THE SCHOOLS. THE CONSEQUENCES OF THESE ARRANGEMENTS ARE ASSESSED ACCORDING TO (1) THE EXPRESSED SATISFACTION OF 1,392 MOTHERS…

This paper presents two studies which explored the manner in which the father interacts with his newborn infant and compared paternal and maternal interaction patterns. In contrast to earlier studies, a direct observational approach was employed that permitted a detailed specification of father behaviors in the presence of the newborn. In the…

Previous studies have shown that American mothers, in contrast to Japanese, do more lively chatting to their babies, and that as a result, the American babies have a generally higher level of vocalization and, particularly, they respond with greater amounts of happy vocalization and gross motor activity than do Japanese babies. Thus, it appears…

A study was made to assess whether middle-class men who were primary caregivers for their preschool-age children continued as such when their children were of school age. The attempt was made to predict level of paternal involvement 4 years later; also explored were the stability and predictors of father involvement over a 4-year period when the…