This study assesses the relationship of patterns of relating between mothers and their preschool-aged children. Thirty-one families were used, and the mother and child participated in the Marschak Interaction Method Rating System (MIM-RS). Mothers also completed the Demographic Data Questionnaire. Correlations based upon the MIM-RS for mothers and…

Using grounded theory methods, we examined coparenting relationships for 25 divorced mothers who experienced violence during their marriages. How well former husbands were able to differentiate, or keep separate, their parental and spousal roles emerged as central to coparenting dynamics and was partly related to type of marital violence. Linking…

Negative emotionality is considered to be the core of the "difficult temperament" concept (J. E. Bates, 1989; R. L. Shiner, 1998). In this correlational study, the authors examined whether the relations between children's negative emotionality and problematic behavior (internalizing and externalizing) were partially mediated by parenting…

The aim of this study is to find constructions of parental responsibility by analysing letters sent by readers to a newspaper on the topic of parenting and parental responsibility. The study takes a methodological approach, focusing on the meanings of responsibility and looking at different portrayals of parenthood. Three dimensions of…

The United States is a vehicle-dependent society and allows teens to obtain drivers licenses at age 16 or younger. Many factors have been linked to teen risky driving behaviors that resulted in teens receiving their first citations. This was the first study to investigate parental management of teens after they received their first citations…

Raising any child is challenging for parents, but raising a gifted child can be especially demanding. Parents benefit from quality information about giftedness as well as effective parenting strategies for working with very bright youngsters. Parents may wish to better motivate their gifted children, helping them to take personal responsibility…

In this study, we examined the developmental pathways from children's family environment to school readiness within a low-income sample (N = 1,046), with a specific focus on the role of sustained attention. Six distinct factors of the family environment representing maternal parenting behaviors, the physical home environment, and maternal mental…

Objective: Despite the high prevalence rates of harsh parenting, the nature of developmental change in this domain early in life and the factors that contribute to changes in harsh parenting over time are not well understood. The present study examined developmental patterns in maternal harsh parenting behavior from birth to age 3 years and their…

Inconsistency in parenting is a factor that may influence children's mental health. A questionnaire, measuring three parental inconsistencies (temporal, situational, and father-mother inconsistency) was administered to adolescents in nine countries to assess its association with adolescents' psychological disorders. The results show that parental…

Using data from the National Early Head Start (EHS) Research and Evaluation Project (N = 1851), the current study examined relations among cumulative family and social risk, assessed during infancy and the preschool years, and children's prekindergarten achievement, self-regulatory skills, and problematic social behavior, testing if these…

Using data from the nationally representative Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES), the relationships between living in a household where a household member had been arrested or incarcerated and conduct problems of preschool children enrolled in Head Start were examined. Children who lived in such households showed more…

The purpose of the present study was to examine relations between adolescents' social cognitions regarding parenting practices and adolescents' prosocial behavioral tendencies. A mediation model was tested whereby the degree to which adolescents perceived their parents as responding appropriately to their prosocial and antisocial behaviors was…

This study reports psychosocial characteristics of a sample of 111 children (K to 2nd grade) and their mothers who were living in urban supportive housings. The aim of this study was to document the various types and degree of risk endemic to this population. First, we describe the psychosocial characteristics of this homeless sample. Second, we…

Monitoring the Future (MTF) is a research program conducted at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research under a series of investigator-initiated research grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse--one of the National Institutes of Health. The study comprises several ongoing series of annual surveys of nationally…

Social learning theory provides a useful conceptual framework for understanding abuse and the teaching and learning of antisocial or criminal behavior in young offenders. This article examines social learning theory and the quality of parent-child relationships from the perspective of behavioral analysis, and provides a rationale for a…