Past research examining the influence of parenting styles on adolescent externalizing behaviors and substance use has left questions with regard to whether there is a relation between parental social support and adolescent externalizing symptomatology. This study examined the influence of parental control and social support on adolescent…

The Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments of 1986 increased the numbers of families eligible for special needs assistance, yet information concerning these families is minimal. This study explored the needs of families of preschool children with disabilities by comparing their family processes, parenting style, and children's social and…

Found parent-youth sentiment and power varied markedly among four continuous groups of 443 drug-using/drug-abstaining youth between the ages of 9 and 17. Suggests that prosocial behaviors are enhanced when behavioral expectations are clearly specified and reinforced with praise, encouragement, and other positive rewards. (Author/NB)

Parental control, a focus in much of the parenting research over the past 50 years, involves pushes or pressures for children to think, feel, or behave in specific ways. Based on the view that when parents communicate in controlling ways, they undermine their children's ability to initiate their own actions and induce them to behave because of…

This paper discusses family systems theory and advances a communicative model of family functioning that is process orientated and encourages children to develop self-control. Family systems theory postulates that each member of a family has an impact on the behaviors of other family members, and that children's behavior is influenced by their…

Gave Parental Bonding Inventories (PBI) to 173 males and analyzed scores based on the participants' familial risk for alcoholism. Results indicate that fathers of the high familial risk participants were rated by sons as being significantly less caring than the fathers of low familial risk participants. Other findings are reported. (RJM)

Investigates how 386 matched parent-child pairs rated parenting styles and how this rating is associated with academic achievement and with alcohol and tobacco use. Results indicate that parents and children had different perceptions of parenting styles. High grades were associated with child and parent perception of higher authoritativeness.…

Evaluated a 3-year initiative to organize 30 projects in YMCA centers in England to provide help and support to the parents of teenagers; projects involved group-based courses, "dads and lads" projects, mediation schemes, and families and computing courses. Identified a variety of outcomes for parents, youth, project workers, and the…

Study compares 36 youths involved in street corner gangs in Singapore with 91 age-matched controls on measures of self-esteem, aggression, dysfunctional parenting and parent-adolescent communication. Results revealed that gang youths had lower self-esteem and higher levels of aggression than controls. Findings diverge from anticipated familial…

Describes a child discipline seminar designed for parents who are unaware of alternatives to corporeal punishment. Session topics include: (1) the definition of discipline; (2) major theories of child development; (3) parenting styles and their behavior outcomes in children; (4) common discipline techniques; (5) a model for handling negative…

Examined relationships among childrearing, parental locus of control about childrearing, and child's behavior style. Found that parents who perceived their child's behavior as either externalizing or internalizing had a weak internal locus of control and were more authoritarian. Perceived externalizing child behavior was positively related to…

The effects of parental control on child behavior were examined in a survey of 473 fifth, eighth, and tenth graders, who completed measures on parent behavior, family functioning, and their own behavior. The study found that psychological control was more predictive of adolescent internalized problems, whereas behavioral control was more…

Questionnaires assessed kinship support, psychosocial adjustment, and parenting practices for 125 African-American adolescents. Found that kinship support for adolescents was positively associated with adolescent adjustment and authoritative parenting practices in single- but not two-parent families and that parenting practices mediated the…

Observed mothers with their infants at 6, 12, and 24 months of age to determine mothers' warm responsiveness and restrictiveness and their relationship to developing independence of children. Found that optimal outcomes were related to older mothers with higher socioeconomic status, and more child-centered childrearing attitudes. (LBT)

Investigates the relationship between adolescent mothers' (N=24) self-esteem and their knowledge of parenting skills. Findings indicate that self-esteem is a good indicator of the adolescent mother's parenting. Significant correlations arose between the mother's baseline self-esteem and her knowledge about role reversal, empathy, developmental…