This study was undertaken to investigate the relative importance of childhood experiences in determining adult reading and public library use. Data were gathered via a nationally representative telephone interview conducted by the Survey Research Center of the University of Michigan. The interview contained 25 questions relating to current reading…

Studied the influences on the transition of a sample of Australian children from elementary school to high school. Showed that the attitudes and ambitions of parents contribute to the student's achievement in science and mathematics, and that the peer group contributed to the student's attitude toward science and mathematics. (MLH)

The parental antecedents of overt child compliance were investigated by home observation of 136, 2 1/2-year-old male twins and singletons. The findings stress the impact of "power assertion" in the immediate situation, but an analysis of long-term effects support a cognitive view of child rearing. (JMB)

A theory relates amount of conflict in the sibling relationship to norms of distributive justice, or equity, within the family. The theory is limited to the parental referee role, and the consistency and congruity with which this role is enacted is hypothesized to directly influence the degree of sibling conflict. (Author)

Considering the family as an important agent of political socialization, the influence of parents on their children and the sources of parents' views are examined. Three-generational data on political party identification, drawn from a national survey of high school seniors, their parents, and their grandparents, is analyzed. (Author/ND)

The author describes an Israeli parent-teacher group discussion designed to build confidence in disadvantaged parents of their role as parents and human beings. As a result teachers developed a new sensitivity towards parents' interaction with their children. (DE)

Parents are the primary agents in the development and definition of the self. Previous research has reported nurturance as the most notable parental factor in global self-esteem. This study examined the relationship of parental nurturance to self-esteem for the first time with subjects older than high school students. College students (N=333)…

Offering a research-oriented perspective on the interdependence of children and their environments and the role of caregivers in children's development, the theoretical system discussed in this paper consists of four main ideas. These ideas concern (1) independent dependence; (2) zones of free movement, proximal development, and promoted action;…

There is substantial evidence that for some children whose parents divorce, long-term effects of divorce may be with them into adulthood. Compared to individuals from intact families, adult children of divorce tend to experience an increased level of depression, anger, hostility, sadness, sorrow, and anxiety; an increased vulnerability to stress;…

Early socialization within the family and its differential effects on the development of verbal intelligence skills were the subjects of this longitudinal study. Fifteen families with one child between one and three years old and a second child born at the beginning of the investigation took part in a longitudinal study covering a seven-year…

Statistics demonstrate that parental divorce is a compelling social issue affecting a large number of children. While investigations of the effects of divorce on children have grown rapidly in the last decade, there is a paucity of research on the effects of divorce on older adolescents and young adults. Given the developmental importance of…

Results of a series of studies suggested that excessive early vocal stimulation may be detrimental to infants' cognitive processing, and that optimal development may be associated with a moderate amount of early stimulation. Study 1 involved 59 3-month-old infants and their mothers. Study 2 observed 23 mothers and infants seen 3 months after the…

A study was made to determine whether fathers and mothers provide different types of linguistic and cognitive experiences for their preschool children. Sixteen preschoolers, divided into two groups by age and sex, participated in the study with their parents. During home visits each child was observed interacting with each parent individually.…

This paper questions social interaction studies that use frequency or duration of behaviors in mother-infant relations as reliable measures of infant interactive competence. An infant's high score on frequency and duration tests may falsely indicate that the child is more communicative than other subjects. Such results may suggest that mother and…

Adolescence is a time when formal abstract thought becomes possible, enabling the individual to work through the highest stages of morality. Adolescents' understanding of religion and their commitment to it seem to differ sharply from those of children. It has been proposed that adolescents are likely to change, expand, or abandon their religious…