Examines the effects of family type on high school graduation using data from the 1979-85 waves of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Results show that (1) not living with both parents at age 14 has negative consequences for children's high school graduation, and (2) disruptions (changes in family structure) between ages 14 and 17 also…

Finds a significant relationship between parental modeling and elementary communication apprehension but no significant relationship between elementary communication apprehension and parents' communication apprehension or spousal communication apprehension. (RS)

Examined self-esteem, depression, and anxiety among 60 adult children of alcoholics (COAs) and 143 adult non-COAs. Subjects completed Children of Alcoholics Screening Test, demographic questionnaire, Beck Depression Inventory, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory. Found no significant differences between COAs and…

Tested the fine-tuning hypothesis of language acquisition, which postulates that parents fine-tune their speech to their children's language level, by examining local patterns of interaction within the conversations of three parent-child dyads. The high positive correlations between parent-child dyads for the different interactional patterns…

Examined adolescent perceptions of family system characteristics and parental behaviors as predictors of adolescent substance use. Findings from 489 high school students indicated that frequency of parental substance use was positively related to adolescent substance use, whereas family bonding and parental support were negatively related to…

Questionnaire and interview data from 37 high school students suggest that presence of at least one parental figure with whom adolescents could talk openly was associated with lower levels of all substance use (cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana, other drugs). Found no evidence that openness with close friend or perceived pressure from friends was…

Investigated what stereotyping attitudes children at the Berry College Child Development Center and Laboratory School (Florida) developed regarding task performance in the home or family setting. Children manifested strong sex-role stereotyping toward male and female roles; they also perceived reading to be a nonsex-typed item. (GLR)

Examined relations of maternal characteristics and child-rearing practices and children's vicarious emotional responses to kindergartners' and third graders' comforting of a crying infant. Found that children's emotional states were related to their comforting behavior, and girls' comforting and helping behaviors were related to several maternal…

Evaluated social-developmental model of early adolescent tobacco involvement among 204 seventh-grade boys. Even after controlling for effects of parental and sibling tobacco use, positive relationships were found between harsh/inconsistent parenting and adolescent tobacco use, and negative relationships between nurturant/involved parenting…

At 4-year followup on 110 Mexican-American adolescents in a drug abuse prevention program, association with deviant peers was strongly predictive of alcohol and drug use and criminality, whereas parental influences were minor predictors. Low school satisfaction was related to greater drug use, particularly for females. (Author/SV)

Recommends abandoning the term "at risk." Concludes from analyses of parent-child story readings in African-American homes that the primary reason the children were at risk for failure in school is that the contexts for literacy in these homes were different from the contexts in school, not that there was something wrong with the…

A survey of 183 undergraduate students at a large university found that male and female students differed in the importance they placed on various attributes of a university. Although there were many similarities in the responses of men and women, women rated safety, diversity, and a broad range and variety of courses significantly higher in…

Summarizes research on the impact of televised violence on children. Discusses parents' role and what parents can do to mitigate the impact of televised violence, including starting early to influence children's exposure to television, setting and maintaining family rules regarding television viewing, and changing one's own viewing habits. (KB)

Examines the treatment of day care and maternal employment in introductory psychology textbooks between 1970 and 1997. Finds that the coverage of day care and maternal employment increased over the 28 year span, while 95% of the later textbooks presented views ranging from positive to balanced in the mid-1990s. (CMK)

Examined the effects of mothers' negative junior high school experiences on their childrens' junior high school experiences. Mothers first tested in 1971 were subsequently interviewed in the 1990s, along with their children. Results revealed a significant relationship between mothers' negative school experiences and those of their children, which…