Policies aimed at reducing welfare dependency have concentrated on helping heads of families go back to work. This article suggests work and marriage are both significant in determining movement on and off the welfare rolls and also suggests income maintenance proposals should include incentives for work and family stability. (Author)

Explores the relationship between adolescent reports of the level of kinship support they experience as members of an extended family network and racial socialization beliefs. Responses from 229 African American adolescents support the hypothesis that adolescent perceptions of the importance of racial socialization relate directly to perceived…

Focuses on marital histories of young mothers and whether the family structure into which children (N=940) of young mothers are born, and the stability of that arrangement, affects the child's academic abilities. Results suggest that young mothers marital histories do influence the educational achievements of their elementary-school-aged children.…

Parent and child characteristics, family context, and teacher behavior and attitudes were examined as factors influencing parent involvement in children's schooling for 209 mothers and their children (grades 3 through 5) and 28 teachers. Results and the hierarchical model posited underscore the complexity of factors associated with parental…

Describes an approach that encourages recovering, alcohol-dependent, single parent mothers and their children to use existing strengths and resources to promote healthy family dynamics. Looks at goal identification, establishing family goals, and identifying previously successful behaviors. Program participants report increases in parenting…

Discusses the significance of research on the transition to adulthood, examining social-historical changes that may increase the role of individual and familial factors structuring this phase of the life course. Reviews leaving home in regard to its importance as a factor in late adolescence and the transition to adulthood. (HTH)

Examines how Chicana teachers connected their experiences as minorities with their current teacher role. It explores use of a "bridging identity" to explain how the Chicana teachers appropriated and validated their own experiences as minorities and their family values that played a central role in constructing their teacher role…

A study of 20 gifted children (ages 9-14) provides the basis of a model of social and emotional adjustment to stressors presented in this article. Intrapersonal, family, school, and peer influences, as well as functional and dysfunctional patterns of social and emotional adjustment, are explained within the framework of the model. (Author/CR)

Using a five-year longitudinal study, examines psychosocial factors related to the academic persistence of 288 American Indian college students. Findings indicate that academic preparation and aspirations, academic performance, and interactions with faculty and staff best differentiated between students who persisted in school and those who did…

Considers power-control theory in single-parent, female-headed families to determine whether a delinquency gender gap exists among children of single mothers, and what effects socialization has on delinquency. Findings show no gender difference in delinquency. Also, delinquent offending increased for females who associated with delinquent peers.…

The social adjustment and academic performance of 15 children hospitalized for depression were compared to 14 children with schizophrenia and 20 normal children, ages 7 to 14. Analyses reveal an association between children's adaptive functioning and both diagnostic status and family transactional processes. (SLD)

Explores the issue of English-only versus bilingual education by focusing on whether complete language assimilation is desirable for immigrant children and their families. Discusses the benefits of bilingualism, such as students exhibiting greater self-esteem, the benefits for immigrant families, and advantages for the labor market. Highlights the…

Examined the degree to which negative behaviors exhibited in adolescents were influenced by various degrees of optimism. Data from the 1988 National Education Longitudinal Study indicated that school environment, father being home after school, self-esteem, school-community involvement, academic preparation, and talking with teachers and…

A study investigated 136 toddlers from 112 families with or without a history of specific language impairment (SLI). SLI was found to aggregate in families; the average rate in families affected with a family history of SLI was 32%, with significantly more boys reported as having SLI than girls. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

This study used data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and its 1997 supplement to examine how family income matters for preschool children's development. Findings indicated that the association between family income and children's achievement test scores was mediated by the family's ability to invest in providing a stimulating learning…