This book describes ways that parents, teachers, and caregivers can give children the support, encouragement, and problem-solving skills they need. It is designed to help these adults work together with children to create the best environment for a child's emotional, physical, and intellectual well-being. The emphasis is on skills for positive…

Examined were antecedents and behavioral correlates of parental perceptions of efficacy, using data from a national survey of 3,000 parents and a study of 65 mother-infant dyads. Survey data were used to determine what factors are predictive of parental perceptions of efficacy. Dyadic data were used primarily to examine the relation between…

The need for a collaborative effort between school and family in the area of career guidance is considered in this digest. Issues relevant to this effort are discussed, including family determinants of children's career development, stages of children's career development, counselor guidelines for starting parent programs, and counselor…

A study examined young children's learning from selected television program content in varied subject matter and the relationship between that learning and the amount of time a child watches television with and without adults. A 28-item learning test based on instructional design principles was developed from selected television segments and…

A study was conducted to determine: (1) the extent to which the Alternative Pre-School Program (APSP) affected Brazilian parents' and children's attitudes toward school; and (2) the extent to which parents encouraged children to repeat at home the skill development activities they experienced at school. The program, which provided educational…

Although numerous studies have investigated internal and external factors that influence career aspirations of college students, little has been done to investigate how these factors differentially affect specific grade levels of college students. This study examined several internal and external variables (grade level, gender, college major,…

Educators must become aware of the need for helping students overcome excessive television viewing and develop selective, purposeful television-viewing habits. This study provides information to help educators select and implement educational programs with these aims. Brief annotations of 77 research articles are organized under the following…

Children begin school with some very basic ideas about written language and reading. The first is that of sign and message. That a graphic representation, a "sign," conveys meaning is an early and easy concept for children that stems from their visually attending to print in their environment. The realization that spoken language can be…

This study explored adolescent age and gender differences in patterns of emotional self-disclosure to parents and friends. An additional purpose was to describe how familial and individual developmental characteristics influence patterns of adolescent emotional disclosure. The sample consisted of 174 junior high school students between 12 and 15…

This study investigated: (1) differences in disciplinary styles of full-time, part-time, and nonemployed mothers of older and younger children; and (2) interactive effects of maternal employment status and disciplinary styles on children's peer status. Participants were 144 mothers of 59 first graders and 85 fourth graders who responded to 6…

This study examined teaching interactions of single adolescent and young adult mothers during a structured teaching task with their infants. A total of 25 adolescent and 25 adult single mothers were videotaped during 4-minute teaching sessions with their 4-month-old infants in their homes. Investigators rated maternal teaching strategies and the…

This study of Japanese families postulated that positive and negative parental attitudes may affect the degree of test anxiety experienced by children in the families. The study used translations of the Reactions to Tests (RTT) inventory and parental attitude tests to identify relationships between child rearing practices and the child's…

Children's fantasy play as elicited by the Sandtray Technique (Lowenfeld Word View Technique) was measured on various structural and process dimensions theoretically related to psychosocial functioning. The association between these fantasy dimensions and parents' perceptions of their own caregiving behaviors was also examined. Ten Caucasian boys,…

In an attempt to understand the determinants of early sexual activity, a series of papers were completed using data on 15 and 16-year-olds from the 1981 National Survey of Children. These five papers focus on the association between early sexual activity and, respectively, household structure; television viewing; sex education; race; and…