Conversational control was compared between hearing mothers using auditory-oral communication (A/O) and those using total communication (TC) with 34 deaf preschool children. Among A/O children, maternal style reflected children's spoken language ability, whereas among TC children, maternal style related to children's social development, and…

Interviews conducted over a 10-year period assessed the political attitudes of Chicano adolescents and young adults living in 3 U.S. cities. Subjects' attitudes were affected by the social and economic conditions in their city; and by family, school, peer, and media factors. (BC)

Discusses research concerning individual differences in children that appear to be associated with vicarious emotional responses and a tendency to engage in prosocial behavior. Focuses on research concerning parents' influence on children's methods for coping with their own and others' emotions and children's social behavior. (BB)

Examined the emotional reactions of toddlers to two mishaps. Children's reactions varied along two dimensions: tension and frustration and concerned reparation. Mishaps elicited more negative emotions than did free play, and most toddlers attempted to correct the mishap. Findings indicate that children's styles of emotional response to mishaps may…

Studied the ability of measures of inhibition to unfamiliar events that are obtained in toddlerhood to predict social behaviors during an interaction with an unfamiliar peer at the age of five years. Results revealed that the role of child inhibition as a predictor of social behavior may be more evident during the initial encounter with the peer.…

Examined whether adolescents of authoritative parents exhibit a greater preference for postconventional moral reasoning than do adolescents of permissive or authoritarian parents. Subjects (75 high school and 67 undergraduate students) completed Rest's Defining Issues Test and Schaefer's Child Report of Parental Behavior Inventory. Results…

Analysis of national survey data found that, compared to other family types, children living with both biological or both (original) adoptive parents had the best academic and behavioral outcomes. Economic disadvantage accounted for much of children's poor outcomes in single-mother families. Parental behaviors, particularly parental support, had…

Examined the implications of sex-typed housework of children from dual- and single-earner families for children's adjustment as a function of congruencies between children's work and parents' sex-role behaviors and attitudes. Analyses revealed differences in sex and earner status in children's and parents' involvement in traditionally feminine and…

Examines national trends in the consequence of youth and adult behavior in four areas: violent crime arrests, violent deaths, total births, and alcohol-indicated fatal traffic crashes. Statistics indicate that youth mirror parents and society, responding better to measures which reduce problem behavior in both youth and adults. (SM)

A survey (n=2213) of high school seniors from nine Rhode Island schools studied their academic and career choices related to science and engineering and the perceived influences on those choices. Gender differences are discussed for the influences of parents, pay, interest, and teachers, with the latter potentially influencing career choices of…

Discusses parental influence in college choice process, particularly in terms of considering community colleges as alternative. Argues that there is too little importance given to college choice making, that parents are more significant in the process than assumed, and that community colleges deserve and will receive increasingly more attention…

Social control and social learning theories were combined to construct a model of delinquency that specifies the contributions of various factors, including parenting, social skills, value commitments, and school problems. Results with a sample of 61 families of seventh graders largely support the model. (SLD)

Two kinds of parental beliefs, endorsed rearing philosophy (authoritative-authoritarian dimension) and affective attitude toward child (positive-negative affect dimension), were examined in 20 normal and 36 depressed mothers as long-term predictors of child rearing behaviors and interaction patterns with their children. (BC)

Twelve papers on the emergence and maintenance of severe clinical depression and depressive symptoms during adolescence are presented. Topics include parental influences, epidemiological data, depressive and negative affect, hormonal effects, preadolescent symptoms, sex differences, longitudinal studies with rhesus monkeys, suicidal ideation,…

Among 24 tenth-grade students in an isolated rural school in Western Australia, all intended to finish twelfth grade although that required leaving home. Students' career decisions were influenced mainly by their mothers, with little influence from schools and teachers. Girls expressed more criticism of rural schooling than did boys. (LP)