Asserts that research on parents of children with special needs often reveals their lack of power and difficulty in establishing partnerships with professionals. Reports on a study of parents of 114 special needs students. Finds that parents of mild/moderate learning difficulties do not have powerful advocacy groups to promote their cause. (CFR)

Sampled the speech of American, French, and Swedish mothers to their one-year olds, to analyze distribution of phonetic parameters of adult speech, as well as children's own early words. Found that variability is greater in child words than in adult speech, and mother-child dyads showed no evidence of specific maternal influence on phonetics of…

Examines middle-class child-rearing philosophies and practices and their effect on children's academic success. Suggests that middle-class parenting practices reflect a coherent set of cultural beliefs about the relation of the individual to the group and about the parents' role in bringing children into the group. Suggests that these beliefs…

Using an experimental design that avoided some methodological difficulties of earlier studies, this study found a relationship between harsh parental discipline and kindergarten children's aggression. This relationship was apparently not a result of confounding factors such as child temperament, SES, and marital violence. (BC)

The causal role of students' self-efficacy beliefs and academic goals in self-motivated academic attainment was studied for 102 ninth and tenth graders (50 males and 52 females) using path analysis procedures. Perceived efficacy to achieve motivates academic attainment both directly and indirectly by influencing personal goal setting. (SLD)

Examines gender differences in 100 male and 145 female children's (in kindergarten and grades 3, 6, and 8) activities, preferred school subjects, and occupational goals in relation to parental variables (toy giving and chore assignment). Parents continue to exert gender typing pressures on children throughout the middle childhood years. (SLD)

Associations between community environment and cognitive ability were studied in 167 adoptive and 175 nonadoptive Colorado families. Seven families were omitted. A proposed model, tested by census measures, finds several aspects of communities showing environmental relationships with child IQ over parental influences. Rural communities have a…

Discusses appropriate care for children affected prenatally or after birth by parental chemical dependence. There is increasing evidence that environmental intervention by professionals and other caring adults can alleviate these children's distress. Maximizing their development also depends on implementation of child welfare protections and the…

Analyzed male and female adolescents' perceptions of parental behavior in allowances, gifts, use of family car, curfew, and chores. Gender-equal behavior, as evinced by allowances and gift giving toward sons and daughters, was less evident in curfews and chores. Subjects' perspectives indicate that parents perpetuate stereotypical gender roles.…

Examines the social origins and professional status of librarians in Ghana. Topics discussed include personal characteristics, i.e., age, sex, and marital status; types of libraries; parental influences on career choice; satisfaction with current status; the role of the Ghana Library Association; and the training of nonprofessional staff. (19…

Data from a national survey for 872 white adolescents (470 males and 402 females) are used to examine the relationships between parental control and juvenile delinquency. Parental controls significantly inhibit delinquency more often for males than females. For males, these controls are more effective in middle adolescence. (SLD)

Found that Mexican-American mothers with beliefs that involved an external locus of control in health matters were less likely than mothers with beliefs that involved an internal locus of control to use parenting strategies that promoted the internalization of healthy eating habits in their children. (MM)

Frequent shared activities between mother and child may compensate for disruptive features of mothers' work or may transmit psychological benefits of work to children. Results also suggest that family processes differ as a function of work circumstances. (BC)

This paper discusses selected issues and literature concerning gifted female students, examining achievement and aptitude, career choice, self-perceptions of ability, course taking, parental influences, the glamorization of sex differences, stereotyping, effects of classroom groupings and teaching strategies, and effects of single-sex schools and…

Describes the development and use of the Traveling Tales backpack for engaging children and parents in home writing activities. Shares the experiences of one child and how his family became involved in helping him write a book. (MG)