Examines educational attainment and percentage of holders of matriculation certificates among foreign-born and Israeli-born adult children of Iraqi and Romanian immigrants who arrived in Israel 1948-51. Discusses patterns of educational attainment in terms of ethnic group differences in socioeconomic resources, within-group social stratification,…

Examined whether children of alcoholic mothers were more psychologically damaged than children of nonalcoholic mothers. The subject families' potential for creating a good upbringing environment and subjects' childhoods were studied. Found that children of alcoholic mothers develop social maladjustment problems and addictions, and have a high rate…

Examined the extent to which maternal linguistic input enabled children to use syntactic bootstrapping. Studied uses of 25 common verbs in speech of 57 mothers to their 1-year olds and 2-year olds. Found that verbs can be used to create informative syntactic frames, syntactic frames can cue appropriate verb class, and multiple syntactic framing…

Analyzed stability and change in late adolescent attachment relations and the interrelationship among attachment, separation-individuation, and college adjustment variables. Results of two studies suggested stability in attachment to parents, over time, for both men and women. Security of attachment was inversely related to independence from…

A study investigated to what extent parental socioeconomic and educational background and college planning variables (familiarity with admissions, aspirations, financial planning) influenced the kinds of characteristics they looked for in colleges. Subjects were 1,332 parents of eighth graders. Results are presented and discussed in the context of…

A questionnaire on attitudes toward war play was given to 316 Italian and 84 English parents of children aged 2 to 6 years. In both cultures, boys were significantly more likely than girls to engage in solitary and social war play. Parental attitudes, television, and peers were the major sources of influence on war play. (Author/LB)

Reports a longitudinal study of the link between home variables (mainly maternal support), cognitive prerequisites of preschoolers, and later school achievement (spelling, reading, and arithmetic). Maternal support significantly affected competencies and academic achievement. Cognitive competencies predicted later academic achievement; achievement…

A study of 1,478 adolescents (364 males and 1,114 females) attending 10 private schools nationally explored factors influencing male and female adolescent sexual behavior. Most factors examined were significantly correlated with sexual intercourse frequency. Few gender differences were observed. Differential peer association was the strongest…

Studies the association between the severity of early female antisocial behavior (drug-related and non-drug-related offenses) and the later behavioral and emotional health of the children of these women, using a secondary analysis of National Longitudinal Survey of Youth data for 688 whites, 481 Hispanic Americans, and 256 African Americans. (RLC)

Discusses ways that language shapes moral experience. Suggests that words provide the tools necessary for thinking, feeling, and acting and so are essential to psychological functioning. States that understanding how language mediates the functioning of the psyche is prerequisite to understanding how narrative expresses moral experience and…

Reports on a study of the differences in economics education between private and public schools. Finds that public school students are less likely to be exposed to economic concepts prior to high school economics courses than private school students. (CFR)

Examined self-esteem among 648 high school and college students. High masculinity scores and greater activity participation were significantly related to self-esteem for males and females in large and small schools. For males in small schools, athletic participation was significant predictor of self-esteem. For females in small schools,…

This study examined parent influence as perceived by 93 gifted junior high school students and their 172 parents. Multivariate analysis of variance of scores by both groups on the Parent Strengths and Needs Inventory found significant main effects for the three independent variables (generation of respondent, gender of parent, and child's school…

Study compared academic performance in eighth graders from natural parent families and single-parent and parent-stepparent families. National Educational Longitudinal Study data indicated the effects of alternative family structures were strong and consistent but reduced or eliminated for single-mother families when controlling for race and…

Outlines the racial and cultural identity needs of minority group children adopted by white parents. Discusses the social worker's role in educating adoptive parents about these needs and how they can be met through the neighborhood, the school, the church, friendship systems, and recreational activities. Contains 29 references. (SV)