Investigated relations between certain antecedent variables in Lebanese students' academic history and home environment and frequency of grade repetition. Information from 1,633 retainees representing all grade levels indicated that most entered school early, experienced frequent repetitions, and changed schools. Most were male, over-age for their…

Discusses the importance of nurturing alliances between specialists and families within the context of developmental assessments. Five axioms with family stories illustrate how specialists and families can collaborate during assessments to ensure that services include families and promote acquisition of knowledge in natural settings. (Author/CR)

The relationships between aspects of mother-infant interaction and both communication and cognitive skills at 1 year of age were examined in 92 African American dyads, of whom 64 were poor. The overall quality of the home environment and maternal ratings of stimulation and elaborativeness were the most consistent correlates of infant communication…

This study compared the effect of two language sampling elicitation contexts, free play and picture descriptions, on variability in the use of African American English (AAE) with 65 normally developing African American children (ages 4 to 6) from lower socioeconomic status homes. Picture descriptions elicited more AAE usage overall, a larger set…

Tested whether adolescent internalizing and externalizing problems, heavy alcohol use, fathers' parenting, and family conflict varied over time with fluctuations in fathers' alcohol impairment. Found that adolescent symptomology and family environment did not vary over time as function of different trajectories of paternal alcohol impairment.…

Reviews the literature on the foster family characteristics that are thought to contribute to the behavioral and emotional problems of foster children. The review is shaped by an understanding of the personal and familial factors associated with children's problem behaviors. Factors include parenting, family home environment, family functioning,…

Investigated reliability of the Family Narrative Consortium (FNC) scales for measuring the effect of social context on construction of family narratives. Analyzed data from four FNC studies to determine reliability of scale dimensions of narrative coherence, narrative interaction, and relationship beliefs. Found that the scale was a set of…

Examined individual differences in young children's understanding of emotion and potential correlates in the domain of family experiences. Found that individual differences in children's understanding of negative emotions were related to specific aspects of family experiences. Findings suggest complex influences of family functioning on children's…

Highlights the importance of home-Head Start partnerships in helping children learn and behave in optimal fashion. Provides four ideas that could help strengthen the home-Head Start partnerships already underway in center programs: (1) the play and learn system; (2) the educational display; (3) the parent-teacher communication system; and (4) the…

Examined relationships between quality of center-based child care and infant cognitive and language development. Subjects were 79 African American 1-year-olds. Found that quality of infant care positively correlated with scores on standardized assessment of cognitive development, language development, and communication skills. Quality of care in…

Examines the home care situation of urban chronically ill men and women and their caregivers in China. Findings reveal that women serve as caregivers in the majority of the cases and often are elderly spouses with health problems of their own. Physical, social, psychological, and financial problems experienced by these patients create an enormous…

Gathered substance use histories from African American male (n=318) and female (n=322) adolescents to determine whether gender differences affected early life risk factors for drug use or abuse. Family variables and subject behavior predicted degree of substance use and frequency of intoxication, but no risk factor applied to both genders. (SNR)

A study examined contributions of sexual abuse, physical abuse, family cohesion, and conflict in predicting psychological functioning of 131 adolescents receiving residential vocational training services. In addition to child sexual abuse and physical abuse, family conflict and cohesion predicted development of psychological distress and…

The relationship of current and childhood attachment security to indices of current distress and coping resources were assessed with a sample of 250 college students. Participants reporting insecure childhood attachment but current attachment security were found to be similar on measures of current distress and resources for coping as those with…

Data are used from African American families in impoverished Chicago neighborhoods to address two questions: How well do modeling, supervision, and marital transition hypotheses explain the relationship between family structure and early sexual debut and pregnancy? Do higher levels of social support from parents and neighborhood adults decrease…