This paper explores the historical change in the work-leisure balance using time-diary evidence. Much of the recent discussion of this balance in the developed world has focused on paid work alone. What follows takes a different approach, considering the balance of "all" work time (paid plus unpaid) against leisure time and observes a tendency…

Background: Autism, a severe childhood disorder, affects the family system in dramatic ways. Method: Fifty-two parents of children with autism were interviewed to explore their struggles and their successes qualitatively. Results: Five challenges that emerged from these family's experiences were: "Development," "Questioning," "Devastation,"…

Objective: The aim of this qualitative research was to understand how runaway girls perceive the processes involved in leaving home and the meaning they attribute to it. Method: Findings are based on in-depth interviews with 10 Israeli girls aged 13-17 with a history of running away from home. Results: The meaning of running away as it emerged…

This study examines the relation between maternal physical discipline and victimization by peers, as moderated by child aggression. The sample consisted of 211 Hong Kong Chinese children (98 boys, 113 girls; average age of 11.9). Physical discipline was assessed with a questionnaire completed by mothers, and victimization by peers and aggression…

Within this article we will introduce some metaphors as they were developed and used by mothers and fathers we worked with: the traveller, the warrior, the builder of bridges, the discoverer, the trainer/teacher, the in-between-er, the manager...We will position these metaphors as tools parents are using in their confrontation with normalising…

Individually experienced demands of current social change in the domains of work and family were assessed in a large sample of adults from two Western and two Eastern federal states of Germany. For each domain of life, a cumulated index was computed representing the load with highly endorsed demands and this was compared across political regions,…

There are increasing numbers of multiracial families created through marriage, adoption, birth, and a growing population of multiracial persons. Multiracials are a hidden but dominant group of transracially adopted children in both the United Kingdom and the United States. This paper introduces findings from an interpretive study of 25…

This article examined the effects of maternal depression during the postpartum period (Time 1) on the later behavior problems of toddlers (Time 3) and tested if this relationship was moderated by paternal psychopathology during toddlers' lives and/or mediated by maternal parenting behavior observed during mother-child interaction (Time 2). Of the…

The aim of this study is to investigate current parental support for student learning with information technology (IT) in Hong Kong. A total of 3340 and 3656 parents and 539 and 440 primary school heads responded to two surveys in 2005/06 and 2006/07, respectively, in this cross-sectional study. The results show a persistent positive perception of…

More than 90 million Indian children are becoming literate in English, yet the home literacy environment for Indian children learning English has not been explored. Preschool children (N = 50) from Bangalore, India, were assessed for vocabulary, phonological awareness, and print skills in English, their language of schooling. Parents reported on…

Home environment quality is a well-known predictor of school readiness (SR), although the underlying processes are little known. This study tested two hypotheses: (a) child language mediates the association between home characteristics (socioeconomic status and exposure to reading) and SR, and (b) genetic factors partly explain the association…

Spiritual genograms collect and organize family information of a religious or spiritual nature. The authors explored the use of the spiritual genogram in counselor education. Graduate counseling students were assigned to construct and present a spiritual genogram within a course titled "Counseling and Spirituality." An assessment of the quality of…

Using Cycle 6 of the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG), this article documents the extent to which cohabitors begin their union with intentions to marry (indicated by either being engaged or having definite plans to marry) and how this is related to subsequent cohabitation transitions, building on earlier literature examining expectations.…

This article seeks to explore and understand the life situations of sibling caretakers in poor areas in Leon, Nicaragua. The every day lives for caretakers were studied through observations and interviews with children, informants and parents. The children themselves were satisfied and proud to be trusted as caretakers and felt useful in…

While lasting only twenty minutes, on average, family mealtimes are embedded in a social, cultural, and economic context that are associated with a variety of indicators of children's health and wellbeing. Shared family mealtimes have been associated with such diverse outcomes as reduced risk for substance abuse, promotion of language development,…