Focuses on coparenting, spouses as partners or adversaries in parenting role, in families raising toddler sons. Reviews preliminary longitudinal research findings concerning nature of coparenting and contextual determinants of different types of coparenting alliances. Proposes coparenting processes to interact with marital and parent-child…

A personal account of family experiences, shows the usefulness of psychological labels to understand people. Summarizes Jung's psychological types and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, which is based on Jungian types. Discusses the benefits and dangers of using labels. (KS)

Discusses results of an evaluation of a special program for family reunification after foster care and implications for policy and practice. Considers factors involved in good outcomes, the use of goals and plans for structuring practice, child versus family as client, and the use of data for decision making. (LB)

Investigates the extent of variation in children's language performance in a picture description task arising from mode (oral or written) versus degree of demand for decontextualization. Finds that children manipulated the wide range of the oral form of the contextualized/decontextualized continuum more skillfully than the written form. Finds no…

Discusses a variety of novels, especially children's novels, in which characters feel alienated by their environments and attempt to locate a more receptive environment, one which might be termed a "home." Argues that the home/not-home framework can be a useful model for teaching children about literature. (HB)

The use of statistical techniques by behavioral geneticists to divvy up separate genetic and environmental effects on individual traits is examined. The interactions between genes and environment and the effects that are produced between siblings are discussed. (KR)

The Children's Inn, on the grounds of the National Institutes for Health (NIH) near Washington, DC, serves as a national model of the value of family-centered homes for pediatric patients and their families. When parents bring their child to NIH from a distant place, they can stay in the inn with their child while the child is receiving treatment.…

Responds to article in which Nash et al. reported on effects of controlling for family environment when studying sexual abuse sequelae. Considers findings in terms of theoretical and statistical constraints placed on analysis of covariance and other partializing procedures. Questions use of covariate techniques to test hypotheses about causal role…

Nash et al. respond to Briere and Elliott's (this issue) comments regarding their study (this issue) on effects of controlling for family environment when studying sexual abuse sequelae. Cites limitations of Briere and Elliott's survey study database. Agrees with Briere and Elliott in call for longitudinal, multimethod designs for examining…

Investigated differences in family environments of high- and low-trait angry college students (n=202). Found that high-trait angry students described their family environments as significantly less cohesive, less emotionally expressive, more conflictual, and more disorganized than did their low-trait angry counterparts. Findings have implications…

Drawing on Durkheim's theory of social integration, an analysis of states' spending for public welfare and their divorce rates for 1960, 1970, 1980, and 1985 showed that the welfare state is not a destabilizing influence on family life as critics have charged. Past divorce rates were shown to have the most significant influence on current divorce…

Provides suggestions to help parents select safe toys for children under five years, including assess breakability; investigate flammability; avoid electrical toys; avoid toys with sharp edges; watch for toys that might pinch; avoid small pieces; consider sound and vision; and think about appropriate themes. (SM)

About half of all American marriages now end in divorce. Many divorces involve children whose parents remarry and create step-relationships. Educators should help normalize the idea of stepfamilies, send communications recognizing family diversity, train school personnel appropriately, enlist the school counselor's assistance, and provide…

Investigated relationship between family experiences and school adjustment in two-year longitudinal study of community sample of fourth- to sixth-grade students (n=159). Initial ratings of family organization and parent-child relationships were both related significantly to follow-up indices of school adjustment obtained two years later.…

Examined data from National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to investigate relationship between infant affect and quality of home environment. Found that infant irritability was negatively correlated with quality of home environment in both low-risk and high-risk families. Infant positive affect was more strongly related to quality of care in…