Assessed mothers' childrearing attitudes and toddler behavior to predict mothers' emotions, attributions, parenting goals, and socialization strategies in response to vignettes depicting aggressive and withdrawn child behaviors two years later. Found that most child effects were moderated by maternal attitudes or gender effects. Authoritarian…

Examined links between early risk and problematic developmental outcomes in adopted children during middle childhood. Found no direct relation between prenatal, perinatal, or preplacement risk factors and problematic socioemotional adjustment. With 12 high-risk children, proactive cooperation among the child's adoptive and birth family members on…

This longitudinal study explored relationships among student input and environmental throughput variables in predicting output human capital skills acquisition and academic achievement at a large Canadian university. Surprisingly, input intelligence quotient was negatively related to output human capital skills and to various adjustment measures.…

Notes that Zaslow study marks an important advance in understanding of child-care-utilization patterns and how center-based programs in low-income communities may influence children's development and school readiness. Asserts that researchers should not become complacent after finding that simply being in a child-care program makes a difference in…

Investigated effects of program auspice (nonprofit versus profit child care), adult-to-child ratios, and class age span on teaching and on preschoolers' social and cognitive development. Found that age, gender, social background, and age span were significant predictors of children's social and cognitive development; adult-to-child ratio and…

Evaluated the stratification or dispersion of first grade teachers' perceptions of children's competence as a moderator of the relationship between teachers' and parents' perceptions of individual children's competence. Found that greater stratification predicted teachers' perceptions of less child competence and predicted less change in teachers'…

Examined the association of work-related skills--such as listening skills, cooperation, self-control--to academic outcomes at kindergarten entry and end of second grade. Found that work-related skills predicted variance in academic outcomes at both times, after kindergarten academic score and background variables were controlled. Children with…

A study examined whether factors that differentiate science and nonscience majors translate into meaningful predictors of majoring in science. Questionnaires were administered to 121 science majors and 160 social science majors at a Canadian university. Only 7 of the 12 factors that differentiated science and social science majors were important…

Examined association between infants' emotional reactivity and reliance on mother and cognitive and language development at 2 years. Found that infants with high reactivity and reliance on mother during emotion challenges had higher cognitive and language skills than infants with low reactivity and reliance. Poor developmental outcomes were…

Disability carries negative social meaning, and little is known about when (or if), in the process of health decline, persons identify themselves as "disabled." We examine the social and health criteria that older adults use to subjectively rate their own disability status. Using a panel study of older adults (ages 72+), we estimate…

Objective: The purpose of this study is to determine which factors best predict parental use of single versus multiple types of violence. Methodology: The study uses data from a Quebec telephone survey conducted with a representative sample of 2,469 mothers of children aged 0-17 years. The interview covered topics such as mother's attitudes and…

This study investigates the role of optimism, health control beliefs, perceived health competence, and medical help-seeking variables in predicting the frequency of reported physical symptoms. A total of 345 college students (207 male and 138 female) were presented with the Life Orientation Test, Multidimensional Health Locus of Control, Perceived…

This paper examines the relationships of pupils' on-task orientation at school and their opposition to teachers with perceived cognitive competence, perceived relevance of schoolwork, and the belief that going against school norms increases peer status. The study was conducted as a survey among a national representative sample of 3834 pupils in…

This article examines interstate variation in household food security. Using hierarchical modeling, we identify several kinds of state characteristics that appear linked to household food security: the availability and accessibility of federal nutrition assistance programs, policies affecting economic wellbeing of low income families, and states'…

Given its important role in mathematics as well as its role as a gatekeeper to future educational and employment opportunities, algebra has become a focal point of both reform and research efforts in mathematics education. Understanding and using algebra is dependent on understanding a number of fundamental concepts, one of which is the concept of…