Examines familial conversation patterns of African American families during evening meals, using a social interaction analysis. Found that family size had a pervasive impact on familial interaction, and that although mothers were the clear focus of mealtime interactions, the increased number of children necessitated that fathers take a more direct…

Three articles discuss how to help elementary students grow. The first explains how teachers can weave a broader safety net for children with chaotic lives. The second presents year-end cooperative games for testing students' communication skills. The third offers take-home summer activities for parents and children. (SM)

Examines sex-typing of children's housework and how parents indirectly and directly affect children's chores. Data for 600 households from the 1988 National Survey of Families and Households show that sex-typing is common and that father and mother effects were strongest in relation to the child of the same sex. (JB)

Explores the sense in which U.S. Catholic schools can be considered a faith community by administering questionnaires to 1,204 Catholic school students. Compares attitudes and mass attendance of practicing and nonpracticing Catholics, non-Catholics, and their parents. Correlates student mass attendance with positive attitudes toward Catholic…

Describes the administration of Dialogues about Families, a set of 3 developmentally sensitive instruments designed to probe children's perceptions of their families and themselves through interactive dialogues, to several hundred 6 to 12 year olds. Suggests that the instruments be used to augment findings derived from parental reports and…

Explores contradictions between "workfare" and higher education that constrain the academic success of poor rural Iowa women: loss of welfare-related college support if temporarily denied AFDC, lack of child care funding, and constraints on transfer from a two-year to a four-year college. Recommends utilizing an "everyday…

Examined impact of Chinese family socialization practices on children's socialization over 4 years. Found that parental reasoning, intellectual stimulation, and encouragement of independence were significant indicators of overall family socialization practices. Children's self-control, and positive attitudes toward others and toward work were…

A study of 984 families of children with emotional and behavioral disturbance used the Caregiver Strain Questionnaire to assess the effects of the shift of primary caregiving to the family due to deinstitutionalization. Results indicate the reliability and validity of the questionnaire, which also identified three related but unique dimensions of…

Details cultural changes in 20th-century Scandinavia. Considers arguments related to beliefs about children's lives; stereotypes of children as fragile were used to attack the modern family; day care as threatening healthy child development; and the conception of the malfunctioning child in adversarial parent-child relationships. Concludes that…

Written by the mother of a child with autism, this article discusses the journey from a diagnosis of autism at age 3 through the many therapies to upper grade school, where the child is doing so well that they have considered dropping the diagnosis. The miracles and hard work are discussed. (CR)

Data shows couples in low-risk circumstances experience individual and marital distress after having a baby; however, no services exist to ease this transition. Interventions have been offered to high-risk mothers, but few are based on before-to-after parenthood studies that would identify risk factors. Describes interventions in both populations…

Examines a sample of 710 subjects ages 14-19 to assess psychological health of United Arab Emirates (UAE) families with adolescent members. Used the Family Functioning Questionnaire to assess adolescents' perceptions of family life and climate. Males scored higher on emotional fulfillment. Family functioning scores were higher in upper social…

Examined two groups of adult males who had been sexually abused as children by female maternal caregivers: those in treatment at a clinic specializing in sexual abuse survivor work, and those in treatment at a clinic specializing in sexual offender work. These groups show greater psychological disruption than adult males who as children had not…

Reports preliminary findings of an ethnographic study with 10 refugee families in Canada who needed additional help in their resettlement process, focusing particularly on the needs of children. Discusses promoting identity formation, enhancing adaptation, helping children to mourn, and placing children in their familial and cultural context. (JPB)

This article reviews resources that offer personal insights and lessons from families of children with disabilities. Five books are reviewed that offer perspectives from fathers and mothers on raising and coping with a child with a disability, along with three Web sites for families of children with disabilities or premature infants. (CR)