Explored the stability of attachment security and representations from infancy to early adulthood in a high risk sample. Found no evidence for significant continuity between infant and adult attachment, but rather a lawful discontinuity, with many participants transitioning to insecurity. Continuous and discontinuous groups were differentiated on…

Maintains that the preceding studies extend a long line of research demonstrating the coherence of individual development in attachment security. Notes that the studies clarify that attachment security can be stable from infancy through early adulthood and that changes in security are meaningfully related to changes in the family environment.…

Examined continuity in attachment classification from infancy through adolescence and related it to autobiographical memories of childhood, divorce, and maladjustment in white middle-class children. Found no continuity in attachment classification from 1 to 18 years and no relation between infant attachment status and adolescent adjustment.…

Examined factors contributing to depressive symptoms and co-occurring depressions, substance abuse, and conduct problems among runaway and homeless adolescents. Found that although family-of-origin factors contributed to depressive symptoms and comorbidity, experiences and behaviors when adolescents were on their own also had powerful effects.…

Examined influences on children's behavior problems in households defined by marital status and sibling relatedness. Found that genetic influences accounted for 81 to 94 percent of mean-level difference in behavior problems between two-parent/full sibling, and the mother-only/half sibling groups. Shared environmental influences accounted for 67 to…

Examined dimensions and patterns of parenting among 193 low-income African American single mothers with preschoolers. Identified four parenting patterns (aggravated but nurturant, cognitively stimulating, patient and nurturant, and low nurturance). Found that maternal well-being and sociodemographic characteristics accounted for 93 percent of…

Examined effectiveness of conflict resolution training integrated into a curriculum unit on friendship taught daily for 4 consecutive weeks to kindergartners in a midwestern suburban school. Found significant differences in trained and untrained children's knowledge and retention of the conflict resolution procedure, willingness and ability to use…

Investigated characteristics of underachievement among Hong Kong elementary school children. Found that more males than females were identified as underachievers. Stability of underachievement increased during elementary school. Parents and teachers perceived that underachievers were more capable than same-grade nonunderachievers. Correlates of…

Examined the mix of educational, health, and psychosocial services received by 869 five-year-olds participating in the Infant Health and Development Program. Found that neonatal health conditions, maternal education at child's birth, child developmental status at age 3, and maternal health, family income, and insurance status at age 5 were…

Examined how quality of center-based child care related to early cognitive and language development from 6 to 36 months among 89 African American children. Found that higher quality care was related to higher measures of cognitive, language, and communication development, even after adjusting for selected child and family characteristics.…

Asserts that findings on whether young infants look longer at incorrect addition and subtraction have been inconsistent or negative. Hypothesizes that imprecise ordinal calculating with very small numbers of objects develops in late infancy and that precise calculating develops in early childhood. (Author/KB)

The chapter first introduces the concept of emerging adulthood as a period of life that is characterized by instabilities and fluctuations. Then, the role of goal setting and aspirations in individual development during this stage of life is discussed. Following this, seven chapters of the present special issue are introduced, and the ways in…

This chapter examines development through different life transitions, such as educational transitions and transition to parenthood during adolescence to adulthood in the context of the life-span model of personal goals. According to the life-span model of motivation, four key mechanisms--channeling, choice, co-regulation, and compensation--play a…

This study examines the relation between young adults' goal achievement, continued goal striving over time, and subsequent well-being. Analysis of a longitudinal subsample of a nationally representative U.S. study of 5,693 adolescents as they transition to adulthood revealed that individuals who met their goals had higher well-being, but that the…

Given mounting aspirations to graduate from college and pervasive difficulties in obtaining a four-year degree, growing numbers of young people in the United States have become "underachievers." Using data from the ongoing Youth Development Study, the authors examine the prevalence of "holding on" and "letting go" of high aspirations and the…