Investigates the relation between preschoolers' peer behavior and status during a school year by exploring whether early behaviors predict changes in peer status and vice versa. Results support the hypothesis that children's behaviors contribute to their social status among peers. (RJC)

Studies the relationship between cognitive functioning and conduct disorders in 17-year-old adolescents as defined by the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders III. Results suggest that the relation of cognitive functioning to psychiatric status is specific to conduct disorders. (RJC)

Compares patterns of play and serious aggression in three- to eight-year-old children of two neighboring Zapotec Indian communities that have different levels of adult violence. Results suggest that community differences in violence levels are perpetuated as Zapotec children learn community-appropriate patterns to express aggression and continue…

Examines the relationship of parental agreement in child rearing during early childhood and the psychological characteristics of adolescents. Results suggest that early family socialization experiences are important but different for boys and girls with respect to psychological content and the developmental timing of effects. (RJC)

Studies 6th, 9th, and 12th graders' ideal and typical perceptions of family relationships using the FAST (Family Systems Theory), a spatial technique in which wooden figures are placed on a board to represent cohesion and power in a family. Between 6th and 12th grade, adolescents perceive gradually decreasing cohesion and power differential…

Investigates 8-, 11-, 14- and 17-year-old students' choices of either a familiar adult or peer, or an adult or peer expert to provide counsel. The findings support the conceptualization that adult-child relations are transformed from unilateral dependence in childhood to increasing mutuality in adolescence. (RJC)

Examines the influence of teenage mothers' perceptions of family and partner social support on the mothers' postpartum adjustment. Both partner and family support are related to satisfaction with life, but each type of support is associated in a different way with parenting and concerns about daily living. (RJC)

Studied the onset of puberty in girls aged nine to eleven as represented by breast, pubic hair growth, and height. Breast growth, but not pubic hair growth was associated with a positive body image, positive peer relationships, and superior adjustment. Height was linked to superior adjustment and rating of career as important. (RJC)

Examines the relation between fourth, fifth, and sixth graders' television content preferences and their perceptions of parent-child conflict and parents' child-rearing attitudes. Results indicate that parental empathy, sensitivity, and adaptive role expectations are inversely related to children's preference for fantasy-oriented content and…

Demonstrated that abused mothers who broke the abusive cycle were significantly more likely than mothers who did not to have: received emotional support from a nonabusive adult during childhood; participated in therapy at some time; or experienced a nonabusive, stable, emotionally supportive, and satisfying relationship with a mate. (RJC)

Examines the effects of maternal depression on motherese in the face-to-face interactions of 36 mothers and their three- to four-month-old infants. Results indicate that depressed mothers fail to modify their behavior according to the infant's behavior. (RJC)

Studied maternal sensitivity as it related to the quality of attachment between 48 twelve-month-old infants and their mothers. Results suggested that different styles of maternal response to infant cues characterize secure, anxious-avoidant, and anxious-resistant attachment groups. (RJC)

The contributions of temperamentally and nontemperamentally based emotional reactions to the organization of social interactive behavior within the Strange Situation are examined for the purpose of bettering the understanding of the emotional underpinnings of attachment system functioning. At 12 1/2 and 19 1/2 months, temperamental fear was…

Examined the "still-face" paradigm in which mothers stared at their three- or six-month-old infants with a still face for brief periods interposed between two periods of normal face-to-face interaction. Six-month-old infants decreased smiling and gazing at their mothers and grimaced more during the still-face period than in other periods. (RJC)

Studied the effects of adult intervention on 10-month-old infants' level of attention to objects. The overall duration of infant attention increased during medium intervention when the duration was compared to that of the control group. Low attending infants attended more in medium and high intervention, while high attending infants were…