Using hypothetical scenarios in which sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) can be transmitted, college freshmen and seniors were asked to explain why they believed the characters should or should nor engage in risky behaviors. Results indicated that seniors had a significantly higher stage of moral reasoning than the freshmen when responding to…

Measured effects of age, prior opinions, and peer interaction on first, third, and sixth graders and college students as they expressed their opinion on a topic while alone (pretest), while with a peer (test), and again while alone (posttest). Found that age affected the number, type, and elaboration level of pretest reasons for holding a given…

Examined the influence of postevent suggestions on five-year olds' reports of their visit to a pediatrician for an inoculation. The children were given pain-affirming, pain-denying, or neutral feedback immediately following and one year after the inoculation. The latter suggestions had a significant effect on the children's reports of the event.…

Compared attitudes of children in child-centered preschools and kindergartens with those of children in didactic, highly academic programs in terms achievement and motivation. Compared to children in child-centered programs, children in didactic programs rated their abilities significantly lower, had lower expectations for success on academic…

In a year-long participant observation study of remediative action following child injury, 61 children ages 8 and 9 and their mothers wrote records and, in biweekly interviews, reported on more than 1,000 minor injuries. Found that remediative action was related to type of child activity and to mother's affect and beliefs. (MDM)

Motivationally distinct forms of child compliance, mutually positive affect, and maternal control were observed as correlates of internalization in 103 mother-toddler dyads. Found that children who shared positive affect with their mothers showed a high level of committed compliance and were also more internalized. Maternal "Do's" appeared more…

Examined communication in the family and peer systems in relation to children's sociometric status, measuring turn-taking skills and utterance types for 43 preschoolers during interactions with mothers, fathers, and peers. Rejected-status children demonstrated turn-taking styles that included irrelevant turns, interruptions, simultaneous talking,…

Investigated birth-order differences in children's early vocabulary development. Compared the composition and age of acquisition of the first 50 and 100 words of 9 firstborns and their younger siblings, using a longitudinal maternal diary methodology. A small but significant birth-order effect was found for the age at which the 50-word milestone…

Compared family relationships and the social and emotional development of children in families created by new reproductive technologies with those of natural and adoptive families. Found that quality of parenting in experimental families was superior to that of families with a naturally conceived child. No group differences were found for measures…

Reports of parenting styles were assessed in 100 mostly white, middle-class, 6th, 8th, and 10th graders and their parents. Adolescents viewed their parents as more permissive and more authoritarian than parents viewed themselves, whereas parents viewed themselves as more authoritative than did adolescents. Differences were primarily over the…

Reports on a longitudinal study of 144 young adolescents which hypothesized that boys and girls would experience increased gender-differential socialization across a 1-year period in which parents maintained a traditional division of labor, and there was a younger sibling of the opposite gender. Provides longitudinal analyses of three aspects of…

Estimates the extent to which heredity influences perceptions of childhood family environment in a sample of 58 monozygotic and 46 dizygotic pairs of adult twins who were reared apart. The data confirm the importance of genetic factors in some, but not all, measures of family environment. Environmental influences were more important than genetic…

Considered variations in pubertal timing, specifically age at menarche, and association with various antecedents, including heredity; weight and weight for height; stressful life events; family relations; absence or presence of adult male in household; and psychological adjustment, in 75 premenarcheal adolescent girls. Found complex interactions…

Tested four different theoretical models (risk, protective, potentiator, and person-environment fit) describing ways that geographical neighborhoods might be associated with aggression and peer relationship problems in 1,271 elementary school children. Results suggest a protective effect of middle-SES neighborhoods on the aggressive behavior among…

Examined differences between mothers of behavior-problem boys (MBPs) and mothers of average boys (MABs)in processing information in compliance situations. Found the MBPs made greater attributions of defiant intent toward the child and experienced more anger than MABs in ambiguous stimulus situations and that MBPs expected more resistance in…