Reports a study of interactions of middle-class parents from 27 Swedish families, designated as shared child care or traditional families, with their first-born infants, aged 8 to 12 months. Suggests that differential involvement in child care has significant effects on fathers' behavior. (DR)

Investigates whether a variation in task content (focusing on instrumental/external family issues v emotional expressive/internal issues) influences family interaction when task structure is held constant. The responses of 64 well-adjusted family triads were scored for differences in conflict, dominance, and affect. (Author/SS)

Parents were shown videotapes of boys and girls performing dependent and independent behaviors and were asked how they would respond to the child observed. Interaction process analysis of responses indicated fifferent patterns of responding for fathers and mothers. (GO)

Results indicated that the children's behavior had an effect upon the parents, with mothers and fathers interacting more and being more controlling when the children were dependent. (Authors)

Observers coded the behavior of 40 middle-class, traditional couples and their 5-month-old infants, and parents filled out attitude questionnaires. Fathers' sex-role orientation and both parents' views concerning the role of the father were found to be correlated significantly with observed levels of paternal activity. (Author/CB)

Examined the effects of sex of parents and sex of child on parent-child interactions in the departure routine when the parent left the child at a child-care center. Also compared the mother-child interactions in this situation for one- and two-parent families. (JMB)