Describes the confrontation between organized women and male physicians at the 1930 White House Conference on Children. The encounter stemmed from the Sheppard Towner Act which initiated a pioneering federal effort to promote the health of mothers and children. It was a critical round in a recurring conflict. (Author/JAC)

Investigated the impact of age and premarital fertility status on subsequent marital dissolution for Black and White women (N=6,374). Results using multivariate proportional hazards models indicate that premarital births, but not premarital pregnancies, increase risk of marital dissolution, and an increasing age reduces the risk of divorce.…

Different stages of child progression and certain socioeconomic factors (such as family income, education, and employment status) have different effects on fertility in different ethnic groups in the Southwest. Fertility of Mexican American groups may approximate that of Anglos with passing time, improved socioeconomic status, and continued…

Discusses effective family position as a new variable developed to measure the effect of birth order and childhood home environment on the likelihood of becoming an alcoholic. Constructs of fixation and regression may also be helpful in differentiating two types of alcoholism. (JAC)

A study of Canadian families showed Canadians delayed childbearing longer, spaced their children more closely, married off the last child earlier, and survive jointly longer. Canadians average longer marriages and have a longer postparental period. Overall the analysis indicates a long-term stability in the Canadian family cycle. (Author)

Studies how a self-help group can facilitate parents' mourning process following a stillbirth. With family-to-family contact and group discussions, the reality of the stillbirth is validated, the empty feelings of the loss the parents are experiencing are acknowledged, and the guilt the couples are feeling is eased. (Author)

Interviews with new mothers document the husband's role as gatekeeper in his wife's preparing for and coping with childbirth. Social class, race, family stage, and the husband-wife relationship explain about 40 percent of the variance in whether husbands choose to prepare for childbirth. (Author)

Provides a view of the problem of illegitimacy by focusing on the unmarried father. Examines charactersitics of unmarried fathers, their legal status, and the provision of social services for them. A policy approach utilizing several guiding principles is suggested to improve the provision of services for the unmarried father. (Author)

Motherhood is built into social institutions and psyches. Examines the impact of the motherhood mandate and underscores complexities that must be reflected in research models and methods. (Author)

Discusses the controversy of the relationship between birth order and intellectual performance through a detailed evaluation of the confluence model which assumes that the rate of intellectual growth is a function of the intellectual environment within the family and associated with the special circumstances of last children. (CM)

Investigated is the idea that measures of preferred family size can elicit accurate aggregate fertility predictions but inaccurate individual fertility predictions, because the children's sex composition is not considered. Suggestions are given for developing fertility attitude measures. (Author/SA)