Through the longitudinal study of families over two decades in Chiapas, Mexico, this chapter relates historical changes on the macro level to changes in human development and socialization on the micro level. (Author)

Examined effects of early parental employment on children, using data from National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Found that more work hours were associated with slightly lower cognitive development through age 9 and lower academic achievement before age 7, but not with behavior problems, compliance, or self-esteem. Early parental employment was…

Examined how child and family factors influence individual differences in the language development of African-American children between 18 and 30 months of age. Found that vocabulary and utterance length increased linearly. Children from more stimulating and responsive homes had larger vocabularies, used more irregular nouns and verbs, and had…

Examined middle school students' sexual-risk behavior, using data from the Healthy for Life project which was designed to positively affect students' health behaviors. Longitudinal data from self-report surveys of students in control, intervention, and intensive intervention programs indicated that the program was ineffective in reducing the rate…

Describes the design and findings of the Victoria Day Care Research Project. Concludes that early day care experiences and family environments were associated with verbal abilities in early childhood and with competencies in early and late adolescence. Found that children from higher-resource families were most likely to have higher-quality day…

Reports on a study that used general ideas about employees' performance to develop and test a model of teachers' effects on students' achievement in mathematics. Suggests that the effects of teachers on students' achievement can be explained by three classes of variables: teachers' ability, motivation, and work situation. (MJP)

The impact of ability grouping on the lives of school children (N=1922) is examined. Its roots in the history of education and the rationale for tracking are reviewed. Adverse effects of various practices associated with tracking are reported, and a reconsideration of tracking policies is encouraged. (EMK)

Findings from the National Longitudinal Transition Study (NLTS) of Special Education Students indicate strong gains in the first five years after high school in the four outcome areas of employment, wages, postsecondary education, and residential independence. Outcomes differed widely by disability category, gender, ethnicity, and high school…

Reanalyzed data from Sheldon and Eleanor Glueck's study of 500 delinquents and 500 nondelinquents from low-income neighborhoods of Boston between 1924 and 1935. Found that low supervision, weak parent-child attachment, and erratic, threatening, and harsh discipline, contributed to delinquency. Suggests that strong family social controls may serve…

A 17-year longitudinal study of 375 individuals found that, at age 21, almost 11% reported physical or sexual abuse before age 18. Compared to nonabused counterparts, abused subjects demonstrated significant impairments in functioning at ages 15 and 21, including more depressive symptomatology, anxiety, psychiatric disorders, emotional-behavioral…

Researchers responsible for"Alcohol Abuse in Urban Indian Adolescents and Women: A Longitudinal Study for Assessment and Risk Evaluation" respond to critiques of the research project. Clarifies project goals, discusses issues related to longitudinal research, and addresses concerns related to research utilization and data publication.…

Reports the longitudinal follow-up of 41 preschool children as they moved into reading. When the children were 3-years-old, they participated in a detailed assessment of their language, print and metalinguistic skills. Overall language development at age 3 just as strongly correlated with reading scores at age 7 as it had with metalinguistic and…

Reports the findings of a longitudinal study of women pursuing degrees in science or engineering at the University of Washington, which utilizes a retention program called Women in Engineering. Study objectives include determining a more accurate measure of retention of women in science and engineering by tracking individual students through their…

Assessed the association of parental discipline and monitoring with early conduct problems of 123 children in a highly disadvantaged, African American sample. Analyses indicated that, after earlier conduct problems were controlled for, coercive parent discipline and poor parental monitoring at age 4.5 predicted age 6 conduct problems. Associations…

Illustrates problems facing researchers trying to demonstrate causal relationships between types of nonparental care and differences between groups of Swedish children. Argues that efforts must be made to validate and interpret differences that are found. Indicates ways to avoid misinterpretation of differences that are attributable to…