Finds the best preschool predictors of reading were naming tests for boys and general verbal ability for girls; for kindergartners, a quantitative test surpassed test of phonemic awareness and language in predicting reading; effects of birth order were strongest at the preschool level; socioeconomic status had significant effects only for boys,…

Examined the cognitive development of 79 surviving high-risk, low birth weight children at 1, 2, and 3.6 years. Found that children at high biological risk were able to catch up on their cognitive delay in highly stimulating home environments; those at both low and high biological risk in less stimulating home environments showed a decline in…

Examines the relationship between social factors and low birth weight and the ways in which disparities in socioeconomic status have been addressed over time, and assesses the effectiveness of efforts to reduce low birth weight occurrences. The authors discuss the steps required to reduce persistent disparities in low birth weight. (GR)

Discusses the benefits of attachment parenting, which emphasizes parental commitment, a low-stress pregnancy, childbirth preparation, breast-feeding with child-led weaning, prompt response to the baby's crying, flexible sleeping arrangements, close-knit father-mother-baby functioning, and the avoidance of detachment parenting. Attachment parenting…

Discusses Romanian population policies under Ceaucescu, which penalized single people and couples without children, rewarded large families, prohibited abortion. Contrasts with new policies implemented after his fall that reinstated individual liberties but sought to promote through education parental responsibility, safe sex, environmental…

Compared low-birthweight children in experimental (LBWE) intervention and no-treatment (LBWC) conditions, and normal birthweight (NBW) children. At age seven, and after SES adjustment, LBWE scored higher than LBWC and similar to NBW on cognitive tests. (BC)

Youths (n=648) evaluated themselves and parents using Personal Attribute Inventory for Children. Self-concept was higher for those from intact families than for those from divorced remarried families. Mothers from intact and divorced nonremarried families received higher evaluations that did mothers from divorced remarried families. Fathers from…

Addresses the causes for and implications of infant mortality. Besides the more immediate causes such as disease, nutrition, and lifestyle, there are the additional hurdles of government bureaucracy, lack of funds, and institutional attitudes that block access to prenatal care. Suggests structural solutions, including a consistent, individual,…

Confluence theory was developed to explain the negative effects of birth order on intelligence. Using aggregate, between-family, within-family, and paired-sibling data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, tests the mathematical form of confluence theory and finds no support for it. Suggests that statistical methods used to fit the model to the…

Survey administered to 958 girls studied effects of sociodemographic risk factors for adolescent nonmarital childbearing. Analysis showed adolescents girls who experienced five or more sociodemographic risk factors were 16 times more likely to experience a nonmarital childbirth during their teenage years. Under similar levels of risk, adolescent…

Explores the legislative historical roots for controlling fertility of certain classes of women and the use of cultural images to define welfare and fertility legislation. It argues how reforms coerce poor women to postpone childbearing in ways that are injurious to women, particularly for African American women, in excluding them in sharing in…

Examined whether associations between prenatal substance use and birth and infant outcomes varied by maternal age and race. Data on all singleton live births in Minnesota from 1990-98 indicated that poor birth outcomes and infant death were generally lower for whites than for African Americans and American Indians. Prenatal substance use varied by…

Investigated the role of behavioral style and cognitive performance as predictors of cognitive development in extremely low-birth-weight children assessed at age 2 and again at age 4. Found stability of cognitive performance from 2 to 4 years of age; this as well as behavior style and orientation-engagement predicted subsequent cognitive…

Using data gathered from a multi-year field study, this article identifies specific life-course events shared by gang-affiliated women. Gangs emerge as a cultural adaptation or pro-social community response to poverty and racial isolation. Through the use of a social-network approach, data show that violence dramatically increases in the period…

This study investigated psychosocial factors thought to be associated with perceived stress over the course of infertility treatment. The research was based on secondary analysis of data from the Study of Marriage, Family, and Life Quality with a sample of 128 people who completed an infertility-related stress instrument at all three measurement…