Middle-class children, divided by age, sex, and the presence/absence of younger siblings in the family, were studied to assess their interest in babies. The findings support MacDonald's contention that birth order effects are best understood as distinctive for each sex, especially when the behaviors investigated are sex-related. (Author/GC)

Sixty-four high school students (32 sibling sets) were administered the Figural Form A of the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking. Results indicated a significant difference between creativity scores of the first- and second-born Ss on three of four measures: fluency, originality, and elaboration. Sex was not significant. (CL)

Reports on emotions of males when a near-fatherhood experience ends in a legal abortion. A sizeable minority of males find their abortion experience more frustrating, trying, and emotionally costly than public and academic neglect of this subject would suggest. Options are suggested to help males deal with abortion's aspects. (Author)

This model emphasizes the distinction between male and female earnings and the distinction between families with employed wives and those without as they affect the fertility rate. (Author/IRT)

Describes record linkage as a data-generating technique, and presents a method for linking client records to live and stillbirth records, using 32,974 births in the Cleveland (Ohio) area. Biases that can enter the linkage process and general research issues related to record linkage are discussed. (SLD)

A sample of married and cohabitating women is used to examine the impact of cohabitation on fertility. The transition from cohabitation to marriage does not appear to be influenced by childbearing desires. Once nonpregnant cohabitators marry, the timing of marital first birth is similar to that of women who never cohabitated. (JPS)

A two-stage selectivity correction model was applied to race- and ethnic-specific data from 1984 New York City birth certificates. Ordinary least squares underestimated the effects of prenatal care on birth weight by at least 80% for whites and Hispanics. (Author/SK)

Describes why birth order interests both parents and researchers, discussing what really causes apparent birth order effects on intelligence, examining problems with using cross-sectional intelligence data, and noting how to move beyond cross-sectional inferences. Explains the admixture hypothesis, which finds that family size is much more…

Using attachment theory as a framework, this paper examines how pregnant adolescents' experiences of physical maltreatment during childhood influence the subsequent mother-infant relationship in 203 low-income adolescents followed from the 3rd trimester of pregnancy through the 1st year of parenthood. The relation between physical maltreatment…

Counting can be done using a linear, exponential method or by using a technique incorporating a recursive process which gives a visual analysis of population data. Population estimates are based on assumptions about change brought about by immigration, emigration, deaths and births.

The process that lesbian couples experienced in using donor insemination (DI) to become parents was examined in this study through interviews of 10 lesbians. Using a decision-making framework embedded in feminist theory, results identified the major decisions involved that conceptualized the transition to parenthood and describe how these…

For some military families, the birth of a child can occur while the father is away in a dangerous place, and the joy of parenthood can become entangled in feelings of depression, disconnection, and hopelessness. Upon reunification, the new family system may cause confusion and discomfort as the reunited are learning for the first time how to be…

Estimates of intimate partner violence (IPV) during pregnancy vary by population being studied, measures, and other methodological limitations, hindering the ability to gauge the relationship between IPV and negative birth outcomes. The authors report aggregated data from a subsample (n = 148) of the first three waves of the Women's Employment…

The Annie E. Casey Foundation has published the "Data Book" for each of the past 24 years, tracking the well-being of America's children nationally and by state. To take advantage of the tremendous growth in research and data on child development, the Annie E. Casey Foundation has improved how they measure child well-being and rank…

This pilot research project examined the use of sign language as a communication bridge for non-Deaf children between the ages of 0-6 years who had been diagnosed with, or whose communication difficulties suggested, the presence of such disorders as Autism, Down Syndrome, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), and/or learning disabilities.…