Lamaze childbirth training was found to have no significant effects on attitudes towards spouse or child. It did have a significant anxiety-reducing effect with respect to childbirth. Parents using the Lamaze method had a more positive attitude about having a baby. (Author/CS)

Fathers' willingness to assume infant care responsibilities was related to their sex-role concepts and the amount of time fathers were available. Fathers who felt fathers should serve a greater number of functions with their children were more likely to have been present at the infant's birth. (Author)

Data from 1129 Mexican American women interviewed in Los Angeles in 1973 were used to analyze the effects of religious norms on fertility. Findings indicate that adherence to Roman Catholic norms has a net impact on the fertility of Chicanas reared in the United States, but not those reared in Mexico. (Author/GC)

The relationship between vocational preferences of adolescents and their birth order was examined. Firstborns were found to be overrepresented in the conventional and enterprising areas; later borns were found to be overrepresented in the social and investigative areas. (Author/GK)

A study comparing the processes of arriving at fertility decisions in marriage shows that the husband's preference for children or for childlessness controls more often than the wife's preference in either case. Using two childless samples and one sample with children, the strong effect of male preference was found. (Author)

Examines the socioeconomic determinants of the age at first marriage among women interviewed in a fertility survey of currently married women in Peninsular Malaysia. Substantial differentials in age at first marriage are associated with ethnicity, years of formal schooling, and premarital work experience, and less for social and geographic…

Family constellation variables such as family size, birth order, spacing of children, and crowding were significantly associated with academic achievement when IQ was controlled. The effects of family constellation variables were found to be sex specific. (RC)

Points out significant changes in the Hispanic population between 1990 and 2000. Explores changes in the size and distribution of the Latino population using short-form data from the 1990 and 2000 censuses. Indicates significant growth of the Hispanic population who identify as 'other' Latino and the growing importance of the Midwest and South as…

Explores the effects of ecological and individual risk factors on infant health for black and white women. Examines the association among neighborhood economic indicators, neighborhood quality, access to prenatal care, and individual perinatal risk factors and subsequent birthweight. The findings emphasize the need for socially and ecologically…

U.S. families have changed in many ways in this century as the population adapted to evolving technologies, economic conditions, and social trends; changes were particularly pronounced during the 1960s and 1970s as the baby-boom generation reached adulthood. (Author)

Estimates impact of liberalization of New York State abortion law in 1970 on adolescent childbearing in New York City. Analyzes monthly data on number of births to White and Black adolescents from 1963-87. Findings indicate that level of births to Black adolescents fell 18.7 percent and births to White adolescents fell 14.1 percent after the law…

Interviewed delayed (N=32) and younger (N=32) childbearers and their spouses during the last trimester of pregnancy and at 3, 6, and 12 months postpartum. Found groups to differ in demographic characteristics, but found no differences between delayed and younger childbearers, either initially or developmentally, in marital adjustment, self-esteem,…

Investigated the relation of perinatal risk status to dimensions of the attachment relationships of 60 infants with their parents. The results showed no evidence that preterm or full-term status influenced infants' attachment relationships with either mothers or fathers. (RJC)

Explored relationship between birth order, number of siblings, and alcohol use among 549 adolescents. Only children had level of alcohol use below sample mean, while families with three children demonstrated above-average levels of alcohol use among all three birth orders. In two-children families, older child had consumption level below average,…

Examines medical literature describing relationship between maternal age and pregnancy outcomes. Describes literature exploring links between heightened emotionality during pregnancy and negative outcomes, suggesting that fear-induced stress during pregnancy may place certain middle-aged women at higher risk for complications. Proposes strategies…