Research on changing attitudes toward parenthood among college students was expanded to include a study of textbooks to determine if they were reflective of the changes. A sample of 980 undergraduate female home economics students in four universities in the Midwest and West Coast areas were involved in this decade retesting of Maxwell and Montgomery's 1969 study. The results of the Timing of Parenthood Study indicated a much greater desire to delay parenthood than had been indicated by the sample in the 1969 study. Marriage and family textbooks, the primary resource commonly used in a family life course, have historically repeated the belief that children are a natural extension of marriage. Increasignly, parenthood based on choice has been introduced into the textbooks, although the implicit message is that parenthood is the better decision. Another source of parenthood encouragement could be the textbooks' theoretical orientation, such as approaching the study of marriage and family from the family life cycle perspective. An implication derived from the research was that the three adult roles--work, marriage, and parenthood--must be integrated into a comprehensive family life education program, if the educator desires to approach program planning and curriculum development consistent with trends projected for the 1980s. (YLB)