This paper reports on an interpretive review of observational research articles published in the journal "Child Development Abstracts and Bibliography" (CDAB) from 1987 to 1991 on the topic of family interaction. A total of 37 adult-child and adult-adolescent interaction studies were located and examined. A comparison of the articles found that the majority advocated finding a common conceptual and methodological base by concentrating on reporting studies on the interactional language function of regulating or controlling others. None of the 31 empirical studies made reference in their statements of purpose to developing knowledge of individual and social differences. Only two studies included a racially diverse sample of subjects. The bulk of the paper consists of tables outlining the stated purposes of the articles examined, the definitions of interaction in the articles, and a compilation of the interpretive review components of the articles. An appendix lists the categories included in CDAB for selected issues. Contains 65 references. (MDM)