Parenting

Beshir, Ekram and Mohamed Rida Beshir. 2024. Muslim Teens: Today's Worry, Tomorrow's Hope: A Practical Islamic Parenting Guide. Beltsville, MD: Amana Publications.

Cunningham, M. 2024. "The Influence of Parental Attitudes and Behaviors on Children's Attitudes toward Gender and Household Labor in Early Adulthood." Journal of Marriage and the Family vol. 63, pp. 111-122.
Abstract: The paper assesses parental influences on young adults' attitudes toward gendered family roles, housework allocation, and housework enjoyment. The effects of parents' housework allocation, educational attainment, and religious participation are examined, as well as mothers' gender role attitudes and labor force participation. Using data from an intergenerational panel study the analysis finds that children's ideal allocation of housework at age 18 is predicted by maternal gender role attitudes what the children were very young and by the parental division of housework when the children were adolescents. Adult children's gender role attitudes are associated with maternal gender role attitudes measured during both early childhood and midadolescence. [Source: SC]

Finley, Mark and Steven R. Mosley. 2024. What My Parents Did Right. Nampa, ID: Pacific Press.

Skinner, D. G., V. Correa, M. Skinner, and D. B. Bailey. 2024. "Role of Religion in the Lives of Latino Families of Young Children with Developmental Delays." American Journal on Mental Retardation vol. 106, pp. 297-313.
Abstract: We interviewed 250 parents of Mexican and Puerto Rican origin living in the United States who had young children with developmental delays to determine the role of religion in their lives. Quantitative results indicate that parents largely viewed themselves as religious, were affiliated with a formal religion, and participated in religious activities. Most parents viewed both church and faith as supportive, but faith was shown to provide more support. Repeated measures a analysis of variance found some intragroup variations in religious support and changes in support after learning of the child's condition. Thematic analysis revealed specific religious beliefs and practices parents viewed as supportive, and content and cultural models analyses indicated the religious frameworks by which parents interpreted their child's disability. [Source: SC]

Wah, C. R. 2024. "Jehovah's Witnesses and Child Custody Cases in the United States, 1996-1998." Review of Religious Research vol. 42, pp. 372-386.
Abstract: Disputes over religious training between divorced or separated parents can become the most acrimonious of judicial disputes. When one parent is a member of a non-mainstream or minority religion, the religious differences can be an added source of tension. To date, no behavioral science research study has been conducted that systematically evaluates the effects of a parent's religious beliefs or practices on the best psychological interests of the child. This study sought to provide basic demographic and litigation-related data about child custody cases in the United States involving Jehovah's Witnesses. In addition, this study explored the relationship between various litigation variables and the outcome of child custody cases. The data for this study was collected from cases in which the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society of New York, the corporate entity for Jehovah's Witnesses, activated a file for the purpose of monitoring, consultation, or litigation during 1996, 1997, and 1998. Outcome and other data about the parents were collected from the congregation elders of Jehovah's Witnesses where the parent attends meetings. While this study was exploratory and preliminary in nature, the results suggest that the religious beliefs and practices es of Jehovah's Witnesses were not the primary factor related to the dissolution of the marriage. The findings from this study also indicate that while religion is commonly, labeled as the principal issue at the beginning of the litigation, it is rarely a factor in the conclusion or settlement of the case. Studies examining the relationship between a child's involvement in these cases and their future social and psychological adjustment as well as their future religious preferences may provide important and meaningful information. [Source: SC]

Williams, L. M. and M. G. Lawler. 2024. "Religious Heterogamy and Religiosity: A Comparison of Interchurch and Same-Church Individuals." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion vol. 40, pp. 465-478.
Abstract: Based on a national sample of Christian couples, interchurch respondents reported lower levels of religiosity than same- church respondents on a number of religious variables. Respondents in same-church marriages were similar in religiosity regardless of whether the relationship was initially interchurch or same-church. The study did not find evidence that interchurch respondents were more likely than same-church individuals to drift away from (church practice. Strength of denominational identity at engagement was the strongest predictor of religious behavior among interchurch respondents, while church attendance at engagement was the strongest predictor among same-church respondents. Interchurch respondents and their spouses were less likely to emphasize religion in raising children than same-church respondents, and were more likely to differ cis a couple on their emphasis on religion in raising children. Interchurch parents predominantly raise their children exclusively in one parent's church, although 12 percent reported raising their children in both churches. [Source: SC]

Wolman, C., A. Garwick, C. Kohrman, and R. Blum. 2024. "Parents' Wishes and Expectations for Children with Chronic Conditions." Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities vol. 13, pp. 261-277.
Abstract: This qualitative study investigated the wishes and expectations that parents had for their children with chronic physical health conditions Participants included parents of 21 African American, 20 Hispanic and 22 European American children. Results indicated that many parents' wishes were specifically related to the child's chronic condition, including that the condition would not exist, would be cured or would improve. Other wishes focused on the psychosocial well-being of the child, independent living skills, education, having a finally, behavioural issues, and religion. Although all of the wishes had a positive connotation, some of the expectations were positive and others were negative Expectations were about the child's condition, the child's psychosocial well-being independent living skills, education, and social concerns Two characteristics of the chronic conditions, mental retardation and mobility impairment, affected the types of wishes that parents had Differences among the three ethnocultural groups were noted in two types of wishes, education and behavioural issues, as well as in parents' expectations about social problems. [Source: SC]

2000. "Talking the Talk [How Parents Influence the Religious Beliefs of Their Children]." Christian Century vol. 117, p. 497.

Bartkowski, J. P. and W. B. Wilcox. 2024. "Conservative Protestant Child Discipline: The Case of Parental Yelling." Social Forces vol. 79, pp. 265-290.
Abstract: Conservative Protestant child discipline has recently become the subject of considerable social research and public controversy. However, no systematic empirical evidence has been brought to bear on conservative Protestant rates of parental yelling, which lye view as a key indicator of an authoritarian style of parenting. We review parenting advice offered by conservative Protestant elites, who articulate child-rearing schemata grounded in both religious and psychological rationales for the discipline of youngsters. Notably, conservative Protestant family specialists advocate corporal punishment while discouraging the parental use of yelling at children. Data drawn from the 1987-88 National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH) indicate that conservative Protestant parents of preschoolers and school-age children are significantly less likely to report yelling at their children. Moreover, the estimated effects of denominational affiliation on the parental use of yelling are partly mediated fly conservative theological views. We conclude by calling for research that analyzes the effects of the distinctive conservative Protestant approach to discipline on child well- being. [Source: SC]

Dudley, R. L. and R. L. Wisbey. 2024. "The Relationship of Parenting Styles to Commitment to the Church among Young Adults." Religious Education vol. 95, pp. 39-50.
Abstract: A survey of 653 Seventh-day Adventist young adults, randomly distributed throughout the United States and Canada, compared their perceptions of the way their parents treated them as children with their present commitment to the church. Warm, caring behaviours from parents predicted strong religious commitment when the children entered adulthood. In the case of the mother it also predicted regularity in worship attendance. Of the four styles of parenting, "affectionate constraint," a mixture of care and control, produced the largest percentage of enthusiastic members and the fewest dropouts. [Source: SC]

Goldzband, M. G. 2024. "All God's Children: Religion, Divorce, and Child Custody." Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law vol. 28, pp. 408-423.
Abstract: Many young Americans, married and marriageable, are turning to more traditional or fundamentalist religions. Religiosity and ultra-strict morality often leads to attitudes that alter decision-making in marriage, divorce, and the disposition of the children of divorce, judgmental pastoral counseling may affect these decisions even more. This paper discusses these issues. emphasizing the need for forensic psychiatrists involved in the custody arena to be aware of the religious, spiritual, irreligious, or even anti-religious feelings of the battling partners. It also presents detailed information about the four major American religions (Roman Catholicism, traditional judaism, Mormonism, and Islam) that have specific doctrine. protocols, or customs affecting decisions in marriage, divorce, and child custody and visitation. This information is presented from the viewpoint of a child advocate. Mental health experts consulting in child custody must understand the backgrounds of the battling parents, including the religious pressures that well may adversely affect their interspousal disputes, particularly those over child custody. The experts must also recognize the attitudes of the religious communities in which the custodial parent may reside after divorce. Those attitudes may be rejecting of the children as well as of the divorced parent(s). Mental health experts may have a better chance to reach agreement between the battling parents if the experts reverse the historic reluctance of psychiatrists to evaluate and discuss the religious feelings and beliefs of their forensic evaluatees. [Source: SC]

Grant, K. E., J. H. O'Koon, T. H. Davis, N. A. Roache, L. M. Poindexter, M. L. Armstrong, J. A. Minden, and J. M. McIntosh. 2024. "Protective Factors Affecting Low-Income Urban African American Youth Exposed to Stress." Journal of Early Adolescence vol. 20, pp. 388-417.
Abstract: Individual (coping strategies), family (parent/child relationships), and community-based (religious involvement) variables were examined as potential protective factors for 224 low-income urban sixth- through eighth-grade African American adolescents. Each of those variables was examined as a moderator and analyses were conducted to determine whether the association between stress and psychological symptoms was attenuated for youth endorsing positive coping strategies, strong parent/child relationships, and religious involvement. Results indicated that positive relationships with father figures buffered the effects of stress on externalizing symptoms for boys and for girls; religious involvement was protective for girls but not for boys. The sole coping strategy to demonstrate a protective effect was avoidant coping, which attenuated the relation between stress and externalizing symptoms for boys. Supplemental analyses focusing on specific subsets of stressful experiences indicated that avoidant coping and social support-seeking coping accentuated the relation between daily hassles and internalizing symptoms for girls. [Source: SC]

Jordan, Timothy R., James H. Price, and Shawn M. Fitzgerald. 2024. "Rural Parents' Communication with Their Teen-Agers About Sexual Issues." The Journal of School Health vol. 70, pp. 338-344.
Abstract: A study investigated the communication between rural parents and their teenage children about sexual issues. Participants were 374 parents of students in grades 7-12 in a rural county in northwest Ohio. The results revealed that most parents thought that the family should play the prominent role in sexuality education with supplemental help from the school. Most of the rural, religious parents supported the inclusion in formal sex education of information on contraceptive methods. Over 50 percent of parents claimed that the receipt of a regular newsletter regarding teenage issues could help them to communicate with their teenagers. These findings reveal that school health educators may have an important part to play in helping parents take the lead role in their children's sexuality education. [Source: EA]

Karnehm, Amy Lynn. 2024. "The Effects of Parental Practices on Adolescent Sexual Initiation Prior to Age 16." Ph.D. Thesis, The Ohio State University.
Abstract: In my dissertation I examine the transmission of family social capital from parent to child, as it impacts adolescent sexual initiation prior to age 16. I extend the application of James Coleman's ideas and borrow from the conclusions of Alejandro Portes to integrate social capital theory with parenting practices and theories of adolescent sexual behavior. Using the 1979-1996 mother, child, and young adult data files from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79), I examine parenting factors (i.e., shared activities as indicators of the parent-child bond, parental support, and parental control) and child and family characteristics (e.g., maternal education, race/ethnicity father presence, maternal aspirations for child's education) that distinguish teens born to young mothers who have "early sex" (initiate prior to age 16), from those who delay their initiation until or past age 16. I also explore how the effects of parenting practices on early sexual initiation differ by gender and by father presence/absence. As hypothesized, children who reported at least monthly church attendance with their parents at age 10 or 11 are more likely to delay their first sex until at least age 16. However, contrary to expectations, children whose mothers took them to cultural performances were more likely to have had sex before age 16. This level of analysis suggests that early background characteristics may be more important than parental practices in predicting early sexual initiation. This dissertation concludes by suggesting a need for a more intensive examination of the relationship between family interaction processes and early sexual initiation than is possible with a large-scale data set such as the NLSY. [Source: DA]

Smetana, J. G. 2024. "Middle-Class African American Adolescents' and Parents' Conceptions of Parental Authority and Parenting Practices: A Longitudinal Investigation." Child Development vol. 71, pp. 1672-1686.
Abstract: Conceptions of parental authority and ratings of parental rules and decision making were examined longitudinally among 82 middle-class African American adolescents and their parents (82 mothers and 52 fathers), who were divided into two groups according to family income. Adolescents were, on average, 13.14 years of age at Time 1 and 15.05 years of age at Time 2. Nearly all adolescents and parents affirmed parents' legitimate authority to regulate (and children's obligation to comply with) rules regarding moral, conventional, prudential, friendship, and multifaceted issues, but they were more equivocal in their judgments regarding personal issues. With age, adolescents increasingly judged personal issues to be beyond the bounds of legitimate parental authority, but judgments differed by family income. Adolescents from upper income families rejected parents' legitimate authority to regulate personal issues more at Time 1 than did adolescents from middle income families, but no differences were found at Time 2. Authority to regulate adolescents' behavior did not extend to other adults or to schools, churches, and the law. With adolescents' increasing age, African American families became less restrictive in regulating prudential, friendship, multifaceted, and personal issues. Adolescents', mothers', and fathers' judgments demonstrated significant continuity over time, but few cross- or within-generation associations in judgments were found. Conceptions of legitimate parental authority at Time 1 were found to predict family rules at Time 2. [Source: ML]

Veerman, David. 2024. Tough Parents for Tough Times. Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers.

Gershoff, E., P. Miller, and G. Holden. 1999. "Parenting Influences from the Pulpit: Religious Affilitation as a Determinant of Parental Corporal Punishment." Journal of Family Psychology vol. 13, pp. 307-320.
Abstract: This study examined religious affiliation as a source of differences in beliefs about and reported use of corporal punishment by 132 mothers and fathers of 3-year-old children. Conservative Protestants reported using corporal punishment more than parents of other religious groups, but no religious differences were found in parents' reported use of 8 other disciplinary techniques. Conservative Protestants' belief in the instrumental benefits of corporal punishment was associated with their frequency of corporal punishment use. More than parents of other religious affiliations, Conservative Protestants intended to use corporal punishment for children's moral, social, prudential, and escalated misbehaviors and expected it to prevent future transgressions. Religious affiliation, particularly a Conservative Protestant one, appears to have a strong and consistent effect on child rearing. [Source: SS]

Hughes, R. S. 1999. "An Investigation of Coping Skills of Parents of Children with Disabilities: Implications for Service Providers." Education and Training in Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities vol. 34, pp. 271-280.
Abstract: Over 100,000 parents a year face the birth of a child with a disability, The stresses resulting from that child's condition are numerous and ongoing. Parents cope with that stress and crises in their families in numerous ways. To learn of parental coping mechanisms, ethnographic research of parents (N=34) of children with disabilities was conducted. Results indicated that families who were active in church received ministry from the church, which led to their ability to cope with stress and have a positive outlook for their child. Service providers who use family-centered planning can utilize and encourage the religious practices of the family as a resource. [Source: SC]

Lindner Gunnoe, Marjorie, E. Mavis Hetherington, and David Reiss. 1999. "Parental Religiosity, Parenting Style, and Adolescent Social Responsibility." Journal of Early Adolescence vol. 19, pp. 199-225.
Abstract: Determined whether parental religiosity would predict authoritative parenting and adolescent social responsibility using data from fathers, mothers, and adolescents aged 10-18 yrs from 486 middle-class families participating in the Nonshared Environment Study. Ratings of authoritative and authoritarian parenting were provided by trained observers using the Family Interaction Global Coding System. Survey instruments included measures of adolescent adjustment and a new index of religiosity that assessed the degree to which religious beliefs were manifested in parents' daily lives. Religiosity was associated positively with authoritative parenting for both parents. Mothers' religiosity was associated negatively with authoritarian parenting; religiosity was unrelated to fathers' authoritarian parenting. Structural equation modeling indicated both direct effects and indirect effects of mothers' and fathers' religiosity on adolescent social responsibility. [Source: PI]

Lytch, Carol E. 1999. "The Role of Parents in Anchoring Teens in Christian Faith." Family Ministry vol. 13, pp. 33-38.

Staadecker, Robin Myrick. 1999. "Preparing Daughters for the Adolescent Passage by Strengthening Their Connection to Women and to the Feminine: The Mother Daughter Goddess Group." Ph.D. Thesis, The Union Institute, Cincinnati.
Abstract: Using a multi-cultural perspective, this research looks at the endemic invisibility of women and girls as "subjects" from psychology to theology; the Euro-American secularization of the feminine; the sacred feminine in a world context; and the risks to the psychological health of girls who are compelled to separate from their mothers at the critical adolescent passage. This study examines the impact of a Mother Daughter Goddess Group (MDGG), founded in March, 1995, to intervene upon this cultural paradigm by fortifying female identity in latency age girls and their mothers, and creating a community to offer girls female support and a rite of passage. In this qualitative study the members of the MDGG, including 12 mothers and 13 daughters between the ages of 7 and 11, were interviewed to determine if their participation in the group had served to strengthen the mothers' and daughters' connection to the feminine and, in turn, their female identity, and had helped prepare the daughters for the passage from girlhood to womanhood. In the MDGG, the members use ritual and study of multi-cultural Goddesses to expand their awareness and experience of the sacred feminine. Findings included the following themes explicated from the data: daughters revealed that they highly prized the special MDGG time spent with their mothers; they understood, through their study of Goddesses, that women are strong, powerful, and sacred, not just men; they loved learning about their matrilineal heritage; and they enthusiastically welcomed being a part of a community in which to celebrate their emergence into young womanhood through ritual and rites of passage. For the mothers, the MDGG deepened their connection to the sacred, regardless of their religious affiliation; expanded their understanding of the myriad aspects of the feminine; provided a unique opportunity for strengthening the mother-daughter connection; fostered acceptance and appreciation of their female bodies; and provided a supportive community in which to celebrate womanhood with their daughters. The MDGG's intervention helped to correct the imbalance between masculine and feminine virtues in Western culture by fostering positive female self-identity which expresses a healthy complement of both masculine and feminine attributes. [Source: DA]

Wilcox, W. Bradford. 1999. "Religion and Paternal Involvement: Product of Religious Commitment or American Convention?" Paper presented at American Sociological Association (ASA).
Abstract: Using data taken from the second wave of the 1992-1994 National Survey of Families & Households, the influence of religious affiliation, attendance, & ideology on father's involvement in one-one-one activities, dinner attendance, nonreligious youth-related activities, & religious youth groups is examined. Findings reveal religious effects for each of these four measures. Moreover, the competing hypothesis is tested, ie, that these effects are artifacts of a conventional masculinity such that the type of men who are more conventional (in work, civic activities, & gender role ideology) are, as a consequence, both more religious & more involved with their children. No support for this competing hypothesis was found, which suggests that religion has an independent effect on paternal involvement. Morever, it was revealed that two indicators of this conventional masculinity - job satisfaction & civic engagement - are positively associated with paternal involvement. [Source: SA]

Buehler, C., A. Krishnakumar, G. Stone, C. Anthony, S. Pemberton, J. Gerard, and B. K. Barber. 1998. "Interparental Conflict Styles and Youth Problem Behaviors: A Two-Sample Replication Study." Journal of Marriage and the Family vol. 60, pp. 119-132.
Abstract: We examine the association between interparental conflict and youth internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors. Youth perceptions of three interparental conflict variables are studied: frequency of disagreement, parents' use of an overt conflict style, and parents' use of a covert conflict style. Data are from two samples of youth from Tennessee and Utah. Interparental conflict variables account for over 20% of the variance in youth problem behaviors, and hostile conflict styles are more strongly associated with problem behavior than is the frequency of disagreement. The results are fairly consistent for sons and daughters, preadolescent and early adolescent youth, youth in nondivorced and divorced (mother- custody) families, poor and less-poor youth, and Mormon and non-Mormon youth. [Source: SC]

Campbell, Douglas F. 1998. "Explorations of Parents' Availability to Their Children: Canadian Preacher's Kids." Family Ministry vol. 12, pp. 47-57.

Gunderson, Elaine Ruth. 1998. "Effect of Training in Communication on Relationships between Youth and Their Parents." Ed.D. Thesis, University of Minnesota.
Abstract: The purpose of this research was to determine the effectiveness of a pilot program called Youth and Parent. The intent of this program, which was under the auspices of the Augsburg Youth and Family Institute, was to improve communication between parents and their adolescent sons and daughters. During training sessions, youth interacted with other adolescents, and parents interacted with other adults in the unique peer-to-peer component in this program. This research to determine the effectiveness of the Youth and Parent program was focused on the question: When parents and their adolescent children participated in Youth and Parent training, was there any improvement in the communication and interaction within their family system as measured by Family Assessment Measure III (FAM-III)? It was assumed that an improved score from pretest to posttest indicated parents and their sons and daughters had made healthy changes in communication that positively influenced their family system. The quasi-experimental research design was made up of an experimental group which consisted of 50 youth-parent dyads from 5 Lutheran congregations in the Midwest and 26 control group dyads. FAM-III Overall Scores identified 14 youth in the experimental group as being from problem families. In addition to the analysis of all 50 families, problem families were analyzed separately. As a result of participating in Youth and Parent, in the experimental group, communication improved for the following: 66% of parents, especially mothers, in non- problem families; 75% of parents, especially mothers, in problem families; and 79% of mothers in the daughter- mother dyads. Statistically significant pretest to posttest improvement in communication was consistently indicated for mothers but not indicated for adolescents or fathers. Results provided information to support recommendations for changes that potentially could achieve greater effectiveness in the Youth and Parent pilot program. These conclusions may be applied to programs focusing on improving communication between parents and their adolescent children in religious settings. [Source: DA]

Sawyers, Pauline Sophia. 1998. "The Effects of Motivational Interviewing and Discussion on Father/Adolescent Religious Value Congruence." Ph.D. Thesis, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.
Abstract: This study represents one of the first attempts at experimentally facilitated transmission of religious beliefs/values from fathers to their adolescent children by (i) giving fathers motivational feedback about their fathering style aimed at enhancing the father/adolescent relationship and (ii) providing structured, supervised discussion of religious beliefs. Sixty-two 12-19 year-old adolescents and their fathers were randomly assigned to either a treatment or control group. At intake, all father/adolescent dyads completed the Personal Fathering Profile (Canfield, 1992), the Parent/Adolescent Communication Scale (Barnes & Olson, 1982), and the Religious Beliefs Survey (adapted from Hoge & Petrillo, 1978b). Experimental fathers received feedback about their fathering style by way of a motivational interview. They also discussed with their adolescents their inaccurate predictions of each others' responses on the Religious Beliefs Survey. One month later all families completed the questionnaires again. Control group families received the experimental manipulation after the post-test. Multiple analyses of covariance were performed to ascertain the effects of treatment on follow-up adolescent religious beliefs and father/adolescent religious belief congruence with intake values as covariates. Fathers and adolescents were significantly correlated in their religious beliefs both at intake and follow-up. In general, follow-up congruence between fathers' and adolescents' religious beliefs was not significantly higher in the experimental group than in the control group, despite significantly more religious belief discussion in experimental families between intake and follow-up. There was a marginally significant follow-up difference between treatment and control groups in father/adolescent congruence in devotionalism, with experimental adolescents resembling their fathers more on devotionalism scores. On follow-up creedal assent scores, experimental group adolescents were significantly more congruent than control group adolescents with their perceptions of their fathers' creedal assent scores. There was also an interaction between treatment group and teen age on follow-up creedal assent and on follow-up father/adolescent creedal assent congruence. In general, late adolescents' in the experimental group were more traditional, and were more congruent with their fathers than control group late adolescents and experimental group early adolescents. In age-based model was proposed to integrate relevant findings in the literature. [Source: DA]

Silverman, Brenda Kubena. 1998. "Parental Attempts at Promoting Ethnic Identity: A Qualitative Study." Ph.D. Thesis, Brigham Young University, Provo.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine specific parent behaviors and socialization concerns related to fostering their adolescent children's Jewish identity in a community where Jews are not only in the minority, but nestled in a majority culture of minimal cultural or religious diversity. Interviews were conducted among parents and adolescents of ten families. In parent interviews, the data suggest parental involvement in Jewish community activities, including synagogue and home activities designed to assert cultural identity are central features of family life, and more intense or formal than when the interviewed families loved in communities with more Jews and more cultural diversity. The adolescents reported little concern or confusion about their ethnic identity, as if being a minority in a relatively homogeneous majority culture actually sharpened their sense of ethnic identification. Parental concerns about topics a sensitive as dating and mate selection were less an issue for the adolescents, who seemed aware of their distinct culture and committed to maintaining it, while simultaneously not anxious about dating outside the culture.. The unique socio-cultural context produced more culturally specific behaviors by the parents, and a clear sense of ethnic identity among the adolescents. [Source: DA]

Wilcox, W. Bradford. 1998. "Conservative Protestant Childrearing: Authoritarian or Authoritative?" American Sociological Review vol. 63, pp. 796-809.

Danso, H. , B. Hunsberger, and M. Pratt. 1997. "The Role of Parental Religious Fundamentalism and Right-Wing Authoritarianism in Child-Rearing Goals and Practices." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion vol. 36, pp. 496-511.

Kendler, K. S., P. C. Sham, and C. J. MacLean. 1997. "The Determinants of Parenting: An Epidemiological, Multi- Informant, Retrospective Study." Psychological Medicine vol. 27, pp. 549-563.
Abstract: Background. To understand the relationship between parenting and psychopathology in offspring, it is critical to clarify the determinants of parenting behaviour itself. Methods. A 16-item version of the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) was administered to parents of epidemiologically sampled adult female-female twin pairs, who reported on the parenting they provided to their twins, and to the twins themselves who reported on the parenting they and their co-twin had received (N = 828 twin families). Using a mixed-model regression, we examined the impact on parenting, as retrospectively reported by parents and twins, of six variable domains: demographic factors, family characteristics, parental symptoms and personality, parental psychopathology, child vulnerability and childhood temperament. Results. The PBI yielded three factors: warmth (W), protectiveness (P) and authoritarianism (A). W was most strongly predicted by parental personality and psychopathology, parental marital quality, and child temperament. P and A were both most strongly predicted by parental educational level and religious fundamentalism. In addition, P was predicted by neurotic/anxious traits in both parent and child. For a number of variables that predicted W, the strength of the association was stronger when twins were reporting than when parents were reporting. Conclusions. Parenting is a complex, multi-determined set of behaviours that is influenced by parental personality, psychopathology, values and marital quality and by a range of child characteristics. W appears to be strongly influenced by parental and childhood temperament and vulnerability to psychiatric illness while P and A are more strongly influenced by 'sociological' factors such as religious affiliation and educational status. [Source: SC]

Brody, Gene H., Zolinda Stoneman, and Douglas Flor. 1996. "Parental Religiosity, Family Processes, and Youth Competence in Rural, Two-Parent African-American Families." Developmental Psychology vol. 32, pp. 696-706.
Abstract: A model that linked parental formal religiosity to children's academic competence and socioemotional adjustment during early adolescence was tested. The sample included 90 9- to 12-year-old African American youths and their married parents living in the rural South. The theoretical constructs in the model were measured through a multimethod, multi-informant design. Rural African American community members participated in the development of the self-report instruments and observational research methods. Greater parental religiosity led to more cohesive family relationships, lower levels of interparental conflict, and fewer externalizing and internalizing problems in the adolescents. Formal religiosity also indirectly influenced youth self-regulation through its positive relationship with family cohesion and negative relationship with interparental conflict. [Source: PI]

Ellison, C. G., J. P. Bartkowski, and M. L. Segal. 1996a. "Conservative Protestantism and the Parental Use of Corporal Punishment." Social Forces vol. 74, pp. 1003-1028.
Abstract: The present study develops arguments linking Conservative Protestant affiliation and conservative beliefs about the Bible with the frequency with which physical punishment is used to discipline toddlers and preschoolers (ages 1-4) and older children (ages 5-11) and explores these ideas using data from the 1987-88 National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH). Multivariate results generally confirm that parents with conservative scriptural beliefs use corporal punishment more frequently than parents with less conservative theological views. Some modest net effects of Conservative Protestant affiliation are also observed. The study identifies several promising directions for future research on religious variations in child discipline. [Source: SC]

Ellison, C. G., J. P. Bartkowski, and M. L. Segal. 1996b. "Do Conservative Protestant Parents Spank More Often? Further Evidence from the National Survey of Families and Households." Social Science Quarterly vol. 77, pp. 663-673.
Abstract: Objective. The authors explore the relationships between aspects of Conservative Protestantism and the frequency with which parents spank or slap their children. Methods. This study analyzes data from the initial wave of the National Survey of Families and Households, a large national probability sample drawn in 1987-88. Results. Parents affiliated with Conservative Protestant denominations do report using corporal punishment more often than other parents. This association appears to be due to the fact that these parents tend to believe (1) that the Bible is inerrant and (2) that the Bible contains the answers to all human problems and concerns. The link between these aspects of theological conservatism and spanking withstands controls for the parental valuation of obedience, as well as a host of sociodemographic variables. Conclusions. These findings extend our understanding of the connection between religious factors, especially theological conservatism, and child rearing practices. Further research is needed on (1) the implications of beliefs about human sinfulness for child discipline and (2) the consequences of spanking and more severe forms of physical punishment. [Source: SC]

Flynn, C. P. 1996. "Normative Support for Corporal Punishment: Attitudes, Correlates, and Implications." Aggression and Violent Behavior vol. 1, pp. 47-55.
Abstract: Corporal punishment enjoys strong normative support in American society, even in the face of growing evidence suggesting that it may be potentially harmful. This article examines Americans' attitudes toward the physical punishment of children. Support for spanking varies along such social categories as race, education religion and region The article concludes by discussing the implications of corporal punishment attitudes for scholars, professionals, and families. [Source: SC]

Hilliard, Donnie Ray. 1996. "Qualities of Successful Father-Child Relationships." Ph.D. Thesis, The University of Alabama.
Abstract: The purpose of the study was to develop an instrument (the DADS Inventory) that could be used to examine the perceptions of college students concerning the degree of success with which their fathers performed the role of fathering. A secondary purpose was to identify factors related to perceptions of successful fathering. The DADS Inventory was subjected to a factor analysis which revealed three clusters or underlying factors: communication, commitment, and religiosity. An item analysis indicated that each of the items in the DADS Inventory was significantly discriminating at the.00001 level between those respondents whose total scores fell in the top quartile and those respondents whose total scores fell in the bottom quartile. A reliability analysis indicated Cronbach Alpha values of.96 (communication),.94 (commitment), and.92 (religiosity). Six major hypotheses were examined and significant relationships were found to exist between the DADS Inventory total scores and the following variables: age of the respondent, race of the respondent, family structure, father's income, educational attainment of the father, depth of religious faith of the respondent, how much the respondent likes his/her father, the degree of closeness the respondent feels to his/her father, the degree of perceived closeness between the respondent's father and mother, the frequency with which the father read to the respondent when a child, the degree of friendship the respondent experienced with the father while growing up, the frequency with which the father played games with the respondent when he/she was a child, the degree of permissiveness/strictness of discipline which the respondent received from his/her father, whether the respondent received most of his/her discipline from father or mother, the degree to which the father used withdrawal of love, the degree to which the father used reasoning, and the degree of adolescent wellness. These findings add to a growing body of paternal health literature that may enable therapists to deal more effectively with father-child issues and that may serve as a model of paternal success for future fathers. [Source: DA]

Jones Harris, Jewel L. 1996. "African-American Adolescent Parents: Their Perceptions of Sex, Love, Intimate Relationships, Pregnancy, and Parenting." Ph.D. Thesis, Virginia Commonwealth University.
Abstract: This study examined the perceptions of twenty-two urban African American adolescent mothers and six adolescent fathers regarding their perceptions of sex, love, intimate relationships, pregnancy, and parenting. A structured interview methodology was used in combination with focus groups and academic records to determine the parents' perceptions, as well as their demographic and personal history information. An inductive data analysis using constant comparison methods was employed to identify patterns and themes evident within gender groups and between gender groups. The findings identified eight assumptions. The findings of this study indicate that: (1) The age of menses may have declined. (2) The age at first sexual intercourse does not necessarily lead to more sexual partners by first pregnancy. (3) The age of an adolescent mother's own mother when she had her first child may predict an early pregnancy for her daughter. (4) Adolescent parents did not necessarily equate love and intimate relationships with having sex. (5) Adolescent mothers did not necessarily consider their need to give or receive love as reasons for their pregnancy. (6) Adolescent parents may be deficient in their knowledge of child development. (7) Adolescent parents are not necessarily abusive parents. (8) Early parenthood may be a consequence of educational derailment. (9) Poverty may precede adolescent pregnancy. Implications of these findings include the need for intensive academic and vocational preparation programs for urban African American adolescents, more consistent, specific, and comprehensive sex education and family planning programs, and more business, community, and religion-driven mentoring programs for inner-city youth. Suggestions for future research were also addressed. [Source: DA]

Bartkowski, John P. and Christopher G. Ellison. 1995. "Divergent Models of Childrearing in Popular Manuals: Conservative Protestants Vs. The Mainstream Experts." Sociology of Religion vol. 56, pp. 21-34.

Ceballo, Rosario E. 1995. "Living in Dangerous Neighborhoods: The Effects on Poor, African American Single Mothers and Their Children." Ph.D. Thesis, The University of Michigan.
Abstract: This dissertation investigated how families are affected by residing in dangerous, poverty-stricken neighborhoods. Specifically, the study explores the impact of neighborhood characteristics on the parenting behavior of single, African American mothers and on the academic values and socioemotional functioning of their adolescent children. Interview data from a sample of 262 poor, African American, single mothers and their seventh and eighth grade children was utilized. Assessments of neighborhood quality consisted of both subjective and objective measures. The objective neighborhood measures included police crime statistics and U.S. census data. In the first model, greater receipt of social support predicted higher levels of maternal nurturance and this positive relation between social support and nurturance was moderated by neighborhood conditions, for mothers of adolescent boys. As neighborhood conditions worsened, receipt of instrumental social support was no longer as strongly related to mothers' nurturant parenting. This finding was bolstered by its presence with four different indicators of neighborhood quality: mothers' subjective assessments of the neighborhood, rates of violent crime, neighborhood poverty rates, and percentage of female headed households in the neighborhood. More demonstrations of nurturant parenting were, in turn, related to healthy socioemotional functioning among adolescent males. An effect of neighborhood conditions on African American adolescents' educational values emerged in the second model after controlling for a host of family and school-related constructs. For African American female adolescents, those who resided in neighborhoods with lower median household incomes tended to view education as less important and less useful. Conversely, for adolescent males, neighborhood characteristics did not predict educational values. Additionally, twenty mothers participated in follow-up, qualitative interviews that further illuminated the quantitative results and provided detailed examples of how community violence strains family life. From these interviews, four strategies used by mothers to cope with pressing environmental dangers were identified: (1) withdrawal from the neighborhood, (2) vigilant parenting, (3) establishment of "open" relationships with their children, and (4) reliance on religious faith or beliefs. [Source: DA]

Giesbrecht, Norman. 1995. "Parenting Style and Adolescent Religious Commitment." Journal of Psychology and Christianity vol. 14, pp. 228-238.
Abstract: Explored the relationship of parental religious commitment, parenting styles and spousal agreement in parenting style to adolescent religious commitment. 132 adolescents and their parents completed the Intrinsic-Extrinsic (Revised) Scale, Parental Authority Questionnaire, and the Cornell Parent Behavior Description. It was found that parental religious commitment was not significantly related to adolescents' religious commitment. A permissive parenting style was significantly related to extrinsic social commitment, mainly among male Ss. Cluster analysis revealed 4 distinct adolescent religious profiles. It was concluded that an authoritative and supportive parenting style and spousal agreement in parenting style appeared to be instrumental in fostering intrinsic religious commitment among adolescents. [Source: PI]

Gilessims, J., M. A. Straus, and D. B. Sugarman. 1995. "Child, Maternal, and Family Characteristics Associated with Spanking." Family Relations vol. 44, pp. 170-176.
Abstract: This article presents descriptive data on frequency and distribution of spanking by mothers in tile National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) . Spanking rates are high for all groups, but patterns also vary by age sex, SES, marital status, ethnicity religion, region, and community type. Policy discussion focuses on reevaluation of spanking norms, arguments for using the term corporal punishment in research and policy and strategies to reduce the use of physical force as discipline. [Source: SC]

Gushee, D.P. 1995. "Christian Fatherhood: A Moral Paradigm for the Age of Fatherlessness." Review and Expositor vol. 92, pp. 435-448.

Hay, Steven D. 1995. "Maternal Employment, Parent-Adolescent Closeness and Adolescent Competence." Ph.D. Thesis, Brigham Young University.
Abstract: This study examined the relationships between maternal employment, adolescent employment, extracurricular activities, and closeness between parents and adolescents among a sample of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A related focus was the relationship between parent-adolescent closeness and adolescent competency as represented by educational aspirations, self-esteem, and juvenile delinquency. It was found that maternal employment was not significantly related to parent-adolescent closeness. The strongest variable predicting LDS adolescents' closeness to their parents was the adolescents' perception of their parents marital quality. Parent-adolescent closeness was significantly related to girls' self-esteem, and negatively related to adolescent juvenile delinquency for both boys and girls. Maternal employment was positively related to victimless delinquency for both boys and girls. Close parent-adolescent relationships promote adolescent social competence. [Source: DA]

Hertel, Bradley R. and Michael J. Donahue. 1995. "Parental Influences on God Images among Children: Testing Durkheim's Metaphoric Parallelism." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion vol. 34, pp. 186-199.
Abstract: Tested E. Durkheim's (1912 [1972]) thesis for parallels between parenting styles reported by children and the images of God held by both generations. A survey was conducted on 8,000 5th to 9th graders and 10,000 parents. Only 2-parent families, represented by the youth and both parents, were included. These Ss belonged to 6 churches: Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, United Church of Christ, and Roman Catholic. God images, parenting styles, doctrinal conservatism, and social class were measured through the survey. Parents' images of God influenced their parenting styles. Children's reports of loving or authoritarian parenting styles was related to the corresponding God images, and their loving or authoritarian God images were related to corresponding parental God images. Results support Durkeim's theories of metaphoric parallelism. [Source: PI]

Brody, G. H., Z. Stoneman, D. Flor, and C. McCrary. 1994. "Religion's Role in Organizing Family Relationships - Family Process in Rural, 2-Parent African-American Families." Journal of Marriage and the Family vol. 56, pp. 878-888.
Abstract: We proposed a family process model that links maternal and paternal formal religiosity to marital interaction quality, parental co-caregiver support and conflict, parent-youth relationship quality, and parental use of inconsistent/nattering parenting strategies. The sample included 90 African American youths and their married parents, who lived in the rural South. African-American community members participated in the development of the self-report instruments and observational research methods used to test the model. The results supported most of the hypotheses. Religiosity was linked with higher levels of marital interaction quality and co-caregiver support, and with lower levels of marital and co-caregiver conflict. The associations between religiosity and parent-youth relationship quality were mediated by the marital and co-caregiver relationships. [Source: SC]

Butler, Ronald E. 1994. "The Study of the Relationships between Child-Rearing Practices of Parents and the Religious Orientation and Spiritual Well-Being of Their High School-Age Children." Thesis, Talbot School of Theology, Biola University.

Glesbrecht, Norman. 1994. "Parental Factors Related to and Predictive of Adolescent Religious Commitment." M.Ed. Thesis, The University of Regina (Canada).
Abstract: The influence of parents' religious commitment, parenting support and control style and spousal agreement in parenting style on adolescents' religious commitment was examined in this study. Subjects consisted of 132 students, 14 through 18 years of age, and their parents. The students attended a conservative evangelical high school in rural Saskatchewan. Correlations and step-wise multiple regression were used to identify the parental factors related to and predictive of adolescent religious commitment. The following conclusions were drawn: (a) parenting style and spousal agreement in parenting style but not parental faith were significantly related to adolescent religious commitment, (b) adolescent Intrinsic commitment was significantly and positively related to and predicted by parental authoritative control and support, spousal authoritarian and permissive control agreement, and the God concepts of Forgiving and Freeing, (c) socially-oriented Extrinsic commitment in male adolescents was significantly and positively related to and predicted by father's and mother's permissive control, and (d) personally-oriented Extrinsic commitment in female adolescents was significantly and negatively related to and predicted by mother's authoritative control and support. An additional analysis clustered adolescent scores into four groups: Intrinsic, Indiscriminately Pro-Religious, Status Quo, and Anti-Religious. These categories differed significantly in parental authoritative and permissive control, support, and spousal authoritarian and permissive agreement. [Source: DA]

Johnson, Matthew Allen. 1994. "The Effect of a Father's Locus of Control and Spiritual Well-Being on His Adolescent Child's Self-Esteem." Psy.D. Thesis, George Fox College, Newberg.
Abstract: Parents influence their children in many ways. One crucial area of parental influence in a child's life is in the development of his/her self-esteem. Many studies have demonstrated this fact. However, they have tended to focus on the mother-child relationship rather than the father-child relationship. Self-esteem is a complex construct which can be used to objectively measure the self-respect, self-worth, and the appreciation of one's own merits while recognizing one's own faults. The purpose of this study was to identify the significant interaction effects of a father's locus of control and spiritual well-being on his adolescent child's self-esteem. The population studied consisted of 83 fathers and their 93 adolescent children (grades nine through twelve) who were enrolled in five nondenominational Christian high schools in the greater area of Anchorage, Alaska. Five nondenominational Christian high schools agreed to participate in this study, thus comprising a population census. The dependent variable was Self-Esteem, as measured by the total score on the Rosenberg Self-Esteem (RSE) scale. The two independent variables were Locus of Control, as measured by the total score on Rotter's Locus of Control (LOC) scale, and Spiritual Well-Being, as measured by the total score on Ellison and Paloutzian's Spiritual Well-Being (SWB) scale. The SPSS subprogram Analysis of Variance, through the regression procedure, was used to analyze the data. Significant interaction effects were found only for locus of control and spiritual well-being on male adolescent self-esteem. Significant main effects were not found for locus of control nor spiritual well-being. These results suggest that a father's locus of control interacting with his spiritual well-being only influences his male adolescent child's self-esteem. This information increases the body of knowledge concerning the father-child relationship, which in turn can be used to promote the development of high self-esteem in adolescent children. [Source: DA]

Mittelstaedt, Mary E. 1994. "Intergenerational Family Patterns of Teen Mothers Associated with Successful Versus Not So Successful Mother-Infant Attachment/Interaction." Ph.D. Thesis, Michigan State University.
Abstract: The relationship between a parent and a child is crucial to the child's development. This study addresses two areas of adolescent parenting in which there exists a paucity of research: (a) teen mothers who are successful in developing a supportive relationship with their children versus those who are having difficulty and (b) the intergenerational family influences on the mother-child relationships of these teen mothers. This qualitative descriptive study used a synthesis of styles and methodologies to explore the similarities and differences in the intergenerational families of teens who have a supportive relationship with their babies and those who do not. A standardized mother-child interactional instrument was used to score the quality of mother-child videotaped interactions between 106 mothers and children participating in a mid-Michigan adolescent parent program. Five participant families (a teen and one adult from each family) were then selected from each of the score distribution extremes to participate in an interview. In the interview, each family told their family story and constructed a family genogram. A constant comparative analysis of the interview transcriptions and genograms identified three core categories: family frame, family characteristics, and family function. Differences between the two groups of family participants pointed out several persistent intergenerational stressors that appear to influence the ecological system of these families: family size, family spacing, generational compression, cultural origin and mobility, socioeconomics, housing, religion, relationships, perceptions of family status, role of the rule makers and breakers, and daily routines. These social stressors experienced by several generations seem indicative of intergenerational distress. The greater the amount of intergenerational distress expressed in the family stories of the informants, the more difficulty the teen appeared to have in forming a supportive relationship with her baby. [Source: DA]

Robertson, Rodney. 1994. "A Biblical and Practical Analysis of Intra-Family Communication and Its Effect on the Youth Ministry at Black Rock Congregational Church." Thesis, Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas.
Abstract: The project sets forth four foundational principles necessary for effective family life and the development of a proper intra-family communication pattern. The project also examines eight of the most common family communication patterns, considering in each case a general description of the pattern; its impact on family members; a comparison with biblical principles; the impact it has on youth ministry in the local church; and suggestions for changes and improvements. A learning system is included, designed to teach the basic content of the project. [Source: RI]

Wah, C. R. 1994. "Religion in Child-Custody and Visitation Cases - Presenting the Advantage of Religious Participation." Family Law Quarterly vol. 28, pp. 269-287.

Ellison, C. G. and D. E. Sherkat. 1993. "Conservative Protestantism and Support for Corporal Punishment." American Sociological Review vol. 58, pp. 131-144.
Abstract: Conservative Protestants disproportionately support the use of corporal punishment. We theorize that their relative enthusiasm for corporal punishment reflects the impact of three components of religious ideology: (1) an acceptance of the doctrine of biblical literalism; (2) the conviction that human nature (and hence the nature of young children) is inherently sinful; (3) and the belief that human sin demands punishment. These arguments about the religious roots of support for corporal punishment are evaluated using data from the 1988 General Social Survey. OLS and structural equation models generally confirm our theoretical model. The findings invite further research into the impact of religious factors on parental values and practices. [Source: SC]

Jeffries, Vincent. 1993. "Virtue and Attraction: Validation of a Measure of Love." Journal of Social and Personal Relationships vol. 10, pp. 99-117.
Abstract: 479 undergraduates completed measures of self-esteem and faith in people, and a separate sample of 233 undergraduates (all Ss 17-46 yrs old) completed the Relationship Rating Form ([RRF] K. E. Davis and M. J. Todd, unpublished manuscript) and a measure of parental support. The RRF was used to measure Ss' self-reported love for their parents during their teenage years and Ss' perceived love of their parents for them. Results indicate that virtue and attraction are separate dimensions of love and that these dimensions are related to parental support. The RRF, self-esteem, and faith in people consistently showed discriminant validity when related to need fulfillment, religiosity, and altruism and criterion-related validity when related to parental divorce. A preliminary theory of love is considered, and the relationship between (1) virtue and attraction and (2) passion is discussed. [Source: PI]

Hampton, Bessie Ann Watson. 1992. "The Effects of a Community-Based, Church-Affiliated Intervention Program on the Self-Perceived Psychosocial Problems of Unwed Pregnant and/or Parenting Adolescents in a South-Atlantic Urban Area: Administrative Implications." Ed.D. Thesis, Morgan State University, Baltimore.
Abstract: This study compared the effects of two intervention programs, a Church-Affiliated Adolescent Pregnancy Enrichment Program (CAAPEP) and a Hospital Adolescent Outpatient Obstetrical Clinic (HAOOC), on the self-perceived psychosocial problems of fifty-two unwed pregnant and/or parenting adolescent girls. The following hypotheses were investigated: (1) Unwed pregnant and/or parenting adolescents who receive intervention strategies at a community-based, church-affiliated intervention program will have identified fewer self-perceived psychosocial problems than those who receive intervention strategies at an outpatient obstetrical clinic. (2) Unwed pregnant and/or parenting adolescents who more frequently attend a community-based, church-affiliated intervention program will have identified fewer self-perceived psychosocial problems than those who attend less frequently. The target population for this study was unwed pregnant and/or parenting adolescents participating in two intervention programs located in a South-Atlantic urban area of the United States. The data were analyzed, by the Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA), to determine the effects of two different intervention programs on the self-perceived psychosocial problems of pregnant and/or parenting adolescent girls. The significance level was set at.05. The data analyses did not support Hypothesis One. The results of the study, however, suggest that intervention programs may contribute to the reduction of adolescents' self-perceived psychosocial problems in a community-based, church-affiliated program, CAAPEP. Specifically, although there was no significant difference between posttest means of the two treatment groups; the posttest mean, for the CAAPEP group was lower than the pretest mean. The data analyses supported Hypothesis Two, it was significant at the.05 level of significance. The results of the study indicate that frequent attendance, when compared to infrequent attendance at the church-affiliated adolescent intervention program, CAAPEP, significantly lessened the girls' self-perceived psychosocial problems. The results of the analyses permitted the researcher to conclude that unwed pregnant and/or parenting adolescents who frequently participate in a church-affiliated intervention program may have a reduction in their identified self-perceived psychosocial problems. [Source: DA]

Johnson, Timothy S. 1991. "Designing and Implementing a Program of Parenting Skills for Parents of Pre-Adolescent Children in Hyde Park Baptist Church of Denison Tx." Thesis, Christian Theological Seminary.
Abstract: The author attempts to integrate the strategic family therapy approach and the pastoral care model with adolescent drug abusers and their families, and presents a literature review and a case study to demonstrate such integration. The author also explains some unifying concepts between strategic family therapy relationships, the adolescent's religious needs and alienation syndrome, as well as an overview of drug abuse in the West Bank. The integration of strategic family therapy and pastoral care is an answer to adolescent drug abuse. [Source: RI]

Ristuccia, Matthew P. 1991. "Ministers' Children: A Correlational and Theological Study." D.Min. Thesis, Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas.
Abstract: Legends and comments abound concerning the "preacher's kid" or minister's child ("MC"). Such lore may be detrimental to the child, his family and congregation. In an attempt to assess the validity of such legends, an empirical study was designed to answer the question, "what effect does growing up in the home of a minister (in particular, an evangelical minister) have on one's adult church involvement?" The core of the study was a field instrument entitled the Adult MC Inventory. Administered to MCs age eighteen and above, the Inventory was used to quantify three childhood variables (dissonance-consistency, intrusion-differentiation, distance-intimacy) and three adult variables (doctrine, involvement, calling). The numerical values obtained were subjected to a series of standard statistical analyses to isolate any correlations between childhood and adult variables. Only one childhood variable, distance-intimacy, had statistically significant correlations with the adult variables. The more intimacy prevailed in the MC's childhood, the more likely the MC was to make adult religious choices similar to the father's. The other two childhood variables, which would have been more distinctive of a ministry home, did not correlate in any way. These results were confirmed by two other sources of data: an Assemblies of God youth survey taken in 1987 and a series of adult MC interviews conducted during winter, 1989-1990. In all cases, intimacy was singled out as the dominant correlate between MC childhood experience and adult church involvement. These findings were shown to indicate a continuity between MCs and their lay counterparts: paternal intimacy was more influential in spiritual development than were particular stresses of ministry homes. The cumulative evidence discouraged viewing MCs as special cases. The empirical findings were placed within a theological framework by examining the Fatherhood of God. There again, intimacy was shown to be the dominant feature. On the basis of the divine model, suggestions were made for handling the secondary matters of dissonance and intrusion in the minister's family. More importantly, the divine model of Fatherhood also offered suggestions for deepening intimacy within the ministry (and non-ministry) home. [Source: DA]

Vogel, Ruth Seltzer. 1991. "The Impact of the Level of Parents' Religious Observance on Discipline Style and on the Moral Orientation of Young Adolescents." Ph.D. Thesis, Temple University.
Abstract: This study investigated the relationship between parental religiosity and parental discipline styles, and the impact of these upon children's moral development. Subjects were 149 suburban Philadelphia adolescents and their mothers. The adolescent subjects completed the Defining Issues Test, measuring moral reasoning. Mothers completed either a Catholic or Jewish Religious Practices Questionnaire, measuring religiosity; a Parents' Discipline Survey, measuring preference for discipline style and type of induction; and a personal data questionnaire consisting of questions on demographic background. The relationship among overall discipline style (use of power assertion, love withdrawal, and induction), religion and religiosity was tested through multiple analysis of variance (MANOVA), as was the relationship between religion, religiosity, and the content of inductions (induction-regarding-parents, induction-regarding-peers, and matter-of-fact induction). The relationship between religion, religiosity, and adolescents' moral reasoning skills was tested with an analysis of variance (ANOVA). In addition, significant findings were tested with analyses of variance (ANOVA's) in order to establish the relationship between these findings and demographic variables. There were no significant differences in overall discipline patterns according to the religiosity of the mothers. Most mothers preferred induction (explanations) over other discipline techniques. No significant differences were found in preference for type of induction according to religiosity. Most mothers showed a slight preference for matter-of-fact inductions. Further, no significant differences found between Catholic and Jewish mothers in overall discipline patterns or preference for type of induction. For adolescents, no significant differences were found between P scores on the DIT according to religiosity. However, Jewish adolescents showed a significantly stronger preference for principled moral reasoning than did Catholic adolescents. A significant association was found to exist between mothers' college education and children's preference for principled moral reasoning. The higher P scores of the Jewish adolescents appear to reflect the higher educational level of the Jewish mothers. Further, a significant negative trend exists between mothers' level of education and the tendency to disciple with love withdrawal. [Source: DA]

Wheeler, Mark S. 1991. "The Relationship between Parenting Style and the Spiritual Well-Being and Religiosity of College Students." Christian Education Journal vol. 11, pp. 51-62.

Grossman, Beth L. 1990. "Children of Interfaith Marriage." Thesis, Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Halsey, Alison E. 1990. "Will Your Children Have Faith? The Effect Parents Have on the Faith Development of Their Younger Adolescent Children." D.Min. Thesis, Colgate Rochester Divinity School/Bexley Hall/Crozer Theol. Seminary, Rochester.

Lloyd, Debra Heard. 1990. "The Effect of Parental Control Styles on the Religious Orientation of Southern Baptist Mid-Adolescents." Ed.D. Thesis, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville.
Abstract: The purpose of the dissertation was to examine the relationship between parental control styles and adolescent religious orientation. Religious orientation was defined as "the way one experiences religion" and was determined to include one's horizontal, vertical, liberating, and restricting perceptions of religion. Adolescent religion was examined in light of developmental and family- socialization factors as well as faith and God-image research. In chapter three, parental control was defined as "an approach used by parents to determine, modify, and discuss the child's obligations and responsibilities, and three styles of parental control (including a measure of support and control) were identified--authoritarian, permissive, and democratic styles. An overview was given as to the effects of the various control styles on several factors related to adolescent religion. It was determined that democratic control style, consisting of high support and high control, was most conducive to positive self-esteem, higher moral reasoning, conformity to parental expectations, and a positive religious commitment. Chapter four described the actual empirical research which examined the effects of three parental control styles, authoritarian, permissive, and democratic, on five aspects of religious orientation, centrality of religion, horizontal, vertical, liberating, and restricting orientations of 196 Southern Baptist high schoolers. Comparing the three control styles, adolescents whose parents used democratic control saw religion as more important than those whose parents used authoritarian or permissive control. Youth with democratic parents also had lower restricting scores than those with permissive parents. It was also found that as authoritarian parenting increased, centrality of religion decreased and as permissive parenting increased, restricting religion also increased. As mother permissive control or father authoritarian control increased, vertical religious orientation decreased. Chapter five discussed the research findings and then suggested some implication of the results for the church and the family. The importance of democratic parenting for building mature faith was noted as well as suggestions for promoting a balance between liberating and restricting, horizontal and vertical religious orientations among adolescents. [Source: DA]

Schoellmann, Edward R. 1990. "A Comparative Study of Paternal Nurturance as Experienced by Select Categories of Early Adolescent Children." Ed.D. Thesis, Texas Southern University.
Abstract: This study investigated and compared the experiences of paternal nurturance by early adolescent children. It was designed to determine if there is a difference in a father's nurturance as experienced by the early adolescent child in varying groups in the select categories of sex, ethnicity, religious affiliation, family configuration, and family income. The child's experience of paternal nurturance was measured with the Buri, Misukanis, and Mueller Paternal Nurturance Scale (1988). This is a 24-item Likert-type scale used to measure parental nurturance from the viewpoint of an adolescent evaluating the nurturance he or she has received from his or her father (Buri, Hengel, Komar, and Richtmeier, 1989). A child begins acculturation within the setting of his/her family. There is a commonness in the socialization of persons experiencing the same culture and society. Parents and family members bring this into the home of the child; however, mothers and fathers each represent differing modes of socialization (Johnson, 1972). This study focused on the early adolescent child's experience of a father's nurturance. Aspects of the father's nurturant activity affect attachments, self-concepts, self-esteem, gender orientation, and cognitive development. Normal and healthy development in all of these areas assist socialization of the child in preparation for a wholesome, and satisfying life in the adult world. This study tested twenty Null Hypotheses of a child's experience of paternal nurturance by the father. Ten of the hypotheses were supported and ten were rejected. When one compares variables of ethnicity, family configurations, religion, age, and income, it shows that there are differences in experienced nurturance among children within these groupings. The findings of this study provide information for parents, religious leaders, teachers, counselors, and persons working in the delivery of social services. Information in this study is also of value for family life awareness programs. It can alert fathers to their parenting habits, the needs of their children, and with this awareness, possibly help them avoid future family crises. [Source: DA]

Wiehe, Vernon R. 1990. "Religious Influence on Parental Attitudes toward the Use of Corporal Punishment." Journal of Family Violence vol. 5, pp. 173-186.
Abstract: A literal interpretation of certain Biblical passages can be understood as advocating the use of corporal punishment in disciplining children. Here, the disciplinary attitudes of persons affiliated with religious denominations that emphasize such a literal belief are compared to those of their counterparts affiliated with denominations that do not subscribe to such an interpretation (total N = 881 in 5 southern states), drawing on data obtained using the Adult Adolescent Parenting Inventory. Statistically significant differences were noted on the physical punishment scale: regardless of gender or level of education, members of churches subscribing to a literal belief in the Bible preferred the use of corporal punishment over alternate methods of discipline as compared to their nonliteral counterparts. [Source: SA]

Yopp, Michael Steven. 1990. "An Investigation of the Impact of Family Marital Status Upon the Self-Esteem of Adolescents in a Mental Institution with Implications for Pastoral Counseling." Ed.D. Thesis, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.
Abstract: This research was designed to determine whether significant differences existed between the self-esteem levels of troubled adolescents from intact families versus troubled adolescents from divorced families and to discover implications for pastoral counseling. Chapter one contains the statement of the problem, statement of the subproblems, hypotheses, delimitation, definition of terms, assumptions and importance of the research. Chapter two consists of a review of the related literature examining adolescence; previous studies of the relationship between the family and self-esteem; and the impact that divorce has upon the family. Chapter three details the methods and procedures of the research including population, subjects, sample selection, instrumentation, method of conducting research, and statistical analysis. Chapter four contains the results of the research collected from the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory and personal data sheet. General results revealed under four of the variables (age, race, gender, religion) evaluated that there was not a significant difference between troubled adolescents from divorced or intact families. Significant differences in the self-esteem levels between troubled adolescents from intact families and troubled adolescents from divorced families was revealed. Chapter five consists of the summary, conclusions, strengths and limitations of the study and the study's relationship to pastoral counseling. The major conclusion from the research was that family marital status may have a significant impact upon the self-esteem level of adolescents in a mental institution. The possibility of utilizing the information for the general adolescent population are discussed. Chapter six gives a brief understanding of pastoral counseling and discusses the applicability of pastoral counseling to assist in the maintenance and increase of self-esteem levels in adolescents dealing with divorce in their family of origin. [Source: DA]

Pimley, Scott Mitchell. 1989. "Socialization for Interaction and Participation: The Role of the Family in Adolescent Social Activity." Ph.D. Thesis, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley.
Abstract: Sociologists consider the manner in which people interact with others and participate in activities important in defining social life for those individuals. They also have a strong interest in how families socialize adolescents for social activity outside the family, though little work has been done on these processes. My study examines the family's role in socializing adolescents for interaction with peers and for involvement in groups. I examine how parental models of interaction and participation affect their children's behavior in these areas of life. I also examine how relations between parents and children, parental marital quality, their power dynamics, and the relative influence of family and friends affect children's extra-familial participation. I examine six dimensions of interaction with peers: social adeptness, gregariousness, consideration, heterosexual interest, initiating humor and expressing hostility directly. I examine four types of participation in activities: joining organizations (e.g., church groups, etc.) self-expressive activities (sports, musical, hobbies) and passive activities (reading, viewing television and movies) and all activities. I use correlational data on 102 intact families ranging from upper-working through upper-middle classes. Parents have no effect on some aspects of children's interaction with peers. As boys get along better with parents, however, they are less likely to initiate humor or to be interested in the opposite sex. Boys whose fathers display more positive affect in the family, are more considerate with peers. Girls whose mothers are easier to get along with score higher on several aspects of interaction, especially social adeptness. Several parental factors affect girls expressing hostility directly, some negatively, some positively. As sons get along better with both parents, their participation in passive activities and all activities increases. Girls who get along better with their mothers participate more in joining and all activities, while those who get along better with fathers are less involved in self-expressive activities. Parents' roles as "socializing agents" for these activities are limited, but nonetheless important. Parental models and family dynamics do affect adolescent extra-familial social life. The family does have an impact on those social skills which sociologists consider essential in structuring social life. [Source: DA]

Schwab, Ellen Marks. 1989. "The Father-Daughter Relationship During Adolescence: Its Perceived Impact on Sex Role and Sexual Identity, Heterosexuality, Personal Adjustment and Achievement." Ed.D. Thesis, Boston University, Boston.
Abstract: The purpose of this research was: (1) to examine a group of high school sophomore and junior adolescent females' perceptions of their relationships with their fathers, retrospectively before and during adolescence; (2) to explore whether or not any changes in the relationship reportedly occurred after the daughter's adolescence began, and if so, what the changes were; (3) to explore the impact the father-daughter relationship reputedly had on female sex role identity, both before and after adolescence began; (4) and additionally, to explore its purported impact on the daughter's personal adjustment, heterosexuality and achievement. A volunteer group of 74 sophomore and junior high school girls were recruited from a suburban town approximately 25 miles outside of a major northeastern city in the United States. They were primarily white, Protestant or Catholic females from middle income families. Each subject was asked to complete a demographic questionnaire, and three paper and pencil instruments: Schaefer's (1965) Children's Report of Parent Behavior Inventory; Bem's (1981) Sex Role Inventory; and Gough and Heilbrun's Adjective Check List, including subscales measuring heterosexuality, personal adjustment and achievement. In addition, in order to collect some illustrative information, four girls were randomly selected to participate in individual, semi-structured interviews. Analysis of the data yielded by the scales confirmed or partially confirmed (p <.05) five out of seven hypotheses. Generally, these were that: (1) differences tended to exist between the androgynous and undifferentiated sex role rated groups in terms of the perceived relationships they had with their fathers, (2) relationships were found to exist between heterosexuality scores and some of the perceived paternal behaviors, (3) differences tended to exist between the androgynous and undifferentiated sex role rated groups in relationship to their heterosexuality scores, (4) a relationship was found between the masculine sex role rated group and high scores on the achievement scale, (5) and differences were found in the before and after age twelve paternal behavior ratings. The data analysis for each hypothesis were assessed and discussed as were the results of the demographic variables. Recommendations for future research, as well as implications for counseling practice, were made. [Source: DA]

Wilson, Jeannette D. 1989. "The Relationship between Parental Behavior and Adolescent Self-Esteem: A Cross-Cultural Study in the U.S. And Brazil." Ph.D. Thesis, The University of Tennessee.
Abstract: Cultural variation in the relationship of parental behaviors to adolescent self-esteem was tested through secondary analysis of a cross-cultural data set (Ferreria & Thomas, 1984). The sample, 393 urban middle class students from two Catholic high schools in the U.S. and Brazil, was split evenly by gender and culture. Cross-cultural comparability was assured. Varimax rotated factor analysis was performed on 75 parental behavior items selected from three standard instruments (Heilbrun, 1964; Devereaux, et al., 1969; Schaefer, 1965), and 21 items measuring self-esteem (Rosenberg, 1965; Openshaw, et al, 1981). The factor structures of the dependent and independent variables in each culture were found to be very similar across cultures. Models of adolescent socialization in the family context were tested in both cultures in two specific ways: (1) four dimensions of self-esteem were identified (Social Worth and Self-Derogation from Rosenberg, Positive Self-esteem and Self-Esteem Power from a Semantic Differential scale), (2) the relationships between these four dimensions of self-esteem were tested with seven similarly identified parental behavior scales (General Support, Companionship, Physical Affection, Induction, Coercion, Love Withdrawal and Inconsistent Control) employing regression analysis cross-culturally. Our hypotheses of significant influence between adolescent perceptions of parental behaviors (Induction, Coercion, Physical Affection, Companionship) and adolescent Self-Derogation and Social Worth were not supported. General support from both parents in the U.S., and fathers in Brazil, were influential with adolescent Self-Derogation and Social Worth. Significant cultural differences were found only for mothers. U.S. parental behaviors were more influential. Parental support was found to be more important than control in both cultures, especially for fathers in Brazil. Mother control was found to be more influential than father control in both cultures. Overall, more similarities than differences were noted. [Source: DA]

Riggs, H. L. 1988. "Contributions of the Black Adolescent Mother and Her Newborn toward the Establishment of Dyadic Adaptation." Ph.D. Thesis, The University of Texas at Austin.
Abstract: A descriptive study of 51 black adolescent mother/neonate dyads explored the relationships of maternal/infant variables and dyadic adaptation. One observation of dyadic adaptative behaviors was made using the Nursing Child Assessment Feeding Scale (NCAFS) before hospital discharge. Maternal variables, self-esteem and social support, were measured by the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale and the Inventory of Socially Supportive Behaviors. Infant variables included size (small for gestational age (SGA), appropriate for gestational age (AGA), and large for gestational age (LGA)) and internal organization represented by the constructs of the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (BNBAS), habituation, orientation, motor performance, range of state, regulation of state, autonomic response, and reflexes. A significance level of p < 0.10 was justified with the small sample size. Data were collected over 10 months in a southwest medical center. The primiparous mothers between the ages of 14 and 18 had at least minimal prenatal care and delivered vaginally healthy, term infants who were bottle-fed. The average mother was 17 years old, single, Protestant and living with one or more siblings and her mother, the source of financial support. She completed 9th grade, entered prenatal care about the 4th month, and averaged seven visits. Forty-six (90.2%) of the 51 infants were AGA. The Pearson correlation coefficient yielded no significant relationship between maternal self-esteem and either dyadic adaptation (r =.02) or maternal social support (r =.03) nor between infant size and dyadic adaptation (r =.14). A significant relationship existed between maternal social support and dyadic adaptation (r =.35, p =.006). No significant relationships were identified by the regression analysis of infant internal organization constructs and dyadic adaptation, although motor performance appeared to be most predictive of adaptation (beta weight =.273; Multiple R =.237). In the regression analysis of infant size as the predictor variable of internal organization a significant relationship existed between size and the construct range of state at p =.09 (Multiple R =.237). Since findings represent one point in the adaptive process and cannot be generalized beyond the study sample, replication of the study with a larger sample size and longitudinal follow-up examinations are recommended. (Scientific symbols modified where possible in accordance with CINAHL policy.) [Source: CI]

Smith, Althea. 1988. "Responsibility of the African-American Church as a Source of Support for Adolescent Fathers." Urban League Review vol. 12, pp. 83-90.
Abstract: It is argued that the traditionally supportive role of the Afro-American church with regard to the family must be extended to adolescent fathers, & that its traditionally intolerant attitude toward early pregnancies has to change. Adolescent fathers have various concerns: their education/vocation; the health of the mother & baby; their future parenthood; & their relationship with their partner. The church today needs to create opportunities for the educational & professsional advancement of Afro-American youth by providing family & parenting services & education on sexuality & responsible sexual behavior. A. Devic [Source: SA]

Goldberg, Christine L. 1987. "Child Temperament: Its Impact on Adolescent Mothers at Risk for Child Maltreatment." D.S.W. Thesis, Arizona State University.
Abstract: This exploratory study examines perceptions of child temperament as well as a variety of sociodemographic attributes among a population of adolescent mothers whose children are considered to be at risk for maltreatment. Child temperament and sociodemographic questionnaires were administered to 50 young mothers, 23 of whom were labeled as involved in maltreatment and 27 of whom were not so labeled. Respondents were contacted through the Via de Amistad Program of Chicanos Por La Causa, Inc. (CPLC), Phoenix, Arizona, which offers social services to pregnant and/or parenting adolescents. The findings indicate that CPLC mothers, regardless of their history of maltreatment label, generally perceived their children as having difficult temperaments. Unlike maternal perceptions of child temperament, a variety of sociodemographic variables significantly differentiated mother-child dyads having been labeled as involved in maltreatment from those not so labeled. These variables included mother's age, race, and religion, child's age and gender, and live-in support systems that incorporated the mother's parents, siblings, extended family, and/or friends. Specifically, younger adolescent mothers who were Hispanic and Catholic were less likely to be labeled as involved in maltreatment than older adolescent mothers who were non-Hispanic and non-Catholic. Children under 12 months of age were less likely to be labeled as involved in maltreatment than were children over 12 months, and female children were less likely to be labeled than were male children. Finally, dyads who resided with the adolescent mother's parents, siblings, extended family, and/or friends were less likely to be labeled as involved in maltreatment than were those without such live-in support systems. [Source: DA]

Alwin, Duane F. 1986. "Religion and Parental Child-Rearing Orientations: Evidence of a Catholic-Protestant Convergence." American Journal of Sociology pp. 412-440.

Ambert, Anne Marie and Jean Francois Saucier. 1986. "Adolescents' Overt Religiosity and Parents' Marital Status." International Journal of Comparative Sociology vol. 27, pp. 87-95.
Abstract: A comparison of religious behavior in adolescents (N = 275) from families of differing parental marital status, based on questionnaire data collected in public & private high schools & Colls in Montreal, Quebec. Adolescents from separated/divorced families had the lowest rate of church attendance, & those from legally intact families the highest; adolescents from widowed families were intermediate. Sex differences in similarities are also examined. The possible relevance of overt religiosity to family disruption & cohesion is examined. [Source: SA]

Danser, Donald Bruce. 1986. "The Impact of Religious Activity, Belief, and Commitment Upon Parental Discipline and Family Interaction." Ph.D. Thesis, Virginia Commonwealth University.
Abstract: Father-mother-son triads (N = 36) who were middle SES, of similar religious beliefs and church attendance, and with a prepubertal adolescent first son were distributed into a 2 x 2 (higher or lower church attendance x literal or mythological Christian beliefs). Parents and sons completed questionnaires, were interviewed, and underwent videotaped (and subsequently coded) family interaction tasks. The variables under study were parental control and support, family conflict, parental dominance, marital satisfaction, and adolescent self-image. Using multivariate ANOVAs, several differences between groups were found. First, mothers who were higher attenders were able to discipline their sons with less resentment than were mothers who were lower attenders. Second, fathers with either high attendance and literal belief or low attendance and mythological belief were more dominant than fathers with high attendance and mythological belief. Third, couples with mythological belief, lower attenders showed greater initial family agreement than did higher attenders. Finally, for both fathers and mothers, high attendance was associated with greater marital satisfaction than was low attendance. A second focus of the study was upon the relation of church attendance, religious belief, and religious commitment. In general, parents who held literal beliefs stated they felt a more intense religious commitment in almost every area. This difference, however, rarely translated into differences on parental discipline or family interactions. Using a multiple regression analysis, a wide range of religious variables were found to predict parental discipline variables in a multifaceted and complex way. [Source: DA]

Duke, Johnny Ivy. 1986. "The Interaction of Parents and Church in the Christian Education of Children." Ed.D. Thesis, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Lousiville.
Abstract: The purpose of this dissertation was to present a model for parents in Christian education of children and to suggest ways the church can assist parents. Of central importance was the identification of the parental role in Christian education. The dissertation consisted of four components. In chapter 2 the first component involved an exegesis of Deuteronomy 6:4-25, an examination of passages in Proverbs, and an exegesis of Ephesians 6:4. Chapter 3, the second component, introduced the family life cycle and focussed on parental tasks for the stages where children are in the home. The task of parents during the preschool years is to lay foundations in the child's development. In middle childhood, parents are to encourage the building of basic competencies. Aiding the adolescent in identity formation was the last parental task examined. Chapter 4, the third component, integrated the biblical and social science foundations to identify the parental model. The biblical component supplied the goal and types of teaching for the model. The social science component provided developmental considerations. The goal of Christian education in the home was identified as the development of love for God. Parental lifestyle, verbal teaching, control of conduct, and family rituals were given as the types of teaching to be used. In the preschool years foundations of love for God are laid through attitude education. Basic competencies of love for God are built in middle childhood through education in facts and skills. Finally, in adolescence, the formation of an identity in which love for God is central is encouraged. Suggestions for applying the types of teaching at each stage were given. Chapter 5, the final component, examined the role of the church in equipping parents for their task. The church does this by providing parent education, encouraging support groups for families, supplementing the home's Christian education, and providing counsel for troubled families. Suggestions for the implementation of the church's role were furnished. [Source: DA]

Worten, Susan A. and Stephen J. Dollinger. 1986. "Mothers' Intrinsic Religious Motivation, Disciplinary Preferences, and Children's Conceptions of Prayer." Psychological Reports vol. 58, p. 218.
Abstract: Attempted to replicate the study conducted by D. Long et al on the concrete-to-abstract development of children's religious thinking. Also tested was the present authors' prediction that more abstract thought among children would correlate with maternal preferences for reason-oriented rather than power-oriented discipline and with maternal intrinsic religious motivation. 90 children, 30 each from Grades 1, 4, and 7, were interviewed and their mothers completed several questionnaires. Age trends replicate the Long et al study, but results fail to support the present authors' predictions. [Source: PI]

Nelsen, Hart M. and Alice Kroliczak. 1984. "Parental Use of the Threat "God Will Punish": Replication and Extension." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion vol. 23, pp. 267-277.
Abstract: Tested C. Z. Nunn's (see record 1965-04617-001) thesis that, to secure compliance from their children, powerless parents tell them that God will punish them if they misbehave and that youths who subscribe to this belief have higher levels of self-blame and greater feeling that they should be obedient than youths who do not. Data were collected from 3,000 children in Grades 4-8. Findings show little support for the hypothesis that powerless parents use this technique; however, the belief that "God punishes youths who are bad" was positively associated with self-blame and obedience. An additional variable (subscribing in general to the image of God as punishing or angry) is proposed. Findings agree with Nunn's linkage of parental coalition with God and the child's benevolent image of God; the malevolent view was linked with a lower level of internalization. [Source: PI]

Villeneuve, Claude Michel. 1984. "Religious Value Transmission among Seventh-Day Adventist White American Families: A Cognitive Approach to Parental Values and Relationship as Perceived by Youth." Ed.D. Thesis, Andrews University.
Abstract: Three research questions were examined: (1) What role does cognitive-attribution play in religious value transmission? (2) Is there a generation gap in the religious values of Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) families? (3) What is the influence of parental support on value transmission? The Religious Value Transmission Study (RVTS) questionnaire was developed. The internal reliabilities of the fundamental belief, attitude, and behavior scales was, for each scale, above .80. A factor analysis with a rotation of factors confirmed the construct validity of the scales. A nation-wide random selection of SDA college freshmen and sophomores, and their parents returned 1089 questionnaires representing an answer rate of 61 percent for the students and 65 percent for the parents. Thus, 228 daughter-parents and 135 son-parents triads were gathered and analyzed using correlational and group mean comparisons. The ninety null hypotheses and subhypotheses were tested at .05 level and the statistical power set at .90. It was found that: (1) The misattribution of belief and attitude confirms the role of cognitive-attribution in value transmission. However the study shows no misattribution of parents' behavior. Therefore the cognitive-attribution theory seems to apply only to cognitively oriented aspects of the transmission. (2) The generation gap between parents and children as a group or cohort, although statistically significant, seems to be less central to the problem of transmission than the gap existing between children's beliefs or attitudes and their behavior. Therefore, the practical conclusion is to focus on the integration of these dimensions in order for individuals to achieve consistency. (3) The role of family interaction in transmission needs further study using a more sophisticated paradigm with multiple dimensions. [Source: DA]

Hunter, Fumiyo Tao. 1983. "Procedures of Socializing Influence in Adolescents' Relationships with Mothers, Fathers, and Friends." Ph.D. Thesis, The Catholic University of America.
Abstract: Two patterns of interpersonal interactions, representing some of the procedures of socializing influence, were compared in father-adolescent, mother-adolescent, and friendship relations. The patterns were (1) Unilateral in which one participant, having greater experience, tends to command or teach the other participant who is expected to obey; (2) Mutual, in which both participants share similar experiences and privileges and tend to construct together (co-construct) shared ideas and feelings. These patterns were studied in two interactional contexts: (1) Direct Influence context in which parents and friends initiate interactions by trying to influence the adolescents' behavior directly; (2) Social Verification context in which the adolescents initiate the interactions by seeking clarifications about some problems from parents and friends. Also, the influence of parents and friends through open discussions was assessed with reference to the following domains of interest: School, Friendship, Future Plans, Dating, Family, Religion, and Social Issues. The subjects were 60 each of 12-13, 14-15, and 18-20 year olds. Males and females were equally represented in each group. All subjects were of middle class, Caucasian backgrounds, living with both natural parents in Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Data were collected by a questionnaire. In both interactional contexts, parents' interactions were more Unilateral (teaching, commanding) than friends'; friends' interactions were more Mutual (negotiation, co-construction) than parents'. Negotiation/co-construction increased with age, especially in friendship relations. Both patterns were more frequent in Social Verification context (adolescents seeking clarification from others) than in Direct Influence context. Influence of parents, or a parent, remained stable and substantial throughout adolescence in most of the domains studied. Friends' influence was greater than parents' in the Friendship and Dating domains. Friends' influence over all domains increased with age, reaching the parents' levels in most domains by late-adolescence. The findings indicate that (1) both adolescents and the socializing agents actively contribute to adolescent socialization, (2) parents and friends employ different socializing procedures, (3) parents appear to provide structure and guidelines largely through the procedures of Unilateral Social Verification, and (4) friends provide opportunities to co-construct new ideas through Mutual Social Verification procedures. [Source: DA]

Swan, Raymond W. 1983. "Communicating About Sexuality in Catholic Homes." Journal of Social Work and Human Sexuality vol. 1, pp. 39-52.
Abstract: Investigated whether Catholic parents were conservative with reference to discussion of sexual matters with their adolescent daughters. 139 female high school seniors from a predominately White middle-class Catholic congregation were given a questionnaire designed to elicit responses about how their families deal with sex education in the home. A similar questionnaire was given to 69 mothers and 24 fathers of these adolescents. Results are discussed in terms of sexual sophistication of adolescents, conservatism in Catholic homes, the parent who most frequently communicated about sexual matters, and communication of sexual themes on TV. Findings highlight the increased family tension that results from sexual themes being introduced more frequently into American homes through TV. Implications for the role of the social worker as a facilitator between parents and children when sexual issues are at hand are discussed. [Source: PI]

Fisher, Terri Dale. 1982. "Parent-Child Communication and Adolescents' Sexual Knowledge and Attitudes." Ph.D. Thesis, University of Georgia.
Abstract: Previous studies have indicated that teenagers whose parents have talked to them about sex tend to be less sexually active and more likely to use an effective method of contraception. This study sought to determine the effects of parent-child communication about sex on young adolescents' reproduction and contraceptive knowledge and their sexual attitudes. In addition, the characteristics of parents who often had sexual discussions with their offspring were examined, as well as the effects of pretesting on sexual knowledge and attitudes. The research participants were 10 male and 12 female 12-14 year olds and their parents. The participating families were basically middle-class, white, Protestant, and well educated. Parents and their children completed the 24-item version of the Miller-Fiske Sexual Knowledge Test as well as Calderwood's Checklist of Attitudes Toward Aspects of Human Sexuality. Other questionnaires were used to determine background information about the parents and their children. Only half of the children were pretested. The parent who was the predominant sex educator for each family was determined, and these parents were placed into "high sexual communication" and "low sexual communication" categories. These two groups of parents were found to be equivalent in terms of occupational status, education, religion, marital status, and sexual permissiveness, but parents in the high communication group scored significantly higher on the sexual knowledge test. There were no significant differences in the sexual knowledge, attitudes, or contraceptive choices of the children in the high communication and low communication groups, but the correlation between parents' and children's sexual attitudes in the high communication group (.76) was significantly higher than that of parents and children in the low communication group (.28). There were no significant effects of pretesting on the children's scores on the knowledge, attitude, or contraceptive choice tests. Adolescent subjects who had previously taken a sex education course scored significantly higher on the sexual knowledge test than those who had not taken such a course. The predominant effect of parent-child discussion about sex seems to be on the children's sexual attitudes and values. [Source: DA]

Heinrichs, Daniel J. 1982. "Parental Contributions to the Mental Health of Their Children." Mennonite Quarterly Review vol. 56, pp. 92-98.
Abstract: The quality of relationships between parents and between the parents and each of their children plays a major role in shaping the personality and character of the child. Parental contributions include their encouraging trust, developing language, communication, and interpersonal negotiation skills, as well as the freedom to exercise initiative in using personal skills, assets, and attributes. Parents serve as models to identify within such crucial areas as controlling and expressing sexual and aggressive impulses, and coping with emotions, both positive and negative. As the child in the home sees that the values lived out before him by the parents are valid he/she becomes free unambivalently to make them his/her own. Parental behavior in such critical areas as expressing love, mercy, justice, forgiveness, and restoration in their relationships with each other and the children, has a profound impact on the child's subsequent perception of his Heavenly Father, for the child's portrait of God is initially sketched from the reflections of parental behavior in these areas. [Source: RI]

McDonald, Gerald W. 1982. "Parental Power Perceptions in the Family: The Influence of Adolescent Characteristics." Youth and Society vol. 14, pp. 3-31.
Abstract: A number of adolescent characteristics are examined to determine their impact on adolescent perceptions of the parental power structure in the family. The variables include adolescents' sex, grade, religiosity, & birth order. Relationships were explored by using "parental power" as a multidimensional variable, including perceived outcome-control, referent, legitimate, & expert power. Purposive subsamples were taken from a larger pool of high school & Coll adolescent Rs, yielding 458 questionnaires (231 Ms, 227 Fs). Multiple regression was utilized to examine the relative influence of these adolescent variables on the differing parental power dimensions for each parent. Adolescents' sex & religiosity were systematically evidenced as the most important determinant variables. F adolescents consistently perceived the mother as having more power than did Ms, with both sexes similarly viewing the power of the father. Consequently, Fs saw the parental power structure as more equalitarian than did Ms. Religiosity, used as an indicator of traditionalism, was consistently found to be positively associated with parental power perceptions for both sexes, with the exception of parents' outcome-control power. The implications of findings for the socialization & personality development of M & F adolescents in the family are discussed. [Source: SA]

Peake, Thomas H., R. Scott Stehouwer, and Nancy Devos Stehouwer. 1982. "Schematic Portrayal: Parents' Cognitive Styles and Children's Developmental Health." Journal of Psychology and Theology vol. 10, pp. 47-54.
Abstract: While Christian parents are instructed to "train up a child in the way he should go" (Prov 22:6), many parents do not realize that some of the most important aspects of learning in children are taught by parents inadvertently. This learning includes the expression and labeling of emotions and the assignment of personal values. Parents tacitly model a complex schemata of ego defenses (cognitive styles), applied values, and experiential labels. Although several theoretical schools have terminology describing this phenomenon, Piaget's concepts of "schemata", "assimilation", "accommodation", and "cognitive growth" best integrate the processes involved because as used in his system they describe qualitative changes in mentation. Parents have need to develop a greater awareness of the powerful influences that modeling, or "schematic portrayal" as it is referred to in this article, has on their children. In addition there is need for parents to become more cognizant of the psychological processes operating in their own personalities. This would allow Christian parents, in particular, to realize the importance of their own values, beliefs, and behavior in training and witnessing to their children. [Source: RI]

Colvin, Brenda Kay. 1981. "Adolescent Perceptions of Intrafamilial Stress in Stepfamilies." Ph.D. Thesis, The Florida State University.
Abstract: One purpose of this study was to measure and compare adolescent perceptions of intrafamilial stress for 1698 natural-parent, 283 stepfather, and 77 stepmother families. The Index of Family Relations scale was used to measure the level of intrafamilial stress in family member relationships. Results of the one-way analysis of variance show that while adolescents in stepfather families report significantly more intrafamilial stress than adolescents in natural-parent families, adolescents in stepmother families report the highest degree of stress. These results indicate that one-third of the adolescents in stepfather families and approximately one-half of the adolescents in stepmother families report clinically significant family member relationship problems. On the other hand, two-thirds of the adolescents in stepfather families and approximately one-half of the adolescents in stepmother families perceived no clinically significant problems in their intrafamilial relationships. A second purpose was to examine the relationship between adolescent perceptions of intrafamilial stress in stepfamilies (n = 360) and: (A) quality of the marital relationship (QMR); (B) quality of the mother-child relationship (QMCR); (C) quality of the father-child relationship (QFCR); (D) length of time the stepfamily has lived together; (E) presence or absence of a common child of the remarried couple; (F) type of termination of the previous marriage; (G) stepchild's religion; (H) stepchild's age; (I) stepchild's sex; (J) stepparent's age; and (K) stepparent's sex. The results of the regression analysis indicate that the QMR, the QMCR, and the QFCR (i.e., variables which were indicators of relationship dynamics) were excellent predictors of adolescent perceptions of intrafamilial stress in stepfamilies. The remaining eight demographic variables were non-significant. These results indicate that if researchers want information on family member relationship problems, it seems imperative to focus on variables which are related to relationship processes rather than single-factor demographic characteristics. [Source: DA]

Hoffman, Neil. 1981. "Factors Related to the Foster Child's Sense of Interpersonal Security." Ph.D. Thesis, University of Maryland College Park.
Abstract: Foster children are at substantially greater risk for social-emotional maladjustment problems when compared to their nonfoster care peers. There is evidence suggesting that underlying this greater vulnerability is an impaired sense of security in interpersonal attachments and relationships. The nature of foster care itself has inherent elements potentially harmful to the child's sense of interpersonal security. Yet, these potentially negative effects are not equally realized in all foster children. The problem addressed in this study was "What are the factors that explain the differences in foster children's sense of interpersonal security?" Sense of security was defined as a subjective feeling state of an individual, comprised of two components--the child's perceptions of others as responsive, available agents of protection, nurturance, and support; and the child's self perceptions of his or her own attachability and acceptability. It was measured by the attachment-individuation balance of the Separation Anxiety Test Method (SATM); and by Factor 1 (Acceptance-Rejection) and Factor 2 (Psychological Autonomy-Psychological Control) of the 56-item revision of the Children's Report of Parental Behavior Inventory (CRPBI). Thirteen factors were selected as independent variables and were placed under the general categories of entry into foster care, composition of foster home, experience in foster care, and demographic variables. Information concerning these variables was obtained from foster parents and Department of Social Services' caseworkers. The subjects were seventy-two foster children (50% male, 50% female; 81% black, 19% white) ages 11-14, who volunteered to be part of the study. The findings did not support the hypothesis that children placed because of neglect, abuse, or abandonment feel less secure than those placed for other reasons. In fact, these children were generally found to feel more secure. The findings did support the hypothesis that the younger the child when placed, the more secure the child feels. The following factors were also found related to greater sense of security on one or more of the dependent measures: placement with natural siblings, longer time in same foster home, greater continuity of current caseworker, and more regular and frequent church attendance with the foster family. Unexpectedly, greater number of placements was also associated with a healthier sense of security as measured by the SATM. White children and girls were found to feel more secure than black children and boys, respectively. In general, the findings suggested that current stability factors may be more important to the foster child's sense of security than are his or her past experiences in foster care. The implications of the research findings for attachment theory were discussed. It was also suggested that the findings may be useful for the early identification of high risk youngsters in foster care as well as for placement and service planning. [Source: DA]

Kloepper, Howard W., Wilbert M. Leonard, and Lucy J. Huang. 1981. "A Comparison of the "Only Child" and the Siblings' Perceptions of Parental Norms and Sanctions." Adolescence vol. 16, pp. 641-655.
Abstract: Used a 77-item questionnaire to examine the extent to which 1,474 college students from one-child or multiple-child families perceived that they had been regulated during their last 2 yrs of high school by their parents. Specifically studied were the following behavioral variables: academic achievement, alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking, dating practices, driving privileges, athletic participation, money-saving and spending habits, movie attendance, and religious worship attendance. Cross-sectional analyses provided only weak support for the hypothesis that only-children would be granted more autonomy and would be less severely sanctioned by their parents than Ss with siblings. Findings demonstrate that regardless of family size, the majority of Ss had been given a great deal of freedom in the substantive areas investigated and were rarely parentally sanctioned with physical punishment and/or withdrawal of financial support. [Source: PI]

Kennedy, Wayne Dewitt. 1980. "Exploring the Need for a Specialized Ministry to Children of Ordained Ministers." D.Min. Thesis, Drew University.
Abstract: This study is an attempt to determine if children of Protestant ministers have a need for a special ministry. Do they live under a double standard? Is more expected of them than of their peers in the church? The problem is most succinctly stated in the following comments: (1) When the minister is set aside for the ministry, the tendency is for his entire family to be set aside; therefore, more will be expected of his children than of other children in the church. The minister's children will live under an oppressive, demanding, double standard. (2) When higher standards are placed upon minister's children, it could cause them to revolt against their role at home and within their peer group. This may account for the "hellion" classification that some are given. If the classification is justified, a special ministry to them may be needed. (3) Though the minister and the congregation places the role of Preacher's Kid upon the child, the child will rebel and not take the role seriously. This means the minister's values would not be developed within the character and nature of the child. Children would see themselves as being in a "tender trap" and discard the family's values. PKs were interviewed and church groups were pretested to determine interest in the subject. Interest was positive, so a systematic sample was drawn through a questionnaire from 45 Preacher's Kids and 50 of their peers within Protestant churches. The researcher evaluated the response and determined through "Chi square goodness of fit" tests that eight general areas of difference exists. The tests show they differ in the following areas: (1) Priority of Values; (2) Moral and Spiritual Development; (3) Motor Skill Development; (4) Emotional Development; (5) Artistic Development and Appreciation; (6) Intellectual Development; (7) The Father's Role and Its Influence; (8) Church Influence. The entire family is set aside for ministry. Generally, this encourages excellence within the PKs. The peers of the PK need a special ministry, especially those who are outside the church fellowship. The higher standards placed upon the PKs cause them to excell. PKs do not rebel against their role or feel they are in a tender trap. They accept the values the father embraces, and they grow towards the highest standards and qualities of the family. Ministers succeed well with their children because of two dynamic reasons. First, the minister's role as the spiritual leader of a church family carries over to his role in parsonage. His children look to him as their spiritual leader. He has the clout of ancient Jewish patriarchs. They were the spiritual head of their household. Secondly, a father's love is more conditional than is his wife's love which is more unconditional in nature. The mother's love prepares the child to receive God's grace and tender mercies. The father's love strengthens the child to receive God's discipline and direction. Such insights might lead to special surrogate, parental programs within church congregations and to greater denominational efforts in "Family Enrichment" workshops. The father, who is not a minister, should have his spiritual role enhanced as the spiritual leader of his family. The results should encourage PKs to be placed with their choice position. The results should encourage churches to adjust their thinking towards all of the youth within their ranks and expand their outreach to the spiritual disinherited youth of their community. [Source: DA]

Burkett, Steven R. 1977. "Religion, Parental Influence, and Adolescent Alcohol and Marijuana Use." Journal of Drug Issues vol. 7, pp. 263-273.
Abstract: Surveyed 837 White high school seniors in the Pacific Northwest by anonymous questionnaires to analyze the relationship between Ss' use of alcohol and marijuana, and their own and parents' religiosity. Results confirm negative correlation between Ss' church attendance and use of these substances. However, use was not a function of belief in the supernatural, but was strongly and negatively related to acceptance of worldly authority. Ss who participated in religious activities were more than twice as likely as nonparticipants to believe use is immoral, regardless of parents' religiosity, indicating that parental influence was less strong regarding the morality of personal asceticism. For Ss who did not attend church, the relationship between parents' attendance and Ss' use was strongly positive, supporting the hypothesis that use is associated with a pattern of withdrawal and alienation from parental influence and from religious influence. One implication is that attempts to control use of alcohol and marijuana through educational preaching about their evils may be rejected by its adolescent target population, since such use is already associated with rejection of the proposed values and beliefs. [Source: PI]

Grief, E.B. 1976. "Fathers, Children, and Moral Development." Pp. 219-236 in The Role of the Father in Child Development, edited by M. Lamb. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Wittmer, Joe. 1971. "Perceived Parent-Child Relationships: A Comparison between Amish and Non-Amish Young Adults." Journal of Cross Cultural Psychology vol. 2, pp. 87-94.
Abstract: The Parent-Child Relations Questionnaire was administered to 25 Amish and 25 non-Amish late teen-agers. Amish parents were seen as "less rejecting, less neglecting, less casual, less likely to reward directly, and less likely to use symbolic methods of punishment." Amish fathers were seen as more loving than non-Amish fathers. Results are discussed in light of the Amish culture. [Source: PI]

Ritchie, Wilson Samuel. 1970. "The Relation of Parental Behavior to Adolescent Church Participation." Ed.D. Thesis, University of Southern California.

Grams, Armin. 1963. Children and Their Parents: The Nature and Development of Personality in the Light of the Christian Message. Minneapolis: T. S. Denison.

Elder, Glen H. Jr. 1962. "Structural Variations in the Child Rearing Relationship." Sociometry vol. 25, pp. 241-262.
Abstract: Seven types of social structures in the child rearing relationship are identified in this paper: autocratic, authoritarian, democratic, equalitarian, permissive, laissez-faire, and ignoring. The investigation is concerned with two problems: (1) the analysis of the relationship between social class, education and religion of parents and size of family, and the child rearing structures, and (2) the evaluation of structural effects upon the affective relations between parent and adolescent, and the adolescent's attitude toward parental child rearing policy. This study is based on 7,400 adolescents residing in Ohio and North Carolina; the data were obatined with a structured questionnaire. Parental dominance was most common to parents of low socioeconomic status, who are Catholic, and who have large families. The likelihood of mutual rejection in parent-adolescent relations and unfavorable evaluations of parental policy was greatest in autocratically structured relationships. [Source: JS]

Wilcox, W. Bradford. "Religion, Convention, and Paternal Involvement." Unpublished paper: Center for Research on Child Wellbeing, Princeton University.
Abstract: Family scholarship, which as recently examined the social, economic, and gendered sources of residential paternal involvement, has generally overlooked the influence that religion may have on such involvement. Accordingly, using longitudinal data taken from the National Survey of Families and Households, I examine the influence of religious affiliation and attendance on father's involvement in one-on-one activities, dinner attendance, and youth activities. I find religious effects for each of these three measures. Moreover, I find virtuallly no evidence for a competing hypothesis that these effects are artifacts of a "conventional habitus" such that the type of men who are more conventional (in their patterns of civic engagement) are, as a consequence, both more religious and more involved with their children. However, I do find that civic engagement is a powerful predictor of paternal involvement in one-on-one activities and youth activities. [Source: NS]