Zolinda Stoneman

Parental religiosity, family processes, and youth competence in rural, two-parent African American families

A model that linked parental formal religiosity to childrens 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.

Sibling relationships when a child has autism: Marital stress and support coping

Family systems theory was employed to study sibling relationships in 50 families with a child with autism. Typically developing siblings expressed satisfaction with their sibling relationships. Parents were somewhat less positive about the sibling relationship than were the siblings themselves. As hypothesized, stress in the marital relationship was associated with compromised sibling relationships. Informal social support buffered the deleterious effects of marital stress on positive, but not negative, aspects of the sibling relationship. Contrary to predictions, families experiencing high marital stress who sought greater support from formal resources external to the family had typically developing siblings who reported a higher level of negative sibling behaviors than families who sought low levels of formal support. Findings reinforce the importance of considering family context as a contributor to the quality of the sibling relationship.

Naturalistic Observations of Children's Activities and Roles While Playing with Their Siblings and Friends.

STONEMAN, ZOLINDA; BRODY, GENE H.; and MACKINNON, CAROL. Naturalistic Observations of Childrens Activities and Roles While Playing with Their Siblings and Friends. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1984, 55, 617-627. 22 school-aged children, their younger siblings, and their best friends were observed while playing at home. The older sibling and the younger sibling and the older sibling and the older siblings best friend were observed on different days. Naturalistic observations were also obtained of the older sibling, younger sibling, and the older siblings best friend playing together. In addition to examining the activities selected in the 3 child groupings, 5 roles were operationalized and observed: teacher, learner, manager, managee, and playmate. Positive and negative interaction was also coded. Analyses of the activities revealed that the selection of play activities varied with the gender and composition of the childrens groups. Analyses of the roles enacted by the sibling pairs revealed clear role asymmetries between the older and younger siblings. These role asymmetries, however, were not evident in the interactions between older siblings and their friends. In a second study, reciprocal role acceptance by siblings and friends was examined. Younger siblings accepted the managee role more often from the older sibling than vice versa, while peers did not differ in their assumption of this role. The older siblings friend accepted the complementary managee role in relation to the younger siblings management attempts more frequently than the older sibling. Girls were more likely to accept the managee role than were boys.

Marital adjustment in families of young children with disabilities: Associations with daily hassles and problem-focused coping

A family systems framework was used to examine associations between stressors/hassles, problem-focused coping, and marital adjustment in 67 families of young children with disabilities. Most of the couples were experiencing average to above average marital adjustment. When daily stressors/hassles were higher, husbands and wives viewed their marriages more negatively. After variance contributed by stressors/hassles was statistically controlled, fathers who employed more problem-focused coping strategies were more positive about their marriages. For wives (but not husbands), a cross-spousal partner effect was found; women reported higher marital adjustment when their husbands employed more problem-focused coping strategies. We reaffirmed the systemic nature of family processes and highlighted the role of parent gender in understanding the relationships among stressors, coping, and marital well-being.

Same-Sex and Cross-Sex Siblings: Activity Choices, Roles, Behavior, and Gender Stereotypes.

Forty same-sex and cross-sex school-aged sibling pairs were observed in their homes during self-selected activities. The sex role learning index (SERLI) and a sex-typing room analysis were administered for the younger siblings, and maternal questionnaire information was obtained. Sibling gender constellation was associated with reliable differences in activity choices during the unstructured observations. Male dyads interacted less than other sibling groups, while older sisters in female dyads engaged in the most teaching. Older female siblings, regardless of the gender of the younger sibling, assumed the manager role frequently. Dyads containing an older girl also exhibited the greatest role asymmetrics. Affective differences related to gender constellation were also noted. Younger girls with older brothers and younger boys with older sisters evidenced the least gender stereotyping.

Child Temperaments, Differential Parenting, and the Sibling Relationships of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

This study examined associations between sibling temperaments, differential parenting, and the quality of the relationships between 50 children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their typically developing siblings. The temperament dimension of persistence, but not activity level or emotional intensity, was found to relate to the quality of the sibling relationship. Effects were stronger for temperaments of the typically developing siblings, but persistence levels of both groups of children interacted to predict sibling relationship quality. Persistence also was the temperament dimension associated with differential parenting, with increased levels of differential parenting occurring when siblings, and to some degree the children with ASD, were low in persistence. When siblings were dissatisfied with differential parenting, quality of the sibling relationship was compromised.

Television Food Commercials Aimed at Children, Family Grocery Shopping, and Mother-Child Interactions

Currently there is not an adequate data base from which it can be asserted that exposure to television food commercials causes children to influence the consumer behavior of their parents. Therefore, Study 1 sought to address this important issue. Study 2, on the other hand, sought to determine whether mothers provide alternative nutritional information while watching television food commercials with their children. Fifty-seven mothers and their children were participants in Study 1. The mother-child pairs were assigned randomly to one of the two experimental conditions or to a control condition. The purchase influencing attempts of the child were recorded in a store created for this investigation. It was found in Study 1 that children assigned to view a cartoon program that contained food advertisements made more bids for the advertised food than did children in a control condition. In Study 2, it was revealed that mothers do not provide competing pieces of nutritional information when they watch television food commercials with their children.

Role relations between children who are mentally retarded and their older siblings: observations in three in-home contexts

Older nonhandicapped siblings and same-sex younger mentally retarded siblings (n = 16 sibling pairs) were observed in their homes during toy play, snack, and television-viewing, as were an equal number of comparison sibling pairs, matched for age, gender, and family characteristics. Role relationships between mentally retarded children and older siblings were asymmetrical, with older siblings assuming frequent teacher, manager, and helper roles. Older sisters, in particular, participated in frequent teaching. Amount of interaction between siblings was directly related to the contexts in which they were observed. Nonhandicapped siblings engaged each other more as playmates. Interactional correlates of language and adaptive competencies of the mentally retarded children are presented, as are correlations between the age of the siblings and the roles they assume with each other.

Attitudes of Mothers and Fathers of Nonhandicapped Children

This study examines the attitudes of a group of parents of nonhandicapped children toward preschool mainstreaming, focusing on individual and demographic correlates of parent attitudes. Attitudes held by mothers and fathers were examined separately. Maternal attitudes were related to the positiveness (but not the overall amount) of their experiences with handicapped individuals, famiy income, education, age, and age of the nonhandicapped child. Only one significant correlation was found for fathers. Attitudes held by mothers and fathers were positively correlated. Preschoolers with severe mental retardation, emotional disturbance, or behavior problems elicited the most concern from parents relating to mainstreaming. Perceived benefits and drawbacks to mainstreaming are presented.

Effects of residential instability on Head Start children and their relationships with older siblings: influences of child emotionality and conflict between family caregivers.

This study examined the influence that residential dislocations have on child behavior problems, depression, peer competence, cognitive competence, and the quality of sibling relations in a sample of 70 Head Start children, aged 32 to 67 months, and their older brothers and sisters, aged 48 to 155 months. This was the first study to investigate the sibling relationship in the context of high residential mobility. Information on child characteristics was obtained from mothers and teachers. Sibling data (warmth/harmony and conflict) were obtained from coding videotaped interactions. Child emotionality was found to be an important moderator of the effects of residential mobility on young, poor children and their siblings; caregiver conflict was a less powerful moderator of these effects. Residential instability seemed to compromise the warmth/harmony of the sibling relationship. It was concluded that the effects of residential instability are complex and cannot be understood without considering child characteristics, such as temperament, and the family context in which the child lives.