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One hundred ten Mexican American adolescents (12-17 years) who provide infant care for their older sisters were studied to determine the effects of family caregiving responsibilities on adolescents' adjustment. Controlling for prior adjustment and family context factors, providing many hours of caregiving predicted an increase in youths' school absences and disciplinary problems. Frequent conflict surrounding caregiving was associated with increased stress and depression and lower school grades. Older girls appear to select into caregiving and experience the most problematic outcomes. Strong family obligations were not protective against caregiving stress but, rather, further compromised youths' well-being for those who were highly involved in their family's care.

The extent and experiences of youths' caretaking of their adolescent sisters' children have been assessed in two longitudinal studies. The first study examines the caretaking patterns of 132 Latino and African American youth during middle and late adolescence. The second study involves 110 Latino youth whose teenage sister has recently given birth. Youth are studied at 6 weeks and 6 months postpartum. In both studies, girls provide more hours of care than boys, and in Study 1, girls' hours of care significantly increase with age whereas boys' hours of caretaking decrease. Girls provide more care when their sisters are older and when their mothers provide many hours of care, whereas boys provide less care when their mothers provide more care and when they have many siblings. Results of both studies reveal age, gender, and across-time differences in the extent of care, type of caretaking activities, and experiences in providing care. (Contains 5 tables and 3 figures.)

Multiple methods are vital to understanding development as a dynamic, transactional process. This article focuses on the ways in which quantitative and qualitative methodologies can be combined to enrich developmental science and the study of human development, focusing on the practical questions of "when" and "how." Research situations that may be especially suited to mixing qualitative and quantitative approaches are described. The authors also discuss potential choices for using mixed quantitative-qualitative approaches in study design, sampling, construction of measures or interview protocols, collaborations, and data analysis relevant to developmental science. Finally, they discuss some common pitfalls that occur in mixing these methods and include suggestions for surmounting them.

This article reviews recent sociocultural studies of families of children with intellectual disabilities to introduce the range of research conducted from this perspective and to highlight the methodological, conceptual, and theoretical contributions of this approach to the study of mental retardation. Sociocultural studies examine families within their cultural, historical, and sociopolitical contexts. This type of research is comparative across different cultural groups, but is not limited to such comparisons. Sociocultural studies use varied theories and methods, but they share a focus on families' coproduction of meanings and practices related to intellectual disability; families' responses and adaptations to disability; and how their understandings and experiences are shaped within larger social institutions and inequities. Sociocultural approaches take into account community contexts that matter to families with members with mental retardation or developmental delay, and they examine the broader systems that define and position individuals with disabilities and their families. As a whole, these studies provide a more experiential and holistic view of families' beliefs and adaptations within sociopolitical worlds, and offer new tools by which to study the families of children with developmental delays within and across different cultural groups.

This study examined how time spent caring for a teenage sister's child and experiences in providing care related to youths' young adult outcomes. Latino and African American youths (N = 108) were studied during middle and late adolescence. Results indicated that youths who provided many hours of child care were more stressed and had lower school grades but also reported a greater life satisfaction, a stronger school orientation, and were less likely to drop out of school. Negative experiences in providing care were associated with a lower likelihood of school dropout and teenage pregnancy. Findings suggest that the extent of sibling caregiving in teenage childbearing families incurs both developmental costs and benefits. (Contains 3 tables.)

Research on working poor families participating in an anti-poverty initiative in Milwaukee found 60% of families had at least one child with significant problems (learning, school achievement and/or behavior, retardation, or other disabilities). Comparison with other families with children with troubles found the program families adapted less specifically to the troubled child and more to economic problems. (Contains references.) (Author/DB)

Reviews family responsibility, youth's obligations, and the flows of moral and material capital from child to parents as well as parents to children. Suggests that children's competence in assisting others and ability to make civic contributions affect family survival and children's developmental transitions, social behavior, and cognitive development. (DLH)

This study compared patterns of family adaptation to children with developmental delays of South Asian families living in California with similar Euro-American families. Analysis of parent interviews found differences in family support, spousal relations, gender roles, cultural identity, and spirituality. Similarities were found in hope for improvement, active service use, educational and medical issues, and work/child care problems. (Author/DB)

Describes child and human development as an eco-cultural project. Focuses particular attention to early development of trust and attachment relationships and the age 5-to-7 transition, wherein cultural goals and psychological well-being are achieved despite limited resources and socioeconomic constraints. (JPB)

The effects on children's school achievement of countercultural nonconventional family organization and parental values were studied in a 12-year longitudinal study of 146 nonconventional families and 43 2-parent conventional families. Strong commitment to meaningful values about the family lifestyle can protect children from risks that can accompany countercultural families. (SLD)

Parents in 102 families of 3- to 5-year-old children with developmental delays were interviewed concerning religion. Although direct measures of peace of mind and emotional adjustment did not differ between religious and nonreligious families, religious parents more often emphasized parental nurturance and described their child as an opportunity rather than a burden. (Author/PB)

Examined sex role socialization and sex-typing in six-year olds from conventional and nonconventional family types. Children from families with strongest sex egalitarian beliefs displayed non-sex-typed knowledge of objects and occupations more often than did children from other families. Across family types, girls had more flexible sex-typing training than did boys. (BC)

This article comments on a previous article that uses interviews from 250 Latino parents of children with mental retardation to demonstrate three ways of analyzing qualitative interview data (content, cultural models, and narrative analyses). It discusses the implementation of interventions that fit the cultural models of parents as a component of success. (CR)

Presents the results of observation and interview studies of sibling caretaking and peer assistance in Native Hawaiian contexts, and compares these activities in natal and school activity settings. Classrooms should be accommodated to selected features of natal culture activity settings. (Author/BJV)