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This research brief presents some main findings from a study of employer-based support systems in the United States to help families meet their caregiving responsibilities, and focuses on the failure of existing policies to support caregiving responsibilities of low-income parents and women. The brief also presents policy alternatives to help working families better address their responsibilities. Data sources include primary and secondary data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth, the Survey of Midlife in the United States, the Urban Working Families Study, and the National Daily Diaries Study. The brief reports that low-income families are particularly affected by the gap between services provided by government and employers and families' needs. Lower- and middle-income workers spend substantially more time caring for elderly parents than do higher-income families. Employed women are more likely than employed men to provide care for a child, spouse, partner with disability, or elderly relative. The Family and Medical Leave Act covers only about half of U.S. workers and does not cover the common illnesses of young children that cause most parents to miss work. Low-income workers have few or no workforce benefits. Employed mothers are less likely than men to have access to paid leave and flexibility in their hours. Policy recommendations include ensuring preschoolers' care and education, increasing the length of the school day and year, improving public transportation, and adapting work schedules and hours. The brief concludes by noting that developing public policies that cut across social class and help all workers succeed at work and in caring for their families is critical to the welfare of low-income workers and to the advancement of women. (KB)

This report summarizes information from states that responded to a survey on the topic of age of majority for educational decision making. Information was gathered from 40 states during the months of March and April 1999. Results indicate: (1) in 33 of the 40 states, 18 is the age of majority for educational decision making; (2) 23 of the responding states currently have laws, policies, or guidelines regarding the transferring of parental rights to students at the age of majority; (3) 24 of the responding states do not have laws, policies, or guidelines about the determination of competency at the age of majority, however, 14 states do have such laws, policies, or guidelines; (4) 18 of the responding states have laws, polices, or guidelines related to designating a guardian or advocate for a youth at the age of majority who is incompetent, while 19 do not; (5) 31 states indicated that there is a designated contact person who fields questions about age of majority and related guardianship matters for students with disabilities. A state-by-state summary sheet of responses is provided. (CR)

This paper discusses cyclical grieving, which is described as an intermittent reoccurrence of one or more emotions that are part of the grieving process experienced by parents who have children with disabilities. A study to support the concept of cyclical grieving used a naturalistic approach with face-to-face interviews to explore ten parents' retrospective perceptions of their experiences in rearing a child with a disability. Results of the interviews found the parents vividly remembered how they felt when they were told that their child had a disability. The emotions they felt included: disappointment; sadness or depression; loneliness; fear; anger; frustration; shock; devastation; numbness; unsureness; and feeling trapped and sorry for the child. Both mothers and fathers reported having these or similar emotions reoccur intermittently during the life span of their child. Events that triggered grieving included: health or behavior issues; developmental milestones or age appropriate expectations; family issues and relationships; aged parents and retirement concerns; unusual caretaking demands; professional and programmatic issues, society's lack of understanding and sensitivity; and seemingly insignificant events. (Contains a Cyclical Grieving Model, and 29 references.) (CR)

Views of parents of children, ages 3-37, with disabilities were investigated. Interviews with 51 families addressed a number of questions, including the following: how they learned of their child's disabilities; the best times for the family; reactions of others to their child; what they think their child might not be able to do; and the hardest thing about having a child with disabilities. Based on the responses, which are summarized, it is suggested that no one is ever prepared to have a child with disabilities. It is recommended that teachers treat parents in an individual manner. Family background, socioeconomic resources, and support (or lack of it) within the family and the community can affect the way the child with disabilities is perceived and treated by the family, as well as the way the family feels about itself. Educators need to remember that having a child with disabilities often puts tremendous strain on marriages and on family finances. Educators also should keep these findings in mind before assuming that parents have the time or energy to implement major intervention programs at home. (SW)

This study examined the feelings of confidence in parenting among 13 women enrolled in a parent education program in rural Mississippi which emphasized academic skills and personal growth. It was hypothesized that there would be a significant correlation between parents' feelings of self-differentiation and confidence as parents. Based on several measures of parental functioning and confidence, the study found a high level of intimacy between the women and their parents. It also found that the more the woman felt intimidated by her parents, the less approachable she was and the less she allowed her children to express their emotions. In addition, the more intergenerational intimidation she felt from her family of origin, the less able she was to help her child develop a healthy self-image and sense of self-reliance. (MDM)

This study investigated the effects of mothers' working status on their college student child's current attitudes toward maternal employment. This study attempted to find an explanation for the finding from previous research that female college students whose mothers were employed during their childhood reported that they would have been happier if their mother's work status had been different while they were growing up. Findings from 112 male and 136 female college students who ranged in age from 17-36 years, revealed that the students' self-esteem and current happiness were related to maternal employment status during early childhood. There was a trend for females whose mothers were employed full- or part-time during their early childhood to report that they felt threatened by their mothers' work accomplishments. The findings suggest an indirect relationship between maternal employment and current levels of happiness and self-esteem. There is a need for future research to address the way in which internal pressures to succeed affect adolescent women. (NB)

Children of alcoholics are at risk for socioemotional and behavioral problems. Adult children of alcoholic parents (ACAs) are at risk for problems in interpersonal relationships. ACAs have been found to have decreased self-esteem and self-acceptance in comparison to adults whose parents are not alcoholic (NACAs). College students who were young adult children of alcoholic parents (N=41) and non-alcoholic parents (N=50) were administered the Attachment Interview for Adults, designed to tap security provision, avoidance, ambivalence and/or resistance in the parent-child relationship. The hypothesis that parental alcoholism would negatively affect aspects of the parent-child relationship was supported. In particular, ACAs were significantly less secure and more avoidant and ambivalent/resistant in their relationships with their alcoholic fathers than were NACAs. Additionally, when both parents were alcoholic, ACAs differ from NACAs in attachment security and ambivalence/resistance toward the mother. Increased avoidance in the child-mother relationship was evident only when the mother was the alcoholic parent. However, in this sample the alcoholism of one parent did not affect the ACA's attachment to the non-alcoholic parent. Despite limitations, the results clearly show that ACAs are at risk for disturbed attachment relationships to their alcoholic parent and that this risk is heightened if both parents are alcoholic. (ABL)

This study examined the relationship between maternal employment and college students' perceptions of the consequences of maternal employment and their own plans for future workplace involvement, as well as the degree to which this varies according to gender. It was hypothesized that the attitudes and preferences of adult children would be dependent upon the age at which the subject's mother returned to, or began to, work outside the home. College student subjects (N=335) completed demographic questionnaires and answered questions concerning their career and family expectations. Subjects also completed the Beliefs about the Consequences of Maternal Employment for Children (BACMEC), the Childhood Appraisal Scale (CAS), and disclosed information about their own mother's work status at each stage of their development (infancy, preschool, childhood, and adolescence). The findings suggest that maternal employment history affected students' perceptions of the costs and benefits associated with having a working mother. Subjects whose mothers did not return to work perceived greater costs associated with maternal employment than did subjects whose mothers immediately returned to work. Daughters tended to view maternal employment as more beneficial and less detrimental to children than did sons. Other findings suggest that the subjects whose mothers were home with them initially and then returned to work formed both a close initial relationship with their mothers, and then with the return to work, the mothers became a positive role model. (NB)

Although a vast proportion of the literature within the last decade has been devoted to the role of adult children in caring for aging parents, family specialists need to acknowledge how older parents continue to function as family resources to their adult children, especially when these children are coping with major life problems. A study was conducted to explore how aging parents serve as resources for their adult children when children experience dissolution of their marriages. Fifty-two parents, ranging from 54 to 87 years of age, were asked to describe their experience of their adult children's divorces and to reflect upon ways in which they were helpful to their children during this life transition. Taxonomical analyses of the qualitative data were conducted. Results suggest that virtually all of the parents aided their children in one way or another. Although advice was provided sparingly and with some trepidation, emotional support was freely given. Frequently cited modes of instrumental assistance included provision of financial support for basic needs, attorney fees, or mortgage payments; housing; and childcare. (Contains 20 references.) (Author/NB)

In comparing the personality characteristics of late adolescent and young adult children of alcoholics with those of their peers, it was found that individuals with grandparents who were alcoholics in the absence of parental alcoholism were very similar to children of alcoholics. Grandparents may exert a social influence by passing on dysfunctional family patterns and through negative role modeling. The purpose of this paper is to examine existing literature on the effects of grandparental alcoholism on grandchildren and to look at related Bowenian theoretical constructs. It explains that Bowen's theory highlights the nuances of the emotional dependencies in a family and the degree of responsiveness and reactiveness family members have toward each other, viewing the family itself as an organism. It is suggested that identification of the multigenerational effects of alcoholism may be helpful to community counselors who may encounter grandchildren of alcoholics who are unaware of the source of their problems that prompted them to seek counseling. Characteristics of grandchildren of alcoholics are described and the Bowenian perspective is discussed. It is concluded that, using Bowen's theories, alcoholism can be seen as having multigenerational effects. Implications for counselors are presented. Counselors are encouraged to help these grandchildren of alcoholics to not become enmeshed in self-pity, but to look forward to the future with new understanding and new decision-making capabilities. Contains 15 references. (NB)

Recent Census Bureau statistics indicate that the two-paycheck family is now the norm, even among families with young children. This study examined the effects during their childhood on their own career and family expectations of college students' (N=170) mothers' employment status. Subjects were divided into three groups on the basis of maternal work status during their childhood. Maternal work status was categorized as either full-time employment (N=46), part-time employment (N=50), or not employed (N=51). Subjects from single parent households were excluded when calculating results. Analysis of variance revealed that subjects viewed maternal employment as more beneficial to children if their mothers were employed full-time. Conversely, subjects whose mothers did not work viewed maternal employment as more detrimental to children. Female subjects with full-time employed mothers were significantly more likely to expect to work during their children's infancy and preschool years. Maternal work history did not affect female subjects' plans to work once their children reached school age and also did not affect males' expectations. Results also showed that subjects with unemployed mothers believed that their freedom while growing up was obstructed more than did subjects whose mothers worked part-time or full-time. (Author/LLL)

The effect of parental Holocaust trauma on children's Jewish identity and Holocaust-related ideation was investigated through comparison of children of survivors with children of American Jews. The role of possible mediating factors, (the quality of parental communication style) was also assessed. Subjects included 40 adult children of Jewish survivors of the Holocaust (20 males, 20 females) and 40 adult children of American Jews (19 males, 19 females), born in either the United States or Canada. Whereas children of Holocaust survivors showed significantly more holocaust ideation than did children of American Jews, they did not appreciably differ in measures of Jewish identity. In addition, mediating factors were suggested. A significant relationship was found between level of parental trauma and parental communication style. Moreover, parental communication style was associated with ethnic identification. Implications for clinical intervention with families beset by catastrophe are discussed. An appendix provides a scale of Holocaust-related imagery and three tables illustrating: (1) demographic information; (2) Jewish Identity and Holocaust Ideation; and (3) the relationship between parental trauma and child response. (SR)

Many studies of family relationships in later adulthood fail to take into account earlier experiences. This study investigated predictors of family contact and closeness. Data were provided by 500 adult children (aged 22 to 72) and 190 adult siblings (aged 45 to 96) of elderly participants in the Seattle Longitudinal Study. Subjects rated the closeness to their parent or sibling and indicated the frequency of face-to-face, telephone, and letter contact. Subjects' perceptions of their childhood home environment were assessed using six subscales from a revised version of the Family Environment Scale (FES). A majority of the respondents reported frequent contact with and high closeness to their elderly relative. Overall findings suggest closer relationships and greater contact frequency between parents and offspring than between siblings. Multiple regression analyses were used to determine the relative importance of demographic variables, FES scales, and closeness or contact measures to predict perceived closeness, face-to-face contact, and telephone contact in parent-offspring-pairs and sibling pairs. For parent-offspring pairs, significant predictors of closeness included amount of phone contact and number of years lived together. Predictors of contact included closeness, proximity, relationship type, FES cohesion, and other demographic variables. For sibling pairs, the only significant predictor of closeness was that sister-sister pairs perceived themselves as closer than other gender composition pairs. Significant predictors of contact for siblings included proximity, closeness, age, and marital status of respondent. (Author/LLL)

Although there has been a variety of observations published about Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACOAs) based upon clinical study, much of it has dealt with the adult child's possible predisposition to alcoholism rather than personality issues. Many children from alcoholic families seek treatment because they are experiencing difficulty in other areas in their lives. These difficulties often stem from the problems that the individual experienced as a child in an alcoholic family. This study explored the hypothesis that ACOAs experience problems in self-esteem, interpersonal trust, and dependency. Three personality scales were administered to volunteer college students (N=107) to measure the variables of self-esteem, interpersonal trust, and dependency and multiple regression analysis was employed to determine which of those variables were related to parental drinking. Results did not indicate any significant effects for the self-esteem variable. Results did indicate that those subjects determined to be ACOAs scored higher in dependency and in trust. These findings do support the fact that ACOAs are not trusting. ACOAs never learned how to trust as a child. ACOAs are also quite high in dependency because they did not receive the nurturing they needed as a child. (CM)

Alcoholism is a disease that has been shown to affect not only the alcoholic but also the family of the alcoholic. The research on Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACOA) reveals that the effects of parental alcoholism are not something that is eradicated once the child leaves home. This study examined the empirical evidence for characteristics of ACOAs developed by Janet Woititz and how these characteristics may differ between African-American (N=66) and Caucasian (N=72) women. The Children of Alcoholics Screening Test was administered to identify persons from alcoholic homes. The 13 characteristics of adult children of alcoholics, described by Janet Woititz, were put into a format using a 5-point Likert type rating scale. The scale was then used to determine whether the ACOAs and non-ACOAs in this sample would identify with this symptomatology. The results indicated no significant difference in the way African-American and Caucasian women ACOAs responded to the 13 characteristics. The empirical results in this study concur with the non-empirical literature: the adult children of alcoholics in this study were different from non-adult children of alcoholics. Both African-American and Caucasian women from alcoholic homes were different from African-American and Caucasian women who were not raised in an alcoholic home. (LLL)

This study was conducted to empirically investigate the specific suggestion that, without help, children who play the scapegoat role in the alcoholic family may later end up in prison. Family roles assumed by incarcerated and non-incarcerated male and female Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACOAs) were compared. The incarcerated subjects were drawn from a correctional-vocational training center and the non-incarcerated subjects were taken from Alcoholics Anonymous and ACOA groups. Participants (N=141), ranging in age from 18 to 55 years, completed the Children of Alcoholics Screening Test to determine eligibility for the study and the Family Relations Inventory to measure the respondent's role in the family. A two-way analysis of variance was computed; the results comparing mean differences in roles played by male and female incarcerated and non-incarcerated respondents showed no significant differences. Of the 77 incarcerated subjects, only 16% reported having played the scapegoat role; 58% reported having played the hero role while growing up. Of the non-incacerated group, 6% reported having played the scapegoat role, and 61% reported having played the hero role. Of the incarcerated group, 42% reported having two alcoholic parents, compared to 23% of the non-incarcerated group. The benefit of having one non-alcoholic parent is an area which requires further study. (Author/NB)

Biological sex remains a powerful source of differential socialization and experience. These studies were designed to enhance the understanding of gender identity, the psychosocial aspects of sexual differentiation. The focus was upon changes and continuities, in terms of development along the adult life course and as reflective of social change. Personal reports of characteristics that have been considered indicative of masculinity and femininity were compared for men and women in two generations. Respondents were drawn from a larger study of young adult children and their parents who lived in or around a Midwest suburb. The families were selected to represent the more stable, family-centered, "traditional" segment of contemporary American Society. Study I included analyses of responses by 115 triads of mother, father, and young adult child to a standard measure of gender-linked self-attributions. Study II drew upon personal interview data about gender conceptualizations, and utilized a coding system developed for this research to identify gender-congruent, gender-expanded, and gender-compromised styles of experiencing gender. The sample for Study II included 105 fathers, 134 mothers, 66 sons, and 67 daughters. The analyses provided evidence of differences between generations which may be linked to social changes or to developmental patterns, and continuities which seem to reflect transmission within families and the child's movement into adult family roles. (ABL)

Parents and children today can expect to share nearly half a century of life in contexts likely to be increasingly complex and emotionally stressful. One way to explore the quality of adults' relationships with their parents is to compare their assessments of these relationships with their assessments of another family relationship that also contains elements of obligation, their relationships with their children. For this study, data were analyzed from 658 adults, all of whom had at least one child and at least one surviving parent. These adults reported that their relationships with parents were significantly less enjoyable and satisfying than relationships with their children, even though they felt that their children demanded or required significantly more from them than did their parents. Women reported significantly less positive relationships and also felt more was demanded from them. In another study 117 adults were asked to describe their interactions with their parents and their feelings about what they would do for them. Over 40% stated they would do anything their parents needed, some from choice and others from duty. Given the duration and complexity of relationships between adults and their parents, developing research and psychoeducational programs directed toward improving them should be a high priority. (ABL)

To assess the impact of gender and filial relationship on adult children's sense of filial obligation, two studies were conducted. The first determined how typical caregiver tasks are classified. Middle-aged men (N=95) and women (N=95) rated seven representative tasks. There was considerable consensus on the designation of five tasks as being either provider behaviors or personal care. To test the impact of gender and filial relationship on filial obligation middle-aged men (N=80) and women (N=80) in northern Indiana responded to a questionnaire which asked them to indicate to what extent they believed they should undertake each of seven caregiving tasks to assist their mothers/mothers-in-law. Despite high levels of filial obligation respondents discriminated between personal care and those tasks that are provider or ambiguous in nature. In general respondents felt less obligated to perform personal care than other forms of caregiving. Second, main effects for gender emerged with respect to four of the seven tasks. As expected, men felt less obligated to engage in each of the personal tasks as well as less obligated to drive their elders to appointments than did women. Third, main effects for filial relationship emerged for every task but driving an elder to appointments. In each case the obligation to mother-in-law was rated as lower than was the obligation to a mother. (ABL)

With increasing divorce rates, many studies have addressed the effect of divorce upon the offspring of divorced and divorcing parents. Most of this research, however, deals exclusively with young children who still reside with a parent. This study examined how divorce affects older offspring, specifically those enrolled in college or graduate school at the time that their parents divorced. The subjects, a sample of seven women and seven men, aged 18-28, each participated in a semi-structured interview which addressed three aspects of the divorce experience: emotional reactions; concerns and worries; and coping strategies. Results indicated that despite their physical distance from home, college students still experienced the divorce in profound ways. Reactions such as anger and relief, and some concerns and coping strategies were similar to those of younger children. However, college students' age, maturity, and ability to assume greater responsibility added new dimensions to the divorce experience. This study, although limited by sample size, demonstrated consistent findings with other studies. The exploration of coping strategies increases knowledge for practitioners and expands the potential for future research. (ABL)

This study examined four male homosexual, sociocultural groups: normal-hearing homosexuals with normal-hearing parents, deaf homosexuals with normal-hearing parents, deaf homosexuals with hearing-impaired parents, and hard-of-hearing homosexuals with normal-hearing parents. Differences with regard to self-perception, identity, and attitudes were noted among groups, based on a mailed questionnaire. Respondents included 33 normal-hearing, 19 deaf, and 7 hard-of-hearing homosexuals, for a total of 59. Data indicated that hard-of-hearing homosexuals had the most positive attitudes and perceptions, while hearing and deaf male homosexuals of homogeneous familial backgrounds reported more negative attitudes and perceptions. Hearing homosexuals appeared less content with their love lives and relationship status than deaf homosexuals. Hearing gays and deaf gays with deaf parents showed the most confusion and negative feelings about their sexuality. On the whole, deaf homosexuals had a more positive image of themselves than did hearing homosexuals. A greater percentage of deaf homosexuals belonged to gay advocacy clubs and organizations, indicating the existence of a gay sub-culture within the deaf culture. The "Conclusions" section discusses education-related findings on pages 53-55. Other findings concern religious affiliation, time required from first suspicion of homosexuality to actual acceptance, first sexual experience, and attitudes toward and knowledge about AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). (Contains approximately 40 references.) (JDD)

This study attempted to validate the characteristics of adult children of alcoholics (ACOAs) as presented by Woititz (1983). Male (N=52) and female (N=94) college students completed the Personality Research Form, a 352-item measure of personality variables; the Responsibility and Social Adroitness Scales of the Jackson Personality Inventory; the Imposter Phenomenon Scale; and a questionnaire designed to provide demographic information and answer questions concerning their own and their parents' drinking behavior. Based on these self-report instruments, subjects were determined to be either an ACOA, a non-ACOA, or an individual that had been in an ACOA treatment group. Based on these personality measures, groups were compared on 12 of Woititz' 13 characteristics of ACOAs. No significant differences were found among the groups on any of the characteristics measured. The results severely question the validity of these characteristics. (The dangers of employing these characteristics in the diagnosis and treatment of individuals are discussed. Data are tabulated and references are included.) (TE)

Performance terminology can be applied as a form of analysis to evoke unique understandings of the identity of adult children of alcoholics (ACoA). By observing ACoA meetings, one can see members relying on positive reinforcement, validation perceptions, rewriting and visualizing healthy parenting skills, and rehearsing more functional alternative behavior. It appears that creation and acknowledgement of inner selves become the primary means by which members construct identity. It is the inner child who can begin to show the individual how to take care of and parent the adolescent and young adult parts of the self. Members' descriptions of and scripting and rehearsing with these inner selves suggests a dynamic, performance approach to recovery. Identity for the adult child, then, may be a complex and creative reworking of the crisis of addiction into the drama of recovery. For some adult children of alcoholics in recovery, support groups can aid the individual in learning how to rewrite the past and practice healthier possibilities for the future. Some members of mutual self-help groups imagine dialogues with and take on the roles of child, adolescent, and young adult as a part of recovery work. Understanding these unique parts of the self is key to working through dysfunction and synthesizing the inner selves into a functional, recovering whole. These strategies provide hope and health to individuals who come from alcoholic homes as well as other children of trauma. (NB)

The majority of the studies that have investigated the relationship between an alcoholic family of origin and personality variables have concluded that certain negative personality characteristics are present in adult children of alcoholics. In order to fully explore the consequences of being a child of an alcoholic, it is first necessary to examine the alcoholic family system. This study investigated whether a sample of college students who were adult children of alcoholics (ACOAs) did exhibit greater levels of these negative personality characteristics than did their non-ACOA peers. The relationship between parental alcohol use and the respondents' alcohol use was also of interest. Subjects (N=103) were college students in an introductory psychology course who completed a questionnaire in which they reported how well they could see themselves in the negative personality characteristics, their parents' drinking behavior, and their own drinking behavior. Scores on the ACOA characteristics were not correlated with the overall measure of parental alcoholism, ACOA self-identification, nor the respondents' alcohol use. These findings raise important questions about the accuracy of the common portrayal of ACOAs in the literature. Perhaps the characteristics associated with ACOAs in the literature are relatively common in all people, regardless of their parents' drinking behavior. The survey instrument is appended. (Author/ABL)

When their first child was 5, 30 couples discussed an unresolved issue in their marital relationship that involved one of their parents, and how they would resolve this issue. Five intergenerational themes were identified in these disagreements: balancing nuclear vs. extended family time, changing rules and roles, pleasing parents vs. spouse, struggling with power, and fearing future obligations. (Contains 40 references and 2 appendixes.) (GCP)