Parental Belief Systems

Research on the topic of parent beliefs, or parent cognition, has increased tremendously since the original publication of this volume in 1985. For this revised second edition, the editors sought to reflect some of the new directions that research on parent cognition has taken. By offering a greater variety of topics, it gives evidence of the intellectual concerns that now engage researchers in the field and testifies to the expanding scope of their interests. Although a unique collection because it reflects the diversity that exists among major researchers in the field, it evinces a common theme -- that the ideas parents have regarding their children and themselves as parents have an impact on their actions. This emphasis on parents' ideas shifts the focus on sources of family influence to ideas or beliefs as determinants of family interactions. The implication of this way of thinking for practitioners is that it suggests the shift to ideas and thoughts from behavior and attitudes.

Irving E. Sigel, Ann V. McGillicuddy-DeLisi, Jacqueline J Goodnow

Contents: Part I:Focus on Normal Families of Young Children.J.L. Applegate, B.R. Burleson, J.G. Delia, Reflection-Enhancing Parenting as an Antecedent to Children's Social-Cognitive and Communicative Development. K.H. Rubin, R.S.L. Mills, Parents' Thoughts About Children's Socially Adaptive and Maladaptive Behaviors: Stability, Change, and Individual Differences. J. Palacios, M-M. Gonzalez, M-C. Moreno, Stimulating the Child in the Zone of Proximal Development: The Role of Parents' Ideas. C.A. Martin, J.E. Johnson, Children's Self-Perceptions and Mothers' Beliefs About Development and Competencies. A.V. McGillicuddy-DeLisi, Parents' Beliefs and Children's Personal-Social Development. G.W. Holden, R.J. Zambarano, Passing the Rod: Similarities Between Parents and Their Young Children in Orientations Toward Physical Punishment. Part II:Focus on Normal Families of Adolescents.W.A. Collins, Parents' Cognitions and Developmental Changes in Relationships During Adolescence. J. Youniss, J.P. DeSantis, S.H. Henderson, Parents' Approaches to Adolescents in Alcohol, Friendship, and School Situations. Part III:Focus on Atypical Families.D.B. Bugental, Affective and Cognitive Processes Within Threat-Oriented Family Systems. S.D. Holloway, S. Machida, Maternal Child-Rearing Beliefs and Coping Strategies: Consequences for Divorced Mothers and Their Children. T.J. Iverson, M. Segal, Social Behavior of Maltreated Children: Exploring Links to Parent Behavior and Beliefs. Part IV:Focus on Model Building of Parent Cognition.J.J. Goodnow, Parents' Ideas, Children's Ideas: Correspondence and Divergence. T. Dix, Parenting on Behalf of the Child: Emphatic Goals in the Regulation of Responsive Parenting. A.J. Sameroff, B.H. Fiese, Family Representations of Development. Part V:Focus on Cultural Perspectives of Parent Cognition.S. Harkness, C. Super, Parental Ethnotheories in Action. C. Lightfoot, J. Valsiner, Parental Belief Systems Under the Influence: Social Guidance of the Construction of Personal Cultures. G.H. Brody, Z. Stoneman, Child Competence and Developmental Goals Among Rural Black Families: Investigating the Links. Part VI:Focus on a Methods Issue.I.E. Sigel, The Belief-Behavior Connection: A Resolvable Dilemma?