Explore how scientific research by psychologists can inform our professional lives, family and community relationships, emotional wellness, and more.
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Menopause
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Candice Hargons, PhD, elected as 2028 APA president
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1,657 results for "parenting or families or relationships"
Improving sibling relationships
Psychologists’ research shows that long-lasting relationships are more critical than many people think and offers insights on how to improve them.
Challenges, Coping, and Benefits of Being an Asian American Lesbian or Bisexual Woman [PDF]
The purpose of this study was to explore challenges, coping strategies, and positive aspects of being an Asian American lesbian or bisexual woman.
Teen aggression a warning sign for faster aging later in life
Early teen aggression may contribute to faster biological aging and higher health risks by age 30, highlighting how adolescent relationship conflicts can have long-term physical consequences, according to APA research.
How our siblings influence our lives, with Laurie Kramer, PhD, and Megan Gilligan, PhD
Laurie Kramer, PhD, and Megan Gilligan, PhD, talk about how our siblings influence our lives from childhood through adulthood, how parents can help foster close relationships among their children, and what people can do in adulthood to maintain and improve relationships with their own siblings.
Why you should aim to be a “good enough” parent
Tim Cavell, PhD, and Lauren Quetsch, PhD, talk about what “good enough parenting” means and why nurturing the parent-child relationship is parents’ most important job.
Introduction to the Special Section on Religion and Spirituality in Family Life: Pathways Between Relational Spirituality, Family Relationships and Personal Well-Being [PDF]
This special section on faith and family life presents 5 studies that each offer novel insights into the complex web of linkages between a family member's religious and/or spiritual functioning and parental or family factors that may influence it.
Family Involvement and Parent–Teacher Relationships for Students With Autism Spectrum Disorders [PDF]
This study examined child and family variables that may affect family involvement and parent–teacher relationships for families of children with autism spectrum disorder.
Grandparenting and Adolescent Adjustment in Two-Parent Biological, Lone-Parent, and Step-Families [PDF]
This study examined whether grandparent involvement varied in two-parent biological, lone-parent, and step- families and whether this had a different contribution to the emotional and behavioral adjustment of adolescents across different family structures.
Relationship Problems, Agreement and Bias in Perceptions of Partners’ Parental Responsiveness, and Family Functioning [PDF]
This study investigated whether greater problems in couples’ relationships predicted more negative perceptions of partners’ parenting during family interactions and whether more negative perceptions of partners’ parenting were associated with less connected family interactions and less coordinated family environments in the home.
Does Parental Sexual Orientation Matter? A Longitudinal Follow-Up of Adoptive Families With School-Age Children [PDF]
This longitudinal study compared outcomes for children, parents, couples, and the overall family system among adoptive families with lesbian or gay vs. heterosexual parents when children were preschool-age and approximately 5 years later, when children were in middle childhood.
Family, Religious Attendance, and Trajectories of Psychological Well-Being Among Youth [PDF]
This study explores whether family structure, changes in family structure, parent–child relationship quality, and religious attendance (overall and with parents) influence trajectories of psychological well-being independently and in conjunction with one another among youth.
Post-Deployment Parenting in Military Couples: Associations With Service Members’ PTSD Symptoms [PDF]
This study evaluated associations of military service members’ PTSD symptoms with parenting indices in service members and their partners, with additional exploratory analyses of how intrapersonal and interpersonal distress might play a role in such associations.
Childhood Close Family Relationships and Health [PDF]
This article applies a developmental stress-buffering model to examine how aspects of family relationships — such as support, conflict, obligations, and parenting behaviors — evolve over time.
Family Predictors of Sibling Versus Peer Victimization [PDF]
This study explored whether there are common family characteristics (family climate, interparental conflict, parenting) in the prediction of sibling and peer victimization.
And Still WE Rise: Parent–Child Relationships, Resilience, and School Readiness in Low-Income Urban Black Families [PDF]
This study investigated how parent–child relationships function in relation to financial and general stressors in the prediction of child school readiness (e.g., academic performance, psychosocial development, and socioemotional skills).
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Families [PDF]
The rapid expansion of research on LGBT family issues has increased knowledge of lesbian motherhood, as well as gay male and transgender families, and the children of LGBT families. Though, more research will be needed for bisexual families.
HIV/STD Prevention Interventions for Couples and Families: A Review and Introduction to the Special Issue [PDF]
This article provides an introduction to this special issue on couples, families, and HIV and a review of research on couple and family interventions for prevention of HIV.
How close relationships keep us healthy and happy, with Richard Slatcher, PhD
Richard Slatcher, PhD, talks about why the support we receive from our partners, family, and friends is so important, how we develop these deep ties to each other, and the key ingredients of good and supportive relationships.
On New Shores: Family Dynamics and Relationships Among Immigrant Families
Special issue of APA's Journal of Family Psychology, Vol. 23, No. 3, June 2009. The articles focus on the psychosocial adaptation of immigrant families, parenting practices and their implications for child outcomes, and the importance of parent–adolescent relationships for adolescent mental health.
Lesbian and Gay Parents and Determination of Child Custody: The Changing Legal Landscape and Implications for Policy and Practice [PDF]
This article describes the current legal context surrounding custody determinations involving 1 lesbian or gay parent and 1 heterosexual parent, and those in which a former same-sex couple has sought a custody determination of children they have coparented.
Effects of Parental Marital Status, Income, and Family Functioning on African American Adolescent Self-Esteem [PDF]
One of the major results of this study was that even when family functioning and income were both statistically controlled, parental marital status still accounted for a large amount of variance in African American adolescent boys' self-esteem.
APA Resolution on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity (SOGI), Parents, and their Children [PDF]
APA opposes any discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity/expression in matters of adoption, child custody and visitation, foster care, reproductive health services, and schooling.
Parents Favor Daughters: A Meta-Analysis of Gender and Other Predictors of Parental Differential Treatment [PDF]
This meta-analysis found that parents may be inclined to provide relatively favored treatment to daughters, conscientious children, and agreeable children
Estrangement is never easy or straightforward. Psychologists can help
Therapists can assist patients to identify relationships worth salvaging or help heal the pain of detachment.
Editorial, Barbara H. Fiese, 2016 [PDF]
Editorial by Barbara H. Fiese, discussing the revised mission statement of APA's Journal of Family Psychology to capture contemporary scholarship in family psychology and to advance systems perspectives in the journal, as well as describing updates to the journal direction.