IDENTIFIERS *Parent Behavior

The possibility that interfamilial and intrafamilial differences exist in children's reports of parental childrearing behavior was investigated. Subjects were members of 29 families in which divorces had taken place and 30 families in which marriages were intact. Each family had two children. Individual family members'' responses to the 56-item six-scale version of Schaefer's (1965) Child's Report of Parer:al Behavior were obtained from 59 first-born and 59 second-born siblings, 29 divorced mothers, and 30 married mother/father pairs. Three dimensions of childrearing behavior assessed by the measurement instrument (acceptance, psychological control, and lax discipline) were the,dependent variables for the study. For each dimension 'of parental behavior, analyses were computed for differences between divorced and married families and for differences between dyads within each type of family. Data from fathers in divorced families were not obtained..A major finding of this study was that children in both types ofjamilies reported both their parents as rating relatively high on the diMPa,qsion of acceptance. For thi * group, then, there was no support for the stereotype that children whose parents are divorced feel rejected by their parents. Additional findings are discussed. (RH) ************************ * ************************w******************** Reproductions suppl ed by EDRS are the best-that can be made from the original document