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This paper reports a series of studies on the development of the Personal Authority in the Family System (PAFS) questionnaire. The PAFS questionnaire is designed to measure family processes based on aspects of current intergenerational family theory (Williamson, 1981, 1982b). Eight scales which measure concepts such as differentiation/fusion, intimacy/isolation, and personal authority/intimidation in the three‐generational context comprise the questionnaire. Study 1 indicates that the scales have good internal consistency and good test‐retest reliability. Correlations with other measures of family processes provide validity for some of the PAFS scales. Study 2 confirms the underlying factor structure of the PAFS questionnaire and supports the construct validity of the scales. Implications for intergenerational family theory and applications in research and clinical practice are discussed.

An overview of previous findings on children's adjustment in stepfamilies, nonresidential parent-child relationships, and steproles and new results on family relationships from the Developmental Issues in StepFamilies Research Project is presented. A multimethod, multimeasure, cross-sectional, and longitudinal design was used to study first-marriage, nuclear families (n = 97), and stepfamilies (n = 98) after 6 months, 2.5 years, and 5 years of remarriage and, longitudinally, 3 to 4 years later. Differences in family relationships and parent-child interactions were found in stepfather families and nuclear families during early months of remarriage and after 5 years. Marital and family relationships were significant predictors of parent-child interactions, although they were moderated by family group, and some relationships varied with the length of remarriage.Marital transitions created by divorce and remarriage are common events in modern families. Demographers continue to project that up to 50% of couples will divorce during their lifetimes and that the vast majority of these adults will remarry. Although prior research has contributed to our knowledge of the effects of parental divorce on families, less is known about the continuing changes brought about by parental remarriage. This article presents an overview of previous cross-sectional and longitudinal findings from the Developmental Issues in StepFamilies (DIS) Research Project concerning children's psychosocial functioning, stepparent roles, and the relationship between nonresidential fathers and children following the custodial mother's remarriage. In addition, new findings are presented on marital and family re-

This study examined relationships among gender, perceived parental monitoring, externalizing behaviors, and adolescent alcohol use in a 2-wave longitudinal study. Females reported more perceived parental monitoring and less alcohol use than males. Perceived maternal and paternal monitoring were related to less alcohol use over time. Increases in alcohol use were associated with increases in externalizing behaviors over time. Perceived maternal monitoring mediated the relationship between gender and youth drinking and was also a significant predictor of changes in adolescent drinking over time. Perceived paternal monitoring was not a predictor of adolescent drinking in the context of perceived maternal monitoring and externalizing behaviors. The importance of gender in implementation of prevention programs is discussed.

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