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This two-year longitudinal study of 121 6-12-year-old children in the custody of their mothers following parental separation examined main and interacting effects of child's age and gender, frequency and regularity of visitation, father-child closeness, and parental legal conflict on children's self-esteem and behavioral adjustment at two time points. Predictors were found to have different implications for different groups of children and for children in different situations. Findings suggest the futility of seeking simple answers to whether ongoing contact with fathers following divorce is beneficial or detrimental for children.

Several longitudinal studies of children and adults were conducted in order to assess the validity of a hypothesized process of internal adaptation to external life changes. It was proposed that changes precipitate a receptive, dependent stance toward the external environment and that the postchange period is characterized by gradual adoption of more assertive, or integrated, stances. Results support the two major hypotheses, and they indicate that additional changes in the posttransition period may interfere with adaptation to the initial change. Evidence that males and females may differ in their tolerance of the receptive and assertive stances is discussed, as are a number of unresolved issues.Human behavior is, of course, the result of interaction between person and environment. However, in real life, these interactions take place not in a static environment, but in the context of situational change. In this article we propose that changed external circumstances may be understood as precipitating a process of internal or psychological adaptation that is both stressful and growth-provoking.

This paper highlights some complex relationships between personal experience and political behavior through a detailed analysis of the emergence and consolidation of political beliefs in one individual's life. We argue that conceptualization of the relationship between personal experience and political action should take account of ( 1 ) the centrality of political values in an individual's identity;( 2 ) the individual's life stage and life history; and (3) the individual's current situation, including the reference group that frames the individual's perception of the situation. In an analysis of Vera Brittain, we find thot political events taking place in adolescence shaped her broad ideological commitments. and that political events in later life were experienced as demanding expression of beliefs