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Objective: Investigate (a) whether including fathers in parent training enhances outcomes and (b) whether mothers and fathers benefit equally from parent training. Method: Using traditional meta-analysis methodology, 26 studies that could answer the research questions were identified and meta-analyzed. Results: Studies that included fathers, compared with those that did not, reported significantly more positive changes in children's behavior and desirable parenting practices, but not in perceptions toward parenting. Compared with mothers, fathers reported fewer desirable gains from parent training. Conclusions: Fathers should not be excluded from parent training and should be encouraged to attend. Further research should seek to understand how parent-training programs might better meet the needs of fathers.

The Parent Behavior Inventory (FBI) is a brief measure of parenting behavior for use with the parents of preschool-age and young school-age children. It may be used as a parent self-report measure, a report measure for others familiar with the parent, or as an observational rating scale. Its parallel forms offer clinicians and researchers a single measure capable of multimethod, multi-informant, and multisetting assessment. The FBI's two independent scales, Supportive/Engaged and Hostile/Coercive, have sufficient content validity, show adequate internal consistency and test-retest reliability, and relate to measures of parental affect, parental stress, and child behavior problems. Evidence for its usefulness as a rating scale is presented. The results provide support for the reliability and construct validity of the FBI and demonstrate its versatility as a measure of parenting behavior.

SYNOPSISObjective. The goal of the present investigation was to provide a meta-analytic review of the research on affect and parenting in nonclinical samples. Design. The authors conducted analyses on the overall mean effect size for 63 studies (k = 18,211). Affect was coded as either positive or negative, and parenting behavior was coded as either supportive-positive or harsh-negative. Moderators included definition of affect, time frame of measurement, reporter, child age, and parent gender. Results. The authors' analyses support the association between parental affect and parenting behavior, and this relation was consistent across types of affect and parenting, as well as gender of parent. Significant methodological moderators of these relations include time frame match and reporter match. Child age moderated the relation between negative affect and supportive-positive parenting, but not harsh-negative parenting. Last, both negative and positive affect showed specificity in their association with parenting behavior. Conclusion. Parental affect appears to be a reliable correlate of parenting behaviors in the general population. In addition, consistent with theory (T. Dix, 1991), negative affect was more strongly related to hostile parenting, and positive affect was more strongly related to supportive parenting. Methodological factors, such as time frame of measurement and reporter, as well as demographic variables, should be carefully considered in the design and interpretation of future studies of parental affect and parenting behaviors.

Limited research on professional women's labour force re‐entry after a career break (so‐called ‘opting out’) finds that women redirect away from former careers. Little is known about why this occurs. Our study, based on in‐depth interviews with 54 at‐home mothers, extends prior research to address this question. We find that among women who intended to return to work (who constitute the majority), most planned to pursue alternative careers, typically in traditionally female‐dominated professions or were uncertain about their career direction; few planned to return to their former employers. The reasons for this redirection were women's negative experiences in family inflexible occupations, skill depreciation and perceived age discrimination. Equally or more important, however, was their adaptation to new constraints and opportunities at home (such as increased involvement in mothering and community work), which engendered an aspirational shift towards new, care‐oriented professions that were lower paid and had lower status. We discuss the policy implications of these findings.

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Increasing attention has been given to high-achieving women who appear to be leaving their careers in favor of staying home full-time to raise children. Some commentators interpret this trend as reflecting these women’s embrace of a “new traditionalism,” a rejection of feminist goals in favor of more traditional gender roles. Based on intensive interviews with forty-three women, the authors find that participants’ decisions to interrupt careers are highly conflicted and not grounded in a return to traditional roles. Although family concerns figure prominently, they are not the major reason behind most women’s decisions. Work-based factors play a primary role, with characteristics of husbands playing an important secondary role. The authors conclude that by virtue of their occupational status and class membership, professional women are caught in a double bind between the competing models of the ideal worker and ideal parent. The authors discuss the policy implications for the organization of work-family life.