Children's perceptions of their relationships with their parents and peers in 1976 and 1981, respectively, along with other salient antecedent variables, were related to their age at first sexual intercourse, as reported in 1987. Data came from the National Survey of Children, a three-wave longitudinal study of 1,145 children age 7-11 (Wave 1), 12-16 (Wave 2), and 18-22 (Wave 3). Antecedent variables were taken from both Round 1 and Round 2 surveys. When the same variables were present at both times, the more recent data were used if the survey occurred prior to age of first sexual intercourse; if not, the Round 1 data were used. Separate analyses were run to predict timing of sexual intercourse for males and females. Age of first date, dating often, number of friends perceived to have had sex at age 16, being Black, having parents undergo marital changes during the child's school years, and fighting at school were the most significant predictors of age at first sexual intercourse among males. All of these variables except fighting at school and dating frequency were significant predictors among females. Additional significant variables predicting age of first sex among females were menarche, parents' education, mother's coercive behavior and love withdrawal, and attitudes about attending religious services.

An exploratory study of daughters and their mothers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), guided by modernity theory is reported. The UAE has come from a desert nomadic culture to a high tech oil rich nation in just the past 40 years and is a key place to assess the impact of rapid development and fast paced transformations on family life. Differences and trends in gender and family role attitudes, child care practices, cultural values, perceptions about religion, and beliefs toward fertility practices were compared between matched pairs of daughters and mothers. Many traditional beliefs and customs still exist in the UAE, but major shifts in attitudes toward marriage and family life were observed. Some of the major changes include: daughters plan to choose their husbands and to marry much later in life than their mothers did, daughters will have a formal higher education, whereas most mothers did not have access to higher education, daughters were born in modern medical facilities while mothers were born in a home or a desert tent, and most of the daughters plan to have a professional career while nearly all mothers were full time home makers. There is agreement, however, between mothers and daughters regarding the belief that faith in Islam will protect their children from future problems.

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