Family Relationships in Middle Childhood

Family Relationships in Middle Childhood presents a study of family life among parents and children during 'middle childhood'. Combining the perspectives of parents and young children aged 4-8 in each family, this book is based on a study which explores how family members get on together, the factors both within and outside of the home that affect family life, and the role of family relationships in children's developing well-being. Including both lone mother and two-parent households, the study provides comparisons between mothers and fathers, as well as between mothers in different family types. It finds that young children can provide meaningful accounts of family life and have a role to play in decisions that affect their life at home; relationships between family members, rather than the structure of families, define the quality of family life; links between children's social competence; and the sibling relationship suggest that brothers and sisters have the potential to 'teach' each other socially appropriate behaviour.