Biosocial Foundations of Family Processes

Nancy S. Landale, Ph.D., is Liberal Arts Research Professor of Sociology and Demography at The Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Landale's areas of interest include family demography, children's health, immigration and immigrant incorporation, and the Hispanic population. She is widely known for her research on the implications of migration to the U.S. mainland for family processes and maternal/infant health among Puerto Ricans. Her current work focuses on the educational and health outcomes of Mexican children of immigrants.Alan Booth, Ph.D., is Distinguished Professor of Sociology, Demography, and Human Development & Family Studies at The Pennsylvania State University. He has been a senior scientist in Penn State's Population Research Institute since 1991. Dr. Booth has co-organized the university's National Symposium of Family Issues since its inception in 1993. Dr. Booth directed a 20 year study of marital instability in a national sample of 2000 married persons. The project has been the basis for many studies on the causes of divorce, the effects of divorce on children's well-being, remarriage and step families, as well as the effects on psychological distress, educational achievement, romantic relationships and family formation of having a non-resident parent.Susan M. McHale, Ph.D., is Director of the Social Science Research Institute and The Children, Youth, and Family Consortium and Professor of Human Development at The Pennsylvania State University. Her research focuses on children's and adolescents' family roles, relationships, and daily experiences and how these family dynamics are linked to youth development and adjustment.

Biosocial Research Contributions to Family Processes and Problems, based on the 17th annual National Symposium on Family Issues, examines biosocial models and processes in the context of the family. Research on both biological and social/environmental influences on behavior, health, and development is represented, including behavioral endocrinology, behavior genetics, neuroscience, evolutionary psychology, sociology, demography, anthropology, economics, and psychology. The authors consider physiological and social environmental influences on parenting and early childhood development, followed by adolescent adjustment, and family formation. Also, factors that influence how families adapt to social inequalities are examined.

Based on the 17th annual National Symposium on Family Issues, this book examines biosocial models and processes in the context of the family. There is focus on child development through adolescence, and the book includes the most up-to-date genetic research.

Leading researchers address the critical interface of biology and society

I. Parenting and Early Childhood Behavior and Development.- How Mothers Are Born: A Psychobiological Analysis Of Mothering.- How Fathers Evolve: A Functional Analysis Of Fathering Behavior.- Caregiving As Co-Regulation: Psychobiological Processes And Child Functioning.- The Determinants of Parenting in GXE Perspective: A Case of Differential Susceptibility.- II. Development and Adjustment in Adolescence.- Gene-Environment Interplay Helps To Explain Influences Of Family Relationships On Adolescent Adjustment And Development.- The Importance of the Phenotype in Explorations of Gene-Environment Interplay.- The Importance of Puberty in Adolescent Development.- Genes, Hormones, and Family Behavior: What Makes Adolescence Unique.- III. Mate Selection, Family Formation, and Fertility.- Human Adaptations for Mating: Frameworks for Understanding Patterns of Family Formation and Fertility.- The Need for Family Research Using Multiple Approaches and Methods.- Psychological Adaptation and Human Fertility Patterns: Some Evidence of Human Mating Strategies as Evoked Sexual Culture.- Comments on Consilience Efforts.- IV. Family Adaptations to Resource Disparities.- Family Influences on Children's Well-Being: Potential Roles of Molecular Genetics and Epigenetics.- Social Inequalities, Family Relationships, and Child Health.- Family Resources, Genes, and Human Development.- In Search of GE: Why We Haven't Documented a Gene-Social Environment Interaction Yet.- A Promising Approach to Future Biosocial Research on the Family: Considering The Role of Temporal Context.