ABSTRACT
An early view of the development of adaptive and maladaptive behaviors during childhood and adolescence suggested that such outcomes stemmed largely from the quality of the child’s relationship with his or her parents and from the types of socialization practices that the parents engaged in. This primary focus on the developmental significance of the parent-child relationship and of parenting practices was proposed early by Freud (1933) in his theory of psychosexual development, by Sears, Maccoby, and Levin (1957) in their seminal research on the significance of discipline variability and social learning, and by Bowlby (1958) in his influential writings on the long-term developmental importance of the mother-infant attachment relationship.
