ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the linkages between parents’ cognitions, their adaptation to developmental changes in their relationships with their offspring, and the implication of these adaptations for the psychosocial development of the children. This focus stems from both the growing emphasis on the nature and course of relationships as significant determinants of developmental outcomes for children and the concomitant interest in examining the functioning of both parent and children with reference to their relationships (e.g., Hartup & Rubin, 1986; Hinde & Stevenson-Hinde, 1987, 1988). To get at developmental change in the linkage between relationships and individual change, I focus particularly on the period of transition from childhood to adolescence. The advantage to choosing a time of such rapid and extensive change as a period for study is that changes in individuals and their relationships are likely to be both frequent and salient enough that we can detect them in comparisons across ages.
