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The relationship between sibling pair type (i.e., sister-sister, sister-brother, brother-brother, brother-sister) and performance of sibling functions (i.e., services that siblings perform for each other) was investigated using a sample of 224 college students. Also examined was the relationship between perceived sibling functions and perceptions of closeness. As hypothesized, sister pairs were more likely to report performing certain sibling functions than were other sibling pair types. The expectation that sibling functions and sibling closeness would be related was partially supported, particularly for women responding about either a sister or a brother. Keywords: young adulthood; siblings; sibling functions

As a further tribute to feminist scholar Jessie Bernard, in this paper, we review the entire collection of the National Council on Family Relations' Jessie Bernard Outstanding papers awarded to feminist junior scholars spanning from 1990 to 2018. In so doing, we showcase Jessie Bernard's devotion to mentoring young scholars as we highlight evolving feminist family scholarship of student/new professionals. In this paper, we sought to:(a) honor Jessie Bernard's intellectual legacy, (b) celebrate contributions of young feminist family scholar's work, and (c) explore how the award collection maps on to wider feminist theoretical debates and empirical shifts within feminist family science over the past three decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

American families have changed rapidly in the past few decades. For instance, U.S. families are more ethnically and racially diverse than ever before, family structures vary widely as a result of marital transitions and changes in cultural mores, and technological and social changes have altered the experience of parenthood. Family scholars often have found it difficult to adequately stay abreast of such transformations. There are many indications that changes will continue to occur in the next few decades, perhaps even more rapidly than before. In this article, the authors, as young family professionals, discuss what they see as current and future issues professionals face in studying and working with families. Latino families, stepfamilies, and reproductive technology are presented as examples in which diversity presents challenges.

In this article we name 'feelings of fraudulence,' the experience of self-awareness and self-questioning that feminist family scholars often encounter in their work. We propose that such feelings arise from attempting to apply abstract feminist principles to specific research practices against the backdrop of social science's positivism, women's studies postmodernism(s), and an overlay of neoliberalism and postfeminism. These feelings of fraudulence should not be dismissed but should be embraced to promote what we theorize as feminist accountability. Using our research projects as sites of analysis, we share dilemmas of accountability in regard to feminist epistemology, agenda, and ethics within the contemporary context. We continue the conversation about feminist-informed methodological practices and hope to offer other feminist family scholars comfort in responding to the uncertainty they encounter in their own feminist research journeys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study investigates the experiences of emerging adults who had worked as counselors at overnight summer camps; identity-related issues emerge as most salient in the analysis of in-depth interviews conducted with 12 women and 8 men from 8 camps. Their descriptions portray the identity exploration that took place within the camp context, through opportunities to try out roles and responsibilities ranging from the adult-like role model to the more child-like entertainer, and many counselors specifically remark on the role of camp experiences in their identity development. The role of camps as one type of facilitative venue for emerging adults’ identity exploration is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a grounded theory investigation of the roles women fulfill as mothers in stepfamilies. A key role for these 24 mothers was serving as the link between the stepfather (her husband) and her children. When conflicts arose between children and stepfathers, mothers' loyalties lay with their children, and they engaged in protective behavior manifested in four ways: defender, gatekeeper, mediator, and interpreter. Influences on these roles include (i) expectations for and perceptions of her family, (ii) her partner's experiences with families and children, (iii) structural characteristics of stepfamilies, and (iv) beliefs about children's needs. The performance of protective mother roles has important implications for the integration and development of the stepfamily, familial roles for family members, and women's general wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a model based on grounded theory depicting how women construct the roles of nonresidential stepmothers. Eleven middle-class stepmothers identified three general roles: mothering but not mother roles, other-focused roles, and outsider roles. These roles were influenced by issues relating to the biological mothers, their spouses, their stepchildren, their own biological children, extended kin, and experiences external to the family. When enacting their roles as stepmother, they encountered issues surrounding a perceived lack of control and ambiguous role perceptions. Positive evaluations of role enactments were credited to their stepchildren; failures to the stepchildren's and the stepmothers' own behaviors. A central concept that tied these categories together and overshadowed factors in role conceptualization, experiences in role enactment, and evaluation of role performance was the ideology of motherhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The factor structure of Sprecher and Melts' (1989) Romantic Beliefs Scale (ROMBEL) was investigated with a sample of 254 African-American and 234 European-American college students (342 females and 146 males). Confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses were used to evaluate the generalizability of the model. Differences in the factor structures between African-American and European-American respondents were found. The factor structure did not replicate for African-American respondents. Because the measure was developed using a predominately white sample, implications for its use in research on more diverse populations are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]