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Methods

The study utilized a complex system of examining family relations and children’s

development that included data obtained within longitudinal project. These are 226 mothers and

fathers whom their children are going to attend the first grade. They were chosen from local

schools as well as from neighbourhood centres in the Northeast and in the Midwest. A retention

rate of 93% from Wave 1 thronged through to wave to pump out a resulting sample size of 210

participants.

The demographic detail were very heterogeneous and for the most part the children’s

average age was 7.0 years old with girls (55%) being more than boys (45%). The mean ages of

mothers and fathers were35 and 37 respectively. Nine out of ten people in their family earned a

median household income varying from $40,000 to $54,999 each year, and their parents had the

average education years of approximately 14.5. The more than three-quarters of the sample

participants claimed European American (79%) and other over smaller (11%) percentages of

African American and Latin American.

Data occurred at two measurement occasions (research visits), spaced by 1 year and

within a week at each wave (2 weeks in total) for children and their parents. It was the IRBs that

gave the green light for the study’s execution. As the different elements of the family unit and

child development were investigated, various measures were used to study these areas.

Among the main assessments used was the Regenerated MacArthur Narrative Story Test

(MSSB-R), a method based on the storytelling. In wave 1, students demonstrated how they

completed this as in the case of stories where they had to respond to story stems bearing

depictions of stressors and threats within family subsystem such as inter-parental and parent-
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child interactions. In this case these reactions were being recorded on a videotape later they were

going to be coded by trained coders.

The peers, as well, were asked to react to the divergent provocation narratives as part of

the information processing work. Children publicized a case study in which a story referencing

the same-sex characters caused the protagonist to experience a stressful event. They subsequently

responded to open-ended questions and carried out behavioural assignments. The coded

responses were placed on the dimensions from which the hostile attribution bias and affective

motives of other students were determined.

Moreover, the various child development measures were collected from various sources,

among them, parents and school. Teachers filled in the school adjustment evaluation form, that

includes problems with attention, cooperation with peers and academic background. In addition

to their mother and father, data on children’ emotional distress, secession was collected using the

Child Behaviour Checklist.

In the end, the family socioeconomic status (SES) was included in the analyses, through

gathering data on parent education level, total family annual income, and husband/wife

profession. Prestige levels of employment status was the coding which included for –the- work

SES variables.

There was solid research design which was a strong point of the study as it helped to

facilitate an intensive scrutiny of the intricacy of family relationships and psychological

processes in child development. Therefore Basically longitudinal studies provided researchers

excellent follower for tracing changes from time to time, which makes it possible to accurately

predict the stability and trajectory of family relationships and child outcomes as result.
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Overall, the study used a mixed-methods design for the comprehensive purpose of

exploring family relationships and the solidification of children’s development. Through the use

of diverse assessment mechanisms like gathering information from different sources, the study

was planned to develop a clear insight into bringing improvement within the lives of the family.