Family Transitions Project Parents Information

Our fourth generation (Targets' children) continues to grow in size and importance! In 2007-2008, more than 325 children, ages 18 months to 15 years, were eligible to participate in the study.

As you know, we begin conducting interviews with children when they are toddlers (the youngest age possible is 18 months), and we follow them as they grow and develop. Every year, since 1997, we have conducted in-home visits with families in which we videotaped children engaging in a variety of play tasks. Starting at age 6, children become less involved in these play tasks and begin to complete their own questionnaires.

Around age 12, the children's component of the Project begins to more closely resemble the types of questions asked of the Targets back in IYFP or ISPP. Nearly 50 children are the same age or older than their Target parent was when she or he began participation in either IFYP or ISPP.

We expect to see a wide range of behaviors during the in-home visits, both within and across the different age groups. There is truly no right or wrong way for a child to interact with the play materials or react to the questions. We anticipate that children who are the same age will react differently to the same materials - it's perfectly natural. Sometimes parents will indicate surprise at their child's response to a particular task or question, and that’s fine, too. However, a child responds is absolutely fine.

We are fortunate to be playing and interacting with children who represent the fourth generation of this groundbreaking study. Thank you for your willingness to share your experiences with us.

The Kids' Zone is an area of the website specifically related to topics that children and youth might enjoy. Please screen and supervise your children's access and use of these pages, indeed the entire website, as you would for any other website. We welcome your suggestions and comments about topics you think would be helpful and enjoyable to add to the Kids' Zone.