No abstract

Personal interviews with a nonrandom sample of four current or former homeschooling mothers indicated that these mothers were homeschooling to avoid what they perceived as negative social or academic aspects of public schools and to promote closer family interaction. While the families appeared to be divided along traditional gender-role assignments, fathers were responsible for at least one of the children's subjects, usually science, religion, or physical education. While all the mothers saw time management and household organization as a stressful challenge, support from their husbands and homeschooling-support groups was critical in dealing effectively with the stresses of homeschooling.

In a nonrandom sample of 30 church-affiliated couples, preferred frequency of sexual intercourse declined as a function of age, duration of marriage, and number of children. Husbands indicated a higher preferred frequency than wives, although their preferred frequencies were significantly correlated. Preferred frequencies were not correlated with birth order, socioeconomic status, or education. For wives only, preferred frequency was correlated positively with marital satisfaction and length of premarital acquaintance.

No abstract

Case studies of the mourning reactions observed in six adolescent mothers who lost their infants to stillbirth or neonatal death are reported. The adolescent mothers were interviewed in a semi-structured format during their pregnancy, at the loss of the pregnancy or neonate, and two, four, six, and twelve months after the death of the infant. Bereaved adolescent mothers experienced extreme fluctuations in emotions following their loss. Additionally, they experienced losses associated with development and their successful transition to adulthood: identity losses, separation from family of origin losses, and friendship losses. No bereavement support or educational programs currently exist for bereaved adolescent mothers; they thus face potential deleterious impacts on their physiological, interpersonal, familial, and social well-being.