This interdisciplinary volume presents international research and theories focusing on the development of the individual across the life span. Centering on "family" as the key context influencing, and being influenced by the developing person, the contributors to this volume discuss an array of theoretical models, methodological strategies, and substantive foci linking the study of individual development, the family system, and the broader context of human development. The volume presents continuing empirical research and theories in the realm of individual and family development and features a developmental, contextual view from a process-oriented vantage point.

Contents. K. Kreppner, R.M. Lerner, Family Systems and Life-Span Development: Issues and Perspectives. R.M. Lerner, Individual Development and the Family System: A Life-Span Perspective. K. Kreppner, Linking Infant Development-in-Context Research to the Investigation of Life-Span Family Development. R.D. Parke, K.B. MacDonald, V.M. Burks, J. Carson, N. Bhavnagri, J.M. Barth, A. Beitel, Family and Peer Systems: In Search of the Linkages. L. Krappmann, Family Relationships and Peer Relations in Middle Childhood: An Exploratory Study of the Associations Between Children's Integration Into the Social Network of Peers and Family Development. C-P. Hwang, M.E. Lamb, A. Br berg, The Development of Social and Intellectual Competence in Swedish Preschoolers Raised at Home and in Out-of-Home Care Facilities. R. Plomin, Nature and Nurture in the Family. R.A. Hinde, Reconciling the Family Systems and the Relationships Approaches to Child Development. D.H. Olson, Y. Lavee, Family Systems and Family Stress: A Family Life Cycle Perspective. K.A. Schneewind, Contextual Approaches to Family Systems Research: The Macro-Micro Puzzle. J. Brooks-Gunn, M. Zahaykevich, Parent-Daughter Relationships in Early Adolescence: A Developmental Perspective. A. von Eye, K. Kreppner, Family Systems and Family Development: The Selection of Analytical Units. S.I. Powers, Family Systems Throughout the Life-Span: Interactive Constellations of Development, Meaning, and Behavior. J. Dunn, C. Stocker, The Significance of Differences in Siblings' Experiences Within the Family. T.C. Antonucci, Understanding Adult Social Relationships. J. Brooks-Gunn, F.F. Furstenberg, Jr., Long-Term Implications of Fertility-Related Behavior and Family Formation on Adolescent Mothers and Their Children. L.N. Richards, V.L. Bengtson, R.B. Miller, The "Generation in the Middle": Perceptions of Changes in Adults' Intergenerational Relationships. Y. Sch tze, Adolescents and Their Families. S.E. Harari, M.A. Vinovskis, Rediscovering the Family in the Past.

Kurt Kreppner, Richard M. Lerner